This is an interview with Gustave Stefanik for In the Age of Steel: Oral Histories from Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The interview was

conducted by Mark M. Solarik on July 21, 1976 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

PLEASE NOTE: Part of interview missing at ~01:15 and at end of tape/transcription.

Stolarik: Okay, today is July 21st, 1976. This is Mark Stolarik talking with Gustave Stefanik, at 1271 East 4

th Street in Bethlehem.

Stefanik: Right.

Stolarik: Okay, so first of all, can you tell us, please, when you were born, your birth date?

Stefanik: I was born April the 29th

, 1899, in Austria-Hungary1 at that time.

Stolarik: What was the village? What was the name of the village?

Stefanik: Meetko (sp?).

Stolarik: Meetko, and the county?

Stefanik: County was—

Stolarik: (Inaudible)

Stefanik: Zvolen.

Stolarik: Zvolen County, in Central Slovakia?

Stefanik: Yeah, Zvolen.

Stolarik: And what were the names of your parents?

Stefanik: My father’s name was Thomas, and my mother’s name was Mary.

1 The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in 1918.

00:00:06

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Stolarik: And her last name, or her maiden name?

Stefanik: Subort (sp?).

Stolarik: Subort?

Stefanik: Yeah, my mother’s name, Subort.

Stolarik: Okay, and how many children were there in your family?

Stefanik: 10—7 brothers and 3 sisters.

Stolarik: And what was your rank among them?

Stefanik: What do you mean?

Stolarik: Well, were you first, second, third, or 4th?

Stefanik: No, John was first, Joe was second, I was third. That is, of the boys, now, I’m speaking.

Stolarik: No, but of the children in general?

Stefanik: Oh, children, there was—a sister was born first, Vilma. Then came John, Joe, Gus, Steve, Rudy, then came Paul, and Mary,

Anna, and Frank.

Stolarik: Okay, now when was the oldest born, do you know? Around what date?

Stefanik: Well now, that’s pretty hard for me to—I don’t have a book on it.

Stolarik: Okay, well how about this: how many of these children were born in Europe, and how many in America?

Stefanik: Why, let’s see. Six of us was born in Europe, and four was born in America.

Stolarik: Okay, and that gets us to: when did you come to America, what year?

Stefanik: In 1905. I just don’t know what month.

Stolarik: Yeah, well then you were 6 years old when you came?

Stefanik: I was 6—yeah, 6 years old when I came to this country.

Stolarik: Right, right. And were there any children born after you in Europe, or were they all born in America, after you?

Stefanik: After we came here?

Stolarik: No, after you were born. After you were born, were there any kids born after you in Europe?

Stefanik: Oh, I (inaudible)—it’s hard for me.

Stolarik: Well, if you don’t know, it doesn’t matter.

Stefanik: It’s hard for me to answer that. I don’t know.

Stolarik: Anyway, we’ve got six born in Europe, and four born in America, and you came over in 1905. Now, do you remember

anything about Slovakia, about your village? Do you remember anything about that?

Stefanik: I only can remember this much: that there was a little river running through the town, it was called Hornád 2

, and there was

a bridge there that I know that we went there, (inaudible) with my father and brothers, the older brothers. I’d just be playing

around there, you know. And we had a home up towards the hill there. I don’t know the street names; I don’t know

whether we had any street names then, or not. But we lived up on a hill there, and we had cows. We had chickens and stuff

like that, and this, like, well I would say because my father worked in a steel mill, you know.

Stolarik: What did he do in that village? What was his job there?

2 The Hornád river runs through eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary.

00:03:00

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Stefanik: His job, he worked in Krompark (sp?), that’s further away from Meetko (sp?). And he worked there in the steel mills.

Stolarik: Oh, they actually had steel mills there?

Stefanik: Yeah, in the—let’s see. Krompark, (inaudible).

Stolarik: Krompachy? Well, Krompachy I know they had a steel mill there.

Stefanik: Yeah, it was in the Krompachy3 (inaudible). I can remember, iron and steel.

Stolarik: It was an iron foundry, actually.

Stefanik: Whatever it was, anyhow, that’s where he worked. And my grandfather, he was a carpenter, and he was making coffins,

you know, in a village there.

Stolarik: Did your parents own any land in the village?

Stefanik: What?

Stolarik: Did your parents own any land in the village?

Stefanik: Well, at that time I don’t know whether they owned it or not. They must have, I guess. It was under the Austro-Hungarian

rule. And I just don’t know whether they owned the land, or whether they were given the land to work on it, or what, or

whether it belonged to the King. I don’t know; I couldn’t answer that.

Stolarik: Okay, and did your family come over together, or did your father come first?

Stefanik: No, only my mother came over, with the five of us. My oldest sister stayed in Europe that time. She stayed back there,

because she—when she was, oh, about 9 years old, she lost her hearing, you know. And she couldn’t hear, so she went to

school over there to deaf and dumb school. Deaf and dumb school. So she went there, and she stayed there. So we brought

her over later, but only 5 of us, 5 brothers: John, Joe, Gus, Steve, and Rudy, came with the mother, on the ship. And

naturally, we didn’t arrive first class or anything like that. We were probably in the third class, down in the hold there.

3 Krompachy is located in eastern Slovakia.

00:05:11

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Stolarik: Yeah, steerag4e.

Stefanik: Steerage, I suppose you can call it that.

Stolarik: That’s what they called it, yeah.

Stefanik: And we landed in Baltimore instead of New York, so we never seen the Statue of Liberty.

Stolarik: Yeah. Well, what was it like crossing on that ship? What was it like?

Stefanik: Well, I’ll tell you, I think we were, most of us were sick on the ship, and it was pretty—it was a rough voyage, I guess. I

don’t know whether it took two weeks or what; I don’t remember anymore.

Stolarik: What about the food? Do you remember if the food was any good?

Stefanik: Well, I suppose the food must have been all right, because we ate whatever they gave us. I know when we arrived in

Baltimore, we were up on the deck there, with the mother, and we were hopping around, dancing. We were glad; we were

happy that we landed in America. We were very happy about it. So, we had what they called them pancakes, pigachi5 (sp?)

or whatever they were?

Stolarik: Yeah, right.

Stefanik: They gave us some; we were eating them things up on the deck. Then I don’t even remember how we got off the ship or

anything, and by train we came to Bethlehem.

Stolarik: Was your father already here, waiting for you?

Stefanik: My father was here, because he was working here while living, in the Bethlehem Steel Company at that time. So, he was

working here, and I guess the money that he saved, he sent enough money over there to bring five of us, with the mother,

here.

4 Lower fare accommodations usually below the main deck and the cargo hold of a ship.

5 Perhaps referring to palacinky or potato pancakes.

00:07:10

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Stolarik: Yeah, okay. Okay now, did your father own the house by the time you arrived, or did you live in an apartment?

Stefanik: No, he was a boarder. He was boarding at a boarding house.

Stolarik: Do you know where?

Stefanik: Why, it was up in Hayes Street, there. You know Hayes Street is? You go up to the, what’s this—Bethlehem Steel

Research6. And he stayed with people name by Skoda (sp?). Their name was Skoda.

Stolarik: Yeah, were they fellow Slovaks?

Stefanik: They were Slovaks, too, yeah, and they must have came earlier, I guess. I remember Mrs. Skoda, yeah, when we were kids

there, and remember talking to her and all that.

Stolarik: And did you then move into this boarding house, or did you go somewhere else?

Stefanik: No, we didn’t move out of there until we got a place to rent. So we rented a home—do you know where the National Sokol

Hall7 is now?

Stolarik: Yes, yes.

Stefanik: We rented a home right below the Catholic Sokol. The home is still there, it’s not torn down. It was in—let me think of the

name.

Stolarik: Because they’re on Commerce.

Stefanik: Yeah, that was on Commerce Street, that we moved into a home there. We rented it out. I can’t think of the people’s name.

Stolarik: Well, that’s all right. What was the address, about 612 or something?

6 Homer Research Lab formerly located off Mountain Drive in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

7 The National Sokol Hall was formerly located at 613 Hillside Avenue in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Stefanik: You got me there, now. I don’t remember that, too, but I think it’s 600 block. I can remember that, because after that,

when we lived there for a couple years, Stefko8 was the name where we went to live there, and rented a house out. From

there on, Slofkosky had started building homes. He was a businessman here in Bethlehem, and he started building more

homes.

Stolarik: Right, George Slofkosky.

Stefanik: Yeah, George Slofkosky, yeah. And he built homes on Sixth Street, and we moved up there into one of the homes there, on

743 East Sixth Street. That was our home there, on the—well, I’ll tell you, I was going to school then already, the public

school, and the parochial school from there. And we—well, you’re asking the questions, ask.

Stolarik: Okay well, why don’t you tell me about school, then?

Stefanik: Well, when I was—well, I was old enough to go to school then. We didn’t have time—

Stolarik: You didn’t have (inaudible), did you?

Stefanik: We went to, not a parochial school, but we went to a public school first.

Stolarik: Yeah, right, was it Quinn?

Stefanik: It was Quinn School9 on Fourth Street. And I went there, and then the Saint Cyril Methodius

10 had built their old school

from their old church that they had. They built a new church, and the old church became the schoolhouse. So it was called

Saint Cyril Methodius Parochial School. So I went there, and that’s where I graduated from, from Saint Cyril Methodius

Parochial School.

Stolarik: How many years were you at Quinn?

Stefanik: Maybe 2 years.

8 Stefko Boulevard is located in northeast Bethlehem.

9 Located in the Borough of South Bethlehem the Quinn School was established in 1902.

10 Catholic Church founded in 1890 and built on the corner of Thomas and Buchanan Streets in the Borough of South Bethlehem in 1903.

00:10:15

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Stolarik: Two years, and then the rest of them at Saint Cyril’s?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah.

Stolarik: Did you notice any difference between the two schools?

Stefanik: Because at 11 years I quit. Yeah, I quit parochial school, because Father and Mother, they needed some money, to make

things go. Well, that time the law in the United States was you could work at 11 years old, you could start working. So

there was a silk mill nearby there, on the same street, up at the next—

Stolarik: Up where the park is now?

Stefanik: Yeah. There was a silk mill11

there, and I got a job there.

Stolarik: This is—what’s that park called? The Yosko Park12

?

Stefanik: It’s called the Yosko Park, yeah.

Stolarik: That’s where the silk mill was?

Stefanik: Yeah, that’s where the silk mill was.

Stolarik: Why don’t you tell me some more about school? What was the difference between Quinn and Saint Cyril’s? The

differences you noticed?

Stefanik: The difference was in Quinn School, we had no religious—

Stolarik: Instruction.

11

Likely narrator refers to the Lehigh Valley Silk Mill. 12

This City of Bethlehem Park is located at Sixth and Atlantic Streets.

Stefanik: —instruction, but in the parochial school we had religious instruction. And they had—there were German sisters who had

taught us in Slovak, a little bit, too.

Stolarik: They knew a little Slovak?

Stefanik: Yeah, they had taught us to pray in Slovak, reading Slovak, and we had Slovak books, you know, that was issued to us, and

we was learning from these books, and also from these sisters. They could speak the language. They were German, from a

German convent. And I liked it there, because I used to like to study, so I was always a good scholar, had good grades.

And I used to like to—I liked to draw, and I used to draw all kinds of pictures, and paint them, and with crayons and

everything like that. The sisters used to hang them up in the room, so the other people could, children could see how my

work, my art was. And Father Vlossak13

at that time, he was our pastor. He took a liking to my drawing and everything

like that, and he told me, he says, ‘Oh, boy, you’ve got to go to some school there and become an artist. You can be a great

artist some day.’ And I says, ‘Well, all right.’ He says, ‘I’ll take you to a place there, and see what we can do. Maybe they

can work something out.’ So he took me down the old Post Office, down on Fourth Street there. The building is still up

there—the old building, the four-story building. And he said, ‘Come on, we’ve got to go.’ We walked from the parish all

the way down to Broadhead and Fourth Street; all the way down there I walked with him. And when we come there, we

come there too late. So, he says, ‘Well, we’ll have to think of some other time, there.’ And my father says, ‘Ah, if he

wanted to,’ he says, ‘He could have taken care of you in the first place. He could have went down there early enough there,

before they close up, not take you down there in the last minute, when they close up the place,’ and (inaudible). And I

come home late; I even got a licking because I come home late for supper!

Stolarik: Good grief.

Stefanik: So what are you going to do? So that was it as far as parochial. But everything was all right. They were pretty strict with

us, and—

Stolarik: How would you compare the teachers, between the two schools?

Stefanik: Well, the teachers, I think, in the public school, as far as for the English, I think they were much better than the sisters were.

But, in penmanship and everything, I was taught in the parochial school how to write, and I had a good, nice penmanship.

Stolarik: What about their attitude towards you as Slovaks, in the public schools? Did the teachers sort of—I don’t know.

13

Reverend Frantisk Vlossak was the pastor of Saints Cyril and Methodius from 1898 to1907 and again from 1911to 1929.

00:15:04

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Stefanik: You mean, toward the nationality?

Stolarik: Yeah, yeah. Was there any difficulty there?

Stefanik: No, they were all right. They were pretty nice.

Stolarik: What (inaudible) background were those teachers, do you know?

Stefanik: They were—some of them were German, some of them were Dutch. Some of them were English, I guess, Irish, and so

forth. They were different nationalities, too. But what I mean, I—there was a teacher that was teaching me. She lived only

two blocks up above here, where Donegan’s School14

here. Miss Henry—she was my teacher, and I liked her as a teacher.

She taught me well, and everything like that.

Stolarik: There was no discrimination by them?

Stefanik: There was no discrimination, no. And of course, we got it from the other kids that were Irish and stuff like that. They used

to call us greenhorns, and hunkies, and things like that, you know.

Stolarik: Did you call them anything back?

Stefanik: No, it didn’t bother me too much, you know.

Stolarik: Did the kids fight, or whatever, about this?

Stefanik: Well, I think there were some of them that might have. I never got into a scramble about things like that. I never cared to

continue. If somebody called me a hunkie or something like that, I didn’t go back and hit them or anything. I just looked at

them, give them a good look, and walked away from them. That’s the way I was taught at home.

Stolarik: Do you remember anything noteworthy from Saint Cyril’s School? Like, how did the kids and the nuns get along at Saint

Cyril’s School?

14

Public school located on 4th

Street on Bethlehe’s south side.

00:16:40

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Stefanik: Well, some kids were bad, see, and the nuns had a heck of a time with them. I never got a licking by the nuns, because the

nuns had one of these here—they had a good whip. It was pretty long, make out of pigskin, I guess, whatever it was. And

as the kids were bad, they got hit, the area—hit around the legs, or something like that, or around—put your hand out, and

got a good whack, over the hand. So, there was—some kids were real bad; they deserved it. And some kids were all right,

like I never got no licking in school.

Stolarik: Can you remember—?

Stefanik: If I would, I would have got another one at home.

Stolarik: Yeah. Can you remember anything in particular those kids did, for which they got a beating? Any kind (inaudible)?

Stefanik: Well, because they annoyed other children in their studies and everything, and they’re talking. You’re not supposed to talk

when you’re in school. You’re supposed to do your lessons, and keep quiet, and keep things to yourself, and not talk

(inaudible). And some of them had been talking that way, and clowning, and everything like that. That’s why they got

their lickings for that; they got punished.

Stolarik: Yeah, okay. So you left school, then, at age 11? (Inaudible)

Stefanik: No, I left school at age 11.

Stolarik: So what grade did you get to?

Stefanik: I think—I think it was the seventh grade.

Stolarik: Seventh grade. Did you finish it?

Stefanik: I think so. I think so.

Stolarik: And then you left after grade seven?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah. Then—

00:18:01

00:00:59

Stolarik: Then you went to the—?

Stefanik: Then I went to the silk mill. I got a job at the silk mill.

Stolarik: Right. How much did they pay you there?

Stefanik: Why, three and a half cents an hour.

Stolarik: And how long did you work, a day?

Stefanik: Ten hours and a half.

Stolarik: And lunch? How much did you have off for lunch?

Stefanik: Lunch, we got I guess around 10, 15 minutes, whatever, I don’t know.

Stolarik: What was it like, working in the mill? Was it hard?

Stefanik: Well—

Stolarik: Was there a foreman on your back?

Stefanik: Well there, they made us do our work, whatever we had. They were on top of us all the time that we keep on working. We

couldn’t chase(?) around, or anything like that. Because you know, you sat down, and they weren’t doing nothing, the

foreman would come along there and say, ‘Come on, get up and do your work. Keep on doing your work.’ And that’s the

way it was. And after ten and half hours, well, then you went home.

Stolarik: Yeah. And were there a lot of kids working there, besides yourself?

Stefanik: Well, there was other kids like myself. I couldn’t tell you how many there was, because it was a pretty big silk mill. I

guess there was a lot of them.

Stolarik: What about the total population? Were they largely women and children, or were there men there, too? Do you remember?

Stefanik: I think there was mixed up, men and—girls and boys. At that time, we weren’t men yet.

Stolarik: Yeah, but were there some grown-ups there, too, working?

Stefanik: Oh, yeah, on other jobs, on certain jobs that required the (inaudible). Why, we were what they called, I think, the reel boys.

Stolarik: The reel boys.

Stefanik: Carrying the reels over to the machines.

Stolarik: Yeah. So how long did you work there, in this mill?

Stefanik: Well, I—over here on Sixth Street, I worked there I guess either two years, or something like that. Then, my father, he built

a home down this section, on Williams Street—Williams and Aaron Street. He built a home; that time it cost 11,000

dollars. He built a big double home, three-story front, two-story in the back.

Stolarik: Do you know the exact address?

Stefanik: 700 and 702 Williams Street. That was the Stefanik residence up there. We all moved up there. We lived there. And my

brother John, he got married—the oldest one. He got married, so he lived with his in-laws on the opposite side, neighbors,

you know, that was 702. Because the one side was big enough for our family. There was plenty of room there. And we—

that was in ’19 [1919]—let’s see, 1917—1917, when we built the home there, yeah.

Stolarik: So did you change jobs then, at that time?

Stefanik: I want to tell you what I did in between that. When we went to—when we went to Williams Street, I got a job here in the

silk mill right on Williams Street.

Stolarik: What was this one called, do you remember?

Stefanik: Wyandotte Silk Company, yeah. And I worked there until I became 16 years of age.

Stolarik: What was the other one called? I don’t think you mentioned the name.

Stefanik: Let’s see. Lipski (sp?). Lipski, or—

Stolarik: And who owned it? Do you know who owned that place, or who the bosses were?

Stefanik: Well, I think Lipski was the boss. He was the owner.

Stolarik: Yeah, but what was his ethnicity. His nationality—what was his nationality?

Stefanik: Oh, he could have been either German, or something like that. I don’t know.

Stolarik: Were there any Slovak foremen there, for instance?

Stefanik: Not that I know of. I don’t remember that. No, I would remember any.

Stolarik: Okay, so now you’re at your second mill.

Stefanik: That was the second mill, and I was working there. And girls were working there, also. And over there, in this mill, there

was quite a few Slovaks working, too. Steven Gajda (sp?), and Willie Wylie (sp?)—Wilicny (sp?), but he called himself

Wylie—they changed their name. So, we worked there in the Wyandotte Silk Mill until we were able enough to get out,

and go in the steel company. You couldn’t get a job until you were 16.

Stolarik: Was Willie related to the Wylie who eventually became a Police Captain?

Stefanik: Yeah, he was a brother. He was a brother to that Captain.

Stolarik: What was Captain Wylie’s first name?

Stefanik: George.

Stolarik: George, okay.

00:22:35

00:00:59

Stefanik: Yeah, George Wylie. And Willie Wylie, he got a job in the Steel, steel company, and so did I.

Stolarik: How did you get those jobs?

Stefanik: Well, you apply. When I first got the job, at that time there was no fence around the Bethlehem Steel Company at all, and

you were able to go and cross into the steel company. Anybody could walk in, and nobody would stop them or anything.

Today you can’t do that; there’s gates and fences. But at that time, my father had worked in an armor plate department,

where they were making armor plates for battleships. And he took me down with him, you know, and he introduced me to

his general foreman. His name was Binnemann (sp?).

Stolarik: Was he German?

Stefanik: Yeah, he was German. That’s why, my father could speak a little German there, and it helped him a lot that way. So he—

he was a grinder15

, and he used to grind the sides of the armor plates, where they always lined them up there. So when they

stand them up or anything, they would look like a battleship; they’re forming together, but they had to get them all smooth

so they’d come together real close, you know. So he got me a job there, in the tool room, where they were making small

tools and everything like that, you know. So I started working there, and I learned my trade as a machinist there.

Stolarik: Okay, now what was your pay, and how long a day did you work?

Stefanik: Well, at that time we were still working 10 and half hour a day shift, in the Bethlehem Steel Company, too, that time. And

always, that—no 8 hour laws that time. That came later on. So, we were working 10 and half hours, day shifts, and the

night shift used to work 13 hour nights.

Stolarik: And how much were you paid?

Stefanik: Well, at that time, let’s see. (Pause) Couldn’t have been more than about 15 or 16 cents an hour, as far as I can remember.

Stolarik: But did wages improve because of the war?

15

Responsible for grinding the top and/or bottom of carbon or alloy steel plate or bars into close tolerance.

00:25:03

00:00:59

Stefanik: Wages were improving as they went along, as the wars went along. I went through two wars in the Bethlehem Steel

Company.

Stolarik: I’m thinking of the first one.

Stefanik: Yeah, the first one, yeah.

Stolarik: (Inaudible)the first they had to go into war production?

Stefanik: Well, then they always had a system there where they’d give you a little bonus, you know. If you would produce more and

more pieces, or something like that, they’d give you an incentive. And you’d get a little—make a little bit more money.

Then, once in a while, they’d give the men a raise. That time, we had no unions. They gave us a raise out of their

goodness, you know, the company did.

Stolarik: Well, did anybody try to form a union at that time?

Stefanik: Yeah, I’ll come to that. I’ll come to that. We always get these raises, now and then. Finally then, after the First World

War, then they started talking about union, you know. And I happened to be one of the boys that—we got to form a

company union. We wanted to have a company union, call themselves—right in, within the company, you know. And

have dues, pay dues, and negotiate, and have our meetings with the Bethlehem Steel Company officials. So, we organized

ourselves. We called ourselves—let’s see. Bethlehem Steel Company—(pause in recording). Bethlehem Steel Company

Employees Representatives16

. That was our organization. And we were going pretty good there for about three years.

Stolarik: When did you organize? What date, do you know?

Stefanik: Could be around ’20 [1920], ’21 [1921]. I don’t know, something like that. 1919 or ’21 [1921]. And we had nice

meetings; we had good respond, and everything like that, from the company side, between the representatives. And

whenever we had bad conditions or anything like that, they corrected them, and things like that. Pretty soon then, it came

where union organizers came into the city, to all over. Not only in Bethlehem, but all over the country, in the steel mills.

And they start organizing the union.

16

The Employee Representation Plan (ERP) was a company union. Employees could file grievances, but could not strike or negotiate on wages.

00:26:25

00:00:59

Stolarik: Yeah, what years were those?

Stefanik: Well, that was around ’20 [1920], in the ’20 [1920], ’21 [1921], ’22 [1922].

Stolarik: At the same time?

Stefanik: Well, we were about three—we existed about three years, the Representatives, Employees Representatives. And after that,

then the union came in, and they started organizing. Then there was a strike, see.

Stolarik: What year was the strike, do you know?

Stefanik: (Laughs) You got me in them! I don’t have that (inaudible).

Stolarik: I can look it up; that’s all right.

Stefanik: It’s pretty hard for me to remember all that stuff, and now at my age, why, I can’t remember as good as I used to. So, they

organized, the CIO17

.

Stolarik: Well, that must have been in the ‘30’s [1930].

Stefanik: Well, I’d say it was later on. I just don’t know exactly what year that was, but it was later. So, they organized, and

naturally, we had to disband ourselves, the Employees’ Representation, you know, representatives, because we—they

acknowledged the union representatives, and they couldn’t do the same with us, and keep us. That would be friction there,

and that wouldn’t be no good. So we gave that all up. I was one of the Executive Officers in the Representatives plan, and

we used to hold picnics and everything like that. We had wonderful times. Things were going good there for a while, until

the union came in.

Stolarik: When the CIO was organized, were you part of that, too?

Stefanik: Yeah, I became a member of the CIO, and I was what they call a steward. I was elected a steward18

in the shop.

17

The Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) was founded in 1935. In 1955 the CIO merged with the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL-CIO. 18

Stewards represent the union in the workplace.

00:29:04

00

00:00:59

Stolarik: What does that involve? What does that mean?

Stefanik: Well, representing the men in the shop for the company, union men.

Stolarik: So you were the union representative in one particular shop?

Stefanik: Yeah, I was like, in our shop, Forge Specialty, as it’s called, Number 3 Machine Shop19

. And when they elected all the

stewards, you know, I don’t know how many we were allowed—I think 2 or 3 from the shop, from each department. We

had a Forge Department20

in there, and we had a Machine Shop in there, and we had a—we had a—(pause) hmm.

Stolarik: Well, it doesn’t matter. You had 3?

Stefanik: Yeah, there were 3, 3 departments, yeah.

Stolarik: Right. And they were—okay, so you were a shop steward, and at that time, in the 1930’s, do you remember if there were

any Slovak foremen in Bethlehem Steel?

Stefanik: Oh, yes! Oh, yes.

Stolarik: Do you remember any of them?

Stefanik: Yeah, I can remember, in our shop, there was a fellow by the name of Peters. He had—Petrov21

, (inaudible) Peters.

Stolarik: Petrov, yeah.

Stefanik: He was a foreman there.

Stolarik: Did he become a politician, or was he a politician?

Stefanik: No, his brother—not his brother, his cousin.

19

Part of the alloy and tool steel division. The No. 3 mills comprised of the 9" and 12" finishing mills. 20

Place where metal is worked to predetermined shapes by one or more processes such as hammering, pressing, or rolling. 21

Project staff were unable to identify the individual.

Stolarik: His cousin, okay.

Stefanik: His cousin was John Peters22

, the Alderman. And that was different. They were either cousins, or something like that, but

they weren’t real close. So, I became a steward, and a steward represents—if there’s any grievances that pop up during

working days or hours, or anytime. And the grievance is brought up, and a steward represents that grievance; he represents

that person that turned in the grievance, in the office when they have a meeting, whether to settle it or to make some kind of

a settlement on the grievance—one way or the other. So after that, I was working on a machine. I used to grind rolls there.

I was one of the first roll grinders23

in our machine shop down there, Number 3, because they started producing rolls after

the war, to make automobiles and stuff like that, you know. There’s tin, tin foil, and everything like that. So they

developed rolls, and we got orders to make rolls. And I was the very first one to grind one of the first hardened steel rolls24

in the Bethlehem Steel Company. I was just fortunate that way, that I was on there. And I was the first one that made it.

And later on, they were getting more and more; they bought more machines, and I was training men, and everything like

that. Then, I was asked if I wanted to be a safety supervisor in the Bethlehem Steel Company. So I thought, well, it was

better for me, instead of working in the machine shop on a machine. I’d rather do something like talking to people, or

writing, and book work, and stuff like that. So I accepted; the Superintendent asked me, he says if I want to be a safety

supervisor, the job is mine. He says he’ll give me the same average earnings that I had been making on the machine, and

that suited me. That was good enough for me.

Stolarik: Do you know what year that was, approximately?

Stefanik: Well, that could have been around in, see, (pause) ’33 [1933] or ’34 [1934]. I don’t know.

Stolarik: It was a little later?

Stefanik: It was right after the union got in. You know what I mean? It was right after that, because it wouldn’t short me then, and I

said, ‘Well,—

22

Project staff were unable to identify this individual. 23

Refers to the process of sizing, shaping or imparting a finish to other materials which are generally much larger than parts found in conventional cylindrical

grinding. 24

Rolls of steel that have been given treatments of quenching followed by tempering.

00:31:50

00:00:59

Stolarik: About ’35 [1935], yeah.

Stefanik: —I don’t want to be a steward. The heck with this. I’d rather go in there and represent people in another way.’ I used to be

a good safety man25

in the shop, and all that stuff. So, I figured I’ll take that job, and that’s what I did. And I worked for

the same shop, same Superintendent and everything; I was under him only for the Safety Department.

Stolarik: Is that what you did for the rest of your working days, then?

Stefanik: Yeah, most of the time, yeah, all the way through, then. Well, I became a foreman in the Second World War. They asked

me to be a foreman, had charge of a tube-lining room in Number 4 Machine Shop26

, down there where the main office is.

So, I took that then.

Stolarik: Did your wages go up then, when you became a foreman? Did you get higher pay?

Stefanik: Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah. You see, at that time, when I became foreman there, I was there only during the duration of the war. I

think it was three or four years, it was. How many years is that?

Stolarik: How much did you make when you were a safety supervisor, and how much when you were foreman, do you remember?

Stefanik: Well, I—in figures, it was a whole lot more, because you get an extra bonus there, as a foreman there.

Stolarik: I’m just interested in your salary. Like, what was your salary as a safety supervisor?

Stefanik: Well, at that time I can say I was earning 250 dollars a week.

Stolarik: As a safety supervisor?

Stefanik: As a foreman.

Stolarik: As a foreman?

25

A position appointed by the union to ensure that all safety standards are being met for the protection of employees. 26

Also called the No. 4 Machine Shop and was part of the manufacturing division. It served as a central machine and fabricating maintenance shop.

00:35:20

00:00:59

Stefanik: And then the second pay that you’d get, then you’d get a bonus. And you might get 100 dollars—it all depends how much

production we had in the shop for that month. It went according to that. And you either got 100 dollars more, or something

like that, extra to your pay.

Stolarik: What about before, when you were a safety supervisor? How much were you making then?

Stefanik: Well, I was earning about 200 dollars a week, yeah.

Stolarik: As a safety supervisor. And as a grinder, before that?

Stefanik: Well, I’d been earning that much, but they—

Stolarik: Oh, I get it, they gave you the same pay?

Stefanik: You know what I mean? They were earning more money as they went along, because they were always increasing, see?

And we didn’t get no increase. The only time we got an increase, when there was a settlement with the union, and

everything, then we got an increase in wages. But when you’re working piecework27

, or something like that, on a machine,

you charge how much you produce. And you can turn in, sometimes, twice as much as you would earn, and nobody says

anything; you can turn it in.

Stolarik: You were working on piecework?

Stefanik: Huh?

Stolarik: You were working on piecework before (inaudible)?

Stefanik: When I was on machine, I worked on piecework, yeah.

Stolarik: Did the union stop that, piecework?

27

An incentive system for production workers in which a worker is paid a fixed price per piece produced.

Stefanik: No, the union didn’t stop it. The union don’t stop anything like that, you know. The only thing the union is interested is

seeing that they pay the proper prices. You know, they have what they call rate setters. When the rate setters go around

there sometimes, and you’re working on a machine, and you don’t like the rate that they set against you, on a machine on a

certain job. And you think it isn’t enough, so you put in a grievance, and all that stuff. Or either, you work on a job, and

you lay down, and you don’t produce at all, see. And the next thing you know, they wise up, and then they set a better price

on it. Then, when the working man is satisfied, well then they go to work and keep on. And after they give more money,

you know, they still keep on pushing, and get more work out, and charge more, and God! They make a hell of lot more than

I did when I was—

Stolarik: Were you involved in any of the big strikes? Were there any big strikes?

Stefanik: There was—only in one, where I was, because I was a safety—not a safety supervisor, foreman that time. They went out on

strike there for a while, and I was down there in a shop, and I couldn’t go home because a strike was called. So we had to

stay in there, and they brought us food, and everything like that. They brought us cots; we slept on cots. Bethlehem Steel

done that, you know, for us. And we stayed there, because we didn’t go home. I called up my wife, I says, ‘Sorry, I won’t

be home.’ I says, ‘I’m going to have to stay down here in the shop, because there’s a strike on.’ When the strike was over,

why—

Stolarik: Did you stay there to prevent a sit-down, what they called a sit-down? Or why did you stay in the plant?

Stefanik: No, no, we didn’t prevent anything, until they settled the strike with negotiation, you know.

Stolarik: Why did they want you to stay there, at Bethlehem Steel? Why did they want you to stay in the plant?

Stefanik: Because somebody had to stay in there to take care of what’s in there. Not to produce, or not to work.

Stolarik: A skeleton crew?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, so that nothing goes wrong in there.

Stolarik: Yeah, I see. (Inaudible)

00:38:14

00:00:59

Stefanik: Sabotage, or anything like that. You know what I mean? So we’d just stay there and do nothing. We got paid for nothing!

We were sleeping there, and we got paid. We ate—we ate like pigs, you know! They brought pots, and all—new pots, they

brought down there. They got a stove in there. Oh, we were cooking, and everything! We were living like kings, for the

time being.

Stolarik: How would you compare conditions in the mill before the union and after? Did the union help the workers in getting better

conditions for them?

Stefanik: As far as conditions is concerned, they helped, and they also helped in getting more money and more pay to the—as far as

that goes, it seemed to me that after several contracts, and after a couple strikes, you didn’t see any more strikes after that.

They settled without strikes. Because they gave them what they wanted. They got what they wanted, the company did,

because, ‘All right, I’ll give you a raise of so much more an hour. I’m going to charge so much more per steel,’ and

everything, so it worked out all right. And once he was having (inaudible) strikes.

Stolarik: The consumer got to pay for it?

Stefanik: Right, that’s the way they killed that. And that’s why we have the troubles now, in the country, what we have today! And

the prices, and everything! Nobody makes an attempt to stop prices—anywhere! They’re just going (inaudible). Food

prices, or anything—they do the same thing. They just keep on going up, and nobody’s saying, ‘This is the end.’ If

Truman was there, I bet he would have stopped that!

Stolarik: (Laughs)

Stefanik: You’re darn right! Cut that out, there.

Stolarik: That’s all right. When did you finally retire, then? When did you retire?

Stefanik: Well, I finally retired—I’ll tell you a little bit more about The Steel yet.

Stolarik: Yeah, okay.

00:39:45

00:00:59

00:41:13

00:00:59

Stefanik: Because from there, I was transferred to another department. As a safety supervisor, I went to Central Tool28

. That’s where

Willie Wylie29

worked, see. He worked for the (pause)—

Stolarik: Was he still foreman, Willie Wylie?

Stefanik: He was a foreman all the way up ‘til the time he retired. And let’s see. See, when I was safety supervisor, we also had to

go out and talk to men, especially new men coming in, that gets a job in The Steel. Sometimes there was a group of 20,

group of 15, or something like that. We’d take them down to the storehouse and buy them safety shoes, you know, get them

safety shoes, because you wouldn’t be able to start without safety shoes. That’s the first thing. And I’d take them back to

the shop, and I’d take them up in the room there, the lecture room, and give them a lecture on safety: how to take care of

themselves when they go into the shop, so, they know what they’re doing, and stay out of trouble. And I’ve been that way

in Central Tube; I was there for four years. And from there I went to the Iron Foundry, and I was a safety supervisor there.

And I used to train men. Every place I trained men in safety first, you know—perform, know how to tie up a man when he

gets in here, or anything like that. Same way down Central Tool, my team got second prize. When I went to the Iron

Foundry, I also trained a team there, and we got second prize there. And that was an honor, to get second prize. I almost

had first prize there, in Central Tool; a fellow just made a little mistake. So that’s the way the darn thing works, you know.

Stolarik: Why did you return from foreman to safety supervisor?

Stefanik: Well, I’ll tell you. After the war, things went slow, you know what I mean?

Stolarik: Yeah, yeah, the economy slows down.

Stefanik: Everything goes down, and there’s no work here, no work there. Well, I had to either try to go wherever I want to, go back

where I came from, or I’d take the job—I thought they’d give me a foreman, but they can’t give you a foreman job when

there’s no openings. So, there was no foreman’s job. They closed the shop down where we worked. So I went back to

Forge Specialty again, I went back to safety. So that’s how I ended.

Stolarik: Okay, so when did you finally retire, then?

28

Manufactured all kinds of small tools, such as milling cutters, reamers, drills, punches, rivet sets, jigs, etc., principally for the use of the various Bethlehem

plants and shipyards. 29

Project staff were unable to obtain more information about this individual.

00:44:02

00:00:59

Stefanik: In 1964.

Stolarik: ’64 [1964], okay.

Stefanik: Yeah.

Stolarik: And you worked 47 years in this field?

Stefanik: 49 years and 9 months.

Stolarik: Okay, almost 50.

Stefanik: Yeah, almost 50.

Stolarik: Okay. Well, now let’s get into another subject, and that’s fraternal benefit societies. I know that you’ve been a member of

some of these. Why don’t you tell me which ones you joined? Which ones were you a member of, fraternal benefit

societies?

Stefanik: Well, my father had put me into the organization—

Stolarik: Which one?

Stefanik: —when I was small and I had nothing to do, because he paid the dues. He put me into the Sokol30

.

Stolarik: The National Sokol?

Stefanik: The National Sokol, yeah.

Stolarik: And what else?

30

Founded in 1862, this is a gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague as a way of instilling the need for fitness training

in youth.

00:44:15

00:00:59

Stefanik: And the National Slovak Society31

. That was all that he organized, because he belonged to National Slovak Society. He

didn’t belong to the Sokol, but he belonged to National Slovak Society. And naturally, being friendly with the other

members and stuff like that, that were Sokol, why, I guess they had some: ‘You have children. How about putting them in

the Sokol?’

Stolarik: The Sokols were more youth-oriented?

Stefanik: Yeah, so that’s where he got us. And I got in there right after I was 16—well, when, after it was settled. I guess we were

up in—we were living up at (inaudible) on Thomas Street when we joined the organization, see.

Stolarik: You were about 15 or 16 when you joined?

Stefanik: Oh, no, I was in the junior lodge first. Yeah, I was in the junior lodge, juvenile organization, first.

Stolarik: In both of them?

Stefanik: No, we had none in the National—not in the Slovaks.

Stolarik: No, you were a junior?

Stefanik: No, we had no junior lodge there, no.

Stolarik: So it was in a junior of the Sokols?

Stefanik: We only had the junior Sokols, yeah.

Stolarik: So you were there first?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, all of us brothers. All the brothers were in, and the sisters.

31

Founded in 1890 the National Slavonic Society of the United States, in 1913 it became the National Slovak Society of the United States of America. The

Society’s current mission statement reads, “To provide our fraternal family members financial security via life and annuity products, while offering charitable,

cultural, social and educational opportunities that benefit them and their communities."

Stolarik: And what did you do when you were in that, as juniors? What was the routine?

Stefanik: Well, the routine was, I’ll tell you, around 1906—(pause in recording)—it was a nice large basement and everything. And

our Commander, who taught us that time, his name was Andrew Guman32

. He taught us. And we used to do, you know,

prostna, swicky (sp?). I mean—

Stolarik: Was Guman what they called the Elder of the junior branch?

Stefanik: Guman was the—this here Guman that was teaching us that time, his son wasn’t born yet. So, later on, I could show you a

picture that I’ll point out where Guman is, later on.

Stolarik: Because I thought the first Commander was Tokar (sp?), a guy named Tokar?

Stefanik: No, Guman was the first, and then Tokar, see.

Stolarik: Oh, okay.

Stefanik: Guman was the first, because Guman had moved out, you know. But he was the first one, because—

Stolarik: There was one later on, and I guess (inaudible).

Stefanik: —I remember him teaching us under the church. But Tokar might have been his assistant. You know what I mean? And

later on then, Tokar became the instructor of the lodge.

Stolarik: Right, because later on, the other Guman—

Stefanik: Well then, that was Andrew Guman’s son.

Stolarik: Oh, it was his son?

32

Project staff research uncovered a number of Guman’s in Bethlehem. The person referred to in this interview could be Andrew Guman, husband of Mary

(Peters) Guman and father of Andrew G. Guman, a funeral director in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

Stefanik: Yeah, he already died. He was our teacher. I mean, not mine, but—

Stolarik: The Sokol’s, yeah.

Stefanik: —he taught up there in the Hall, already.

Stolarik: So your first instructor was Andrew Guman?

Stefanik: Yeah.

Stolarik: Okay, (inaudible)

Stefanik: Yeah, Andrew Guman.

Stolarik: And did he do both the adults and the kids?

Stefanik: Oh, yeah, boys and girls. I wish I would have had pictures of ourselves, when we were kids. We had uniforms; we had

pictures taken in uniforms.

Stolarik: What did the uniforms look like?

Stefanik: Well, we had these hats with a feather, you know.

Stolarik: Yeah, (inaudible) hats.

Stefanik: And the girls had like a sailor collar, around there, and with bloomers? And the boys had bloomers and red shirts.

Stolarik: Red shirts?

Stefanik: Like this—red shirts. And, oh, I—

Stolarik: What about a jacket? Did you have jackets?

Stefanik: I don’t know whether—huh?

Stolarik: Did you have jackets?

Stefanik: No, no, that was elders.

Stolarik: The elders had jackets.

Stefanik: Elder had—Sokoli.

Stolarik: Yeah, why don’t you tell me what they looked like?

Stefanik: Well, they looked like, you know, where they had these things you call—

Stolarik: They had braid?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stolarik: It looked, sort of a Hungarian noble’s uniform?

Stefanik: Yeah. I wish I could—oh, I have pictures, and I don’t know where they got to. And—

Stolarik: What did you do at these gymnastics, what sorts of things?

Stefanik: Well, we had prostna, I mean, calisthenics. And we had no apparatus that time, or anything like that. We had these

dumbbells, you know, that time, we used to drill with dumbbells. I remember when I used to go underneath the legs

(inaudible), and then the other one, like when I was a kid. So, that’s what we done. And the men and the women—the

women was organized 5 years later, after the men organized. So the men, I think they organized in 1905, see. And the

ladies organized in 1910.

Stolarik: That’s right, yeah.

Stefanik: See? I remember all that. And then, out of that, then when the women were drilling in that gym, (inaudible), then Guman

was their instructor, and Tokar was the assistant, I guess, and so forth. Then, when we built the hall in 1912, the hall that

we have up there now.

Stolarik: Yeah, except that it was a wooden hall before.

Stefanik: Well, yeah, it’s still partly that. Well, it’s brick now, all the way around. But it was the wooden hall, yeah, framed. Then

later on—because we had our convention in ’22 [1922] here, 1922.

Stolarik: Yeah, I know, yeah, yeah.

Stefanik: And later on we done renovations and stuff like that. I don’t know if you—

Stolarik: Do you know how old you were when you joined the Sokols approximately? Were you 10, 11, something like that?

Stefanik: I’m telling you, when I was 16 years of age, I joined as a senior, senior lodge.

Stolarik: What about when you were—?

Stefanik: I was in the Podroz (sp?)

Stolarik: Yeah, how old were you when your father—?

Stefanik: When I came to this country—

Stolarik: Right away?

Stefanik: —I was 6 years old.

Stolarik: Right away he put you in?

Stefanik: Well, they put us in, yeah, when they organized, I guess, they put us in.

Stolarik: So right from the beginning?

Stefanik: Because I was in from the very beginning there.

Stolarik: Okay, that’s what I wanted to know.

Stefanik: I don’t think I was 1905; I was in Europe yet.

Stolarik: Yeah, but ’06 [1906] maybe, or ’07[1907]?

Stefanik: Huh?

Stolarik: 1906 or ’07[1907], maybe?

Stefanik: No, I mean when they organized in 1905, I was 6 years old. All right, we came here in 1905. And that year, when they

organized. And then, I was 6 years old when he put me in.

Stolarik: Oh, okay.

Stefanik: Because I was born in 1899.

Stolarik: Yeah, yeah, so right away, you were there? As soon as you got here, you went into the lodge?

Stefanik: Yeah, well, you know what I mean. They were friendly, all these people together. They all, all the Sokols, Stefko, and

Dade’s (sp?), and all of them there.

Stolarik: Okay, and how much did you pay in dues in those days?

Stefanik: I guess five cents a month. I don’t know.

Stolarik: In the Junior branch?

Stefanik: Yeah, I say, I guess it was around five cents.

Stolarik: And in the Senior branch, when you moved up to the Senior, how much did you pay then?

Stefanik: Maybe around—I don’t know what it was, 60 cents or what. I can’t—it’s pretty hard for me to remember all that. I know

what I’m paying now.

Stolarik: Okay, well then you moved up to the Senior Branch, to the elder one, when you were 16. Is that when they accepted you in

to the—16, when you were 16 years old?

Stefanik: Right, right, right, right, yeah. Right.

Stolarik: And did you then become an officer? When did you become an officer?

Stefanik: Well, I didn’t become an officer then right away, because I just got in there, and I used to go to meetings and stuff like that.

And you got to first find out, and learn from the others how they run their business.

Stolarik: In fact, why don’t you tell me what happened inside these meetings? What was a typical meeting like?

Stefanik: Well, they were all in Slovak, that’s all I can tell you. And—

Stolarik: What did they talk about?

Stefanik: They talked about organizing, and increasing, and growing, and talking about getting more members in, like they generally

talk, most of the time. Then they talked about discipline and everything like that, you know.

Stolarik: Did they stress Slovak nationalism? Especially during the First World War—do you remember that?

Stefanik: We come, Slovaks, for a long time there.

Stolarik: Yeah, but you know, there was a liberation movement going on during the First World War, and you see, they wanted to

destroy Austria-Hungary, and create Czechoslovakia. Now, do you remember them talking about that?

Stefanik: Oh, yes, I remember talking about that. I remember, my eldest brother John, he was going to join the Czechoslovakian—

00:52:52

00:00:59

Stolarik: Legion?

Stefanik: —Legion.

Stolarik: And did he?

Stefanik: No, he somehow—I don’t know what happened there. He never went. But he—

Stolarik: Quite a few Sokols went into that.

Stefanik: —was on the verge of going, but he never did.

Stolarik: And did your officers become real, sort of, Slovak patriots during the First World War?

Stefanik: We had meetings here where we were for the—

Stolarik: For setting up Czechoslovakia?

Stefanik: —setting up Czechoslovakia Republic, and everything. Oh yeah, we had big meetings, and everything.

Stolarik: Do you remember if the Slovak League33

was active in this town at that time?

Stefanik: Yes, they had Slovenska Liga. We were part of it here, in Bethlehem.

Stolarik: Who were—?

Stefanik: They had meetings here.

Stolarik: Who were leaders of the Slovenska Liga, do you remember?

Stefanik: Well, my father was one of the leaders in the Slovenska Liga here in Bethlehem, and Mr. George Slofkosky34

.

33

The Slovak League of America was formed in 1907 to assist Slovak immigrants to the United States and to improve conditions for the people of Slovakia.

00:53:54

00:00:59

Stolarik: He was in it, too?

Stefanik: Brother Novotny, Dean Novotny, and Helen Barron’s (sp?) father, and Strakas (sp?), Tafychy (sp?), Krychy (sp?). They

were all with the Liga.

Stolarik: And did the Liga sort of coordinate the liberation movement?

Stefanik: I only remember sometimes—I was much younger—my father used to take me to these meetings, you know. And I used to

hear them talk about conditions, what’s going on over there, why they want freedom, and all that stuff, in Czechoslovakia.

And they want to get their freedom, so they can live like they want to live, instead of being under the Hapsburg, or what the

heck they called them.

Stolarik: Did you have any demonstrations against Hungary during the war? Were there any demonstrations?

Stefanik: Not that I—no, I don’t remember having any kind of demonstration here, that we would have any serious thing.

Stolarik: Or manifestations, whatever?

Stefanik: We didn’t like one another, you know what I mean. We didn’t go to Hungarian affairs or anything like that. And they, I

guess they didn’t care about us. It was one way or the other, you know, who got told—they’d say, like they’d say, ‘Dumb

Slovak,’ or something like that. But we—I don’t know, it wasn’t anything serious, or anything that we would get in any

fight. Because we even had Slovak Days out at Central Park35

, and I know I happened to be, one time, a Treasurer there of

one of the days there, that they held out there, because we got a moving picture of Janacek (sp?).

Stolarik: Oh yeah, that was in ’22 [1922], I think.

Stefanik: I don’t know exactly what year it was, buy anyhow, I participated up there with them, because I was on the committee.

Stolarik: What happened to the Slovak League after the First World War?

34

One of the first Slovakian emigrants from Pennsyvlania’s coal region to settle in the Borough of South Bethlehem ca. 1878. 35

A now defunct park with rides such as a Derby Racer racing coaster that was located in Rittersville, Pensylvania.

00:55:10

00:00:59

00:56:23

00:00:59

Stefanik: Well, I don’t know what happened there, whether the religious part got in there, or what. I couldn’t—you know what I

mean.

Stolarik: Did it start to fall apart after?

Stefanik: You know what I mean, between Czechos and Slovaks, they didn’t hit it very good there, in between the Slovenska Liga.

That didn’t (inaudible) anymore. So, they were falling apart, breaking away.

Stolarik: I heard that the Kanyucks (sp?) were involved in the Liga, in recent years. Do you know anything about that?

Stefanik: No, wouldn’t know.

Stolarik: Because I’m looking for the minutes, and I can’t find them. Nobody seems to know.

Stefanik: I wouldn’t know; I couldn’t remember. I can only tell you what I was doing here in Bethlehem. And I never got involved

in the Liga, that I would become an officer in there, or anything like that.

Stolarik: Okay. So okay, let’s return to the Sokols, then. What did the Sokols then do for the community? What—?

Stefanik: What did we do? Well, we played politics, in a way. We had members that were in politics.

Stolarik: Who were these?

Stefanik: Well, Helen Barron36

was a leader up in the 4th

Ward.

Stolarik: Yeah, but that’s much later. What about in the ‘20’s [1920]?

Stefanik: In the ‘20’s [1920], Mike (inaudible) was in the ‘20’s there, and Mr. Novotny37

, and Mr. Tahosky (sp?). He was a Czech.

Did you hear his name?

Stolarik: Yeah, I know about him, Tahosky.

36

Project staff were unable to find information on this individual. 37

Project staff were unable to find information on this individual.

00:57:17

00:00:59

Stefanik: Petrov, John Bartos, John J. Bartos38

.

Stolarik: Okay, so they were involved in Democratic politics?

Stefanik: Right, right.

Stolarik: And what were they after? What did they want?

Stefanik: Well, they wanted representation here in the city of Bethlehem: the Slovaks should get some representation, either in the

city or the county, or someplace—get involved. We got involved in politics then.

Stolarik: Did you have a club?

Stefanik: Yes, we had the Sokol—National Sokol Democratic Club.

Stolarik: That was later, though. That was about 1940. What about in the ‘20’s [1920]? Did you have some kind of political club

then?

Stefanik: Well, we had—they called themselves different—it wasn’t a Slovak political club.

Stolarik: Well, whatever. What did they call themselves?

Stefanik: Well, Tammany39

was one. I helped to organize that, too. And let’s see. That was the one in the 4th

Ward. Then we had

some down here, Ukrainian Democratic Club40

, we helped to organize with the Ukrainians.

Stolarik: Well, since you helped organize Tammany, tell me about that. How did you go about doing that?

Stefanik: Well, I’ll tell you what happened. One time, we had a meeting there, some kind—sort of a rally. And we were—after the

rally, we got talking.

38

John J. Bartos is a local attorney who began practicing law in Bethlehem in 1974. 39

Tammany Democratic Association is located on 4th

Street on Bethlehem’s south side. 40

Project staff were unable to identify the club’s location.

00:58:26

00:00:59

Stolarik: Who called the rally together?

Stefanik: John Peters, and John Bartos and them, they called the rally together, and said that we ought to have some kind of

representation here with a club, you know. And then, we were thinking of what we should call it, and everything like that.

We had different kind of names and everything. And we picked out Tammany because of the Smith, you know, Al Smith41

and all that stuff?

Stolarik: Yeah, right, New York.

Stefanik: In New York. And we picked out Tammany42

then, as for the name. So, we voted on it, and everything went through.

Tammany became our name. We got the—

Stolarik: Was it basically Slovaks doing this, or were there (inaudible)?

Stefanik: Mostly Slovaks was in there, yeah, the majority, and some Irish—and we had some Irish in there, some Hungarians.

Stolarik: So it was—?

Stefanik: It was mostly Slovaks.

Stolarik: It was a 4th

Ward organization?

Stefanik: Yeah, between John J. Bartos, Peters, and Guyock (sp?), and myself and a couple others, we were the leaders. We were the

guys that were—wanted to get in politics. Because I never bothered about politics; I only used to vote. And later on,

Peters, he had his office down 3rd

Street.

Stolarik: What did he do?

Stefanik: Huh?

41

Alfred Emanuel Smith (1873-1944), was Democratic who served four terms as the governor of New York. 42

Referring to Tammany Hall in New York City.

Stolarik: What was his job?

Stefanik: He was an Alderman.

Stolarik: When did he become an Alderman?

Stefanik: Well, that’s a long time. I—

Stolarik: Was he the first Slovak politician in town?

Stefanik: I would say so, yeah.

Stolarik: The one who was successful, running for office, and got into office? Was he the first?

Stefanik: No, I think between him—I think it was John J. Bartos might have been the first, yeah.

Stolarik: Was he an Alderman too, or something?

Stefanik: No, John J. Bartos was an Assessor, County Assessor. And then they—he went into business for himself, and to stock

brokerage business, and stuff like that. And he made out good, because he was the first one out of Slovak—he had most of

the Slovaks, and done business with them. And he made out good. And Peters was in it the same way, then, when he was

in the Aldermanship. He opened up a business for himself like that. And then, Guyock(sp?) —not the one that was

Councilman, his brother. He was in sort of a business, (inaudible) business, and stuff like that. So, they all got together,

and they wanted to get somebody somewhere and sometime be in politics, and to represent the people, I would say that,

who have—Tammany has an organization now that still exists. And then I’m down here at the—when I lived down here,

see, in 1927, I bought this home. I lived up on Williams Street, in my father’s home. And when I got married, then I

bought this home, and that’s when I got in politics. Peters and an Italian fellow that was in business, too, down on 3rd

Street

with Peters—why, they asked me, ‘How about getting in politics? How about you running for an Assessor down in the 17th

Ward, down here in our ward here?’ And all right, I talked to my wife. I says, ‘I’m going to run for County Assessor. Is it

all right with you?’ She says, ‘I don’t care. If you want to, go ahead. That’s your business. It ain’t going to bother me.’

So I did. I joined the organization, and first, we were already organized down here. So I went down there, and I told them,

I says, ‘I want to run for Assessor.’ And they had an old man that was in there already; he was in there, I guess, for about

40 years, or something like that. He was Dutch, you know. Mostly Dutch people lived down here, you know, at one time,

01:00:57

00:00:59

over here where the steel company is, and (inaudible) town. So, his name was Seifert (sp?), Old Man Seifert. And I ran

against him. And do you know, that time politics was pretty crooked there? I thought I had it in the bag. I thought I

defeated him, and everything like that. When the votes were counted, he beat me out.

Stolarik: How come? What happened?

Stefanik: Well, there’s somebody that wrote down his name, and threw mine out, you know. They were crooked at that time.

Stolarik: Oh, they were playing with the ballots?

Stefanik: You can’t do that now! There were paper ballots, that time. But they told me that afterwards, that they did it, later on. But

they told me, ‘Next time you run, don’t worry about it. You’re in.’ So I ran the next time; I had no problem. I won. I

walloped (inaudible).

Stolarik: What year was that?

Stefanik: That was in 19—let’s see.

Stolarik: Well, you ran the first time in ’27 [1927]?

Stefanik: Yeah, ’27 [1927], and that was 4 years later, in ’31 [1931].

Stolarik: ’31 [1931], so you won?

Stefanik: ’31 [1931], yeah.

Stolarik: Do you remember when Peters ran for Alderman, that Steve Kometz (sp?) ran against him? Do you remember that?

Stefanik: I can’t exactly remember the year.

Stolarik: That was in the 4th

Ward.

Stefanik: But I know that they ran against one another. But I couldn’t tell you exactly the year.

01:02:20

00:00:59

01:03:33

00:00:59

01:03:53

00:00:59

01:04:22

22

00:00:59

Stolarik: Well, I know the year. I just want to know if you remember anything about that?

Stefanik: Well, I sure remember all about these politics! What the hell, they were fighting amongst themselves!

Stolarik: What were they saying? (Laughs)

Stefanik: Well, you know what I mean: ‘I’m running against you, and that’s all. No hard feelings.’ Because you make up your mind

to run, you’re going to run!

Stolarik: But who was backing whom? Who was backing whom?

Stefanik: Well, the relations were backing one another. Peters’ gang, and the relatives—their people was backing him up. And you

take like John J. Bartos and them—he was with Peters. He wasn’t with Petzy (sp?) in that one. So his relations, again, they

backed him up, and actually, those that had more relations won. That’s all—

Stolarik: What about Tammany? Who did they back?

Stefanik: I think they stayed out of the picture, you know. The both of them were members in there. You can’t do backing fights like

that, in a club. You don’t do that.

Stolarik: Okay, so Petrov won, yeah?

Stefanik: Yeah. It’s like when I ran—well, I was in there for quite some time, and then there was a fellow—I went down the seashore

on my vacation, and a fellow, Rudy Voss (sp?), he turned a petition in, and he ran against me—a Russian. So, a lot of

Russians lived down here in the Heights43

. And I—I don’t know what happened, but I come back. I see—I’m reading the

paper there—I have opposition, see. So, the both of us from the same club, you know, and I didn’t make any fuss about it.

I think, if you’re going to run, you’re going to run. So he beat me out by 50 votes. The final count was that I lost by 50.

Well, that time my first wife already died. I was married to another wife, and she didn’t care too much about politics, so

she didn’t go out, like my other first wife was a committeewoman, see. If she would have been living there, he’d have

never beat me. See, that would have been the difference. But because of that, why, my wife didn’t push or anything, to go

43

A neighborhood formerly in south east Bethlehem.

01:05:44

00:00:59

out there and work for me. I mean, what are you going to do? You can’t blame her if she don’t care for it. You ain’t going

to push anybody into something that they don’t like. Because even now, she don’t care much about politics.

Stolarik: Okay, well we’ll get back to politics later. Let’s get back to the Sokols now, or let’s get back to the fraternals. What did

you do in the National Slovak Society?

Stefanik: Well, when I—right from the very beginning, Mr. Krychik (sp?)—my father and Krychik, they were the officers there. And

I used to go to the meetings, and they asked me to be what they call a Recording Secretary, see. So all right, I tell them, I

could write Slovak. I says, ‘All right, I’ll take it.’ And to my father, I never refused the man. ‘You take Recording

Secretary—you can write.’ ‘Okay, okay Pop.’ So I took it, and that was—I just can’t remember exactly the year, but it was

a long time. And I became the Secretary. And I’ve been Recording Secretary ever since!

Stolarik: That’s great. Well, do you have the minutes?

Stefanik: I mean, the minutes I turned in, when, to Mr. Krychik, Father, you know. But all that stuff there, I don’t know what he done

with them, see. The old man, the old man had (inaudible). We had no meetings anymore, so there was no minutes

anymore!

Stolarik: When did this happen, no more meetings?

Stefanik: Oh, that could be way back, in the ‘30’s [1930], yet.

Stolarik: Really, that far back?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, ’35 [1935], or something like that. See, we even held picnics yet, and that’s how we made a little money for

ourselves. We had picnics. We sold booze and everything like that, and people came to our picnics. Like, the Sokols44

all

came to our—we went to theirs. And we made a couple bucks for ourselves. That time, it was easier to make money than it

is today. But, we supported the Liga. We belonged to the Jupa (sp?)—it’s called the District of Philadelphia. We paid

dues, but we never went to the meetings or anything down there. Because there was nobody else but Krychik, Old Man

Krychik.

Stolarik: It was very small, yeah.

44

Gymnastic meets.

01:07:20

00:00:59

Stefanik: And we collected the dues. That’s all, it’s collection of dues, collection of dues, collection of dues.

Stolarik: So it was a very small Lodge?

Stefanik: Oh well, I tell you, we had about 135. It dwindled down to 28, 29. that’s from the very beginning, that I can remember at

that time, but they all died out.

Stolarik: So you’re down to the 20’s now?

Stefanik: There are 25, 28 or 26 now.

Stolarik: And what’s happening now? You never have any meetings anymore?

Stefanik: Well, we dissolved. We dissolved ourselves. We don’t have anything anymore.

Stolarik: When did you dissolve?

Stefanik: We dissolved that two years ago, I guess—two years ago. We had a certain amount of money in the treasury, which Sy

Krychik [Kraychik?], he’s Secretary and Treasurer—Financial Secretary and Treasurer. And he had all the money. He had

put it away, and he had it on interest. So he says he didn’t care to carry on anymore. He says, ‘What do you say we divide

some of the money up,’ and whatever they wanted to call that, we call a meeting. So we called a meeting, and everybody

showed up—18. Eighteen of us showed up, because see, over there, some of them are in there with, they’re husband and

wife, see. So it wasn’t necessary for the husband and wife to come to a meeting; if one of them came, it was all right. So

that’s why it dwindled down to 18 came to the meeting. And we passed at the meeting—Sy Krychik explained everything,

what the intentions are. We just come up and collect dues, and when sometimes nobody comes up to pay or anything like,

nobody to talk to, no activity, nothing. So he says we might as well dissolve, and cut it out, and he says, give everybody a

certain amount of money, and divide it up. And the rest that’s left, as long as it lasts, we’ll pay the dues. And he says

Krychik will take care of it; he’s going to pay the dues. So he’s paying our dues now. Well, those that die off, all right,

they’re out. And he just takes care of that end. Now, when everybody is paid out—I mean, when the dues money runs out,

we have to all take care of ourselves. Now, whether the Supreme Lodge will appoint somebody like Krychik to still collect

from us, and pay him for it, I don’t know. I don’t know.

01:09:59

00:00:59

Stolarik: How come—why do you think the lodge did so badly?

Stefanik: Well, we had no youngsters! Everybody’s old!

Stolarik: Why not? Why couldn’t you get any youngsters?

Stefanik: The junior lodge petered out. They had nobody.

Stolarik: But why? Why do you think that happened?

Stefanik: Because young people—you take, like, even myself. I didn’t put anybody in the junior lodge, of the Slovensky (inaudible).

It didn’t mean nothing to me, the organization.

Stolarik: And why is that—because they didn’t have the kind of program that the Sokol had?

Stefanik: They didn’t have nothing! Nothing. What am I going to have the kid belong to an organization, dead assembly, dead

lodge, when they only collect dues? There’s no activity.

Stolarik: I see, so no activity anymore?

Stefanik: You can’t put children in like that.

Stolarik: Except maybe for those picnics?

Stefanik: You have the men in charge, you can do the same thing.

Stolarik: Except maybe for those picnics.

Stefanik: But we didn’t have any more picnics. We cut them out, because we had nobody to work! Who the hell was going to work?

I got old, too. I got old, and we couldn’t do it—we had no youngsters there. We had nobody there under 60 anymore, in

the organization there.

Stolarik: Did you have both Catholics and Lutherans in this organization? 01:13:23

00:00:59

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stolarik: Was that one of the features?

Stefanik: That was a feature, yeah.

Stolarik: That any religion could join, a person of any religion?

Stefanik: That’s right.

Stolarik: Do you remember some of the Lutherans, who they were?

Stefanik: Oh, yeah, Rastutsky (sp?) is one.

Stolarik: What’s his name?

Stefanik: Rastutsky.

Stolarik: Rastutsky, okay.

Stefanik: And Kolessars (sp?), when they lived here in Bethlehem—

Stolarik: When did they move out?

Stefanik: After they moved out, they got out of the organization, too.

Stolarik: Where’d they go?

Stefanik: Huh?

Stolarik: Where’d they go, the Kolessars?

Stefanik: They went to Yonkers, New York.

Stolarik: Oh, okay, because I’ve been studying the Lutherans, too.

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah. they went—see, at one time, the Kolessar’s, Kralik’s (sp?), and Tupeek (sp?), and let’s see—

Stolarik: What about the Vida’s?

Stefanik: Pavlovich (sp?)—they all lived around here. we all bought homes. Kolessars and Krychiks bought together, right up here

at Sixth Street.

Stolarik: Is Krychik a Lutheran?

Stefanik: No, no, no, no.

Stolarik: But Kolessars are?

Stefanik: Yeah.

Stolarik: And the Vidas, do you know the Vidas?

Stefanik: Yeah, I know the Vida’s. They died already.

Stolarik: Oh, I see. Were they in—?

Stefanik: They were not in—

Stolarik: Not in yours?

Stefanik: No, no.

Stolarik: They were in the Evangelical?

Stefanik: Yeah, they were in the Evangelical, yeah.

Stolarik: In fact, since we’re talking about Lutherans, do you know of any old-timer Lutherans I should go talk to?

Stefanik: Well, I know Yanta Colleeks (sp?), and I know—of course, Reverend Daniels is—

Stolarik: Yeah, I talked to him. I’m talking about laymen now. Are there any around that you think I should go see?

Stefanik: Well, they practically all died. Who’s this, up here on Third Street? He already died. With a “Z,” or something like that.

He used to belong—well, his daughter still belongs up here in the church. And he—I can’t. My memory is starting to peter

out on me. [Pause in recording. It appears part of the interview is missing at this point. This is the transition between two

tapes.]

And ask these people, ‘Where the heck were you? You were supposed to come to the meeting. You’re holding office!’

Give them hell. I says, ‘After all,’ I says, ‘You don’t want to have a meeting by yourself.’ I says, ‘How you going to

discuss things when you’re going to have a meeting just for the few officers?’ I says, ‘You do everything by yourself,

nobody knows nothing. If you do something wrong, somebody’s going to criticize you. Whose fault is it? It’s your own

damn fault, because you done it all by yourself. If you have somebody there, at least you have somebody to advise you, or

tell you what to do or not to do.’

Stolarik: Is there a good turnout at the yearly meeting? No? How many come, usually?

Stefanik: 13.

Stolarik: 13. Well, what’s going to happen?

Stefanik: Out of a large—over 260 or 70 members, only 13 people come to a meeting.

Stolarik: What’s going to happen, eventually?

Stefanik: I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. Nobody wants to work, and next thing, things will go down the line.

Stolarik: Well, I noticed that there are kids going to gymnastics, girls especially, but not too many boys. How do you explain that?

01:16:08

00:00:59

Stefanik: Well, the only thing is that I can say is: the fathers don’t send their boys up.

Stolarik: Well, why do the girls go?

Stefanik: Well, because I guess the mothers tell them to go!

Stolarik: You’re telling me that the women are more interested than the men?

Stefanik: Well, I think they are, in a way. I think they are, because at their meeting there, the whole gang is there. All the officers

there at the meeting; they don’t miss. I always go over there and pay my dues for my wife, and they’re all there.

Stolarik: So the women take more interest now in meetings than the men?

Stefanik: They take maybe interest in their own meetings, but I don’t know whether they take interest in ours.

Stolarik: Well, that’s what I mean: they take more interest in their meetings than the men take in their own.

Stefanik: Well, I suppose they do. I suppose they do.

Stolarik: Why do you think that is happening?

Stefanik: Well, I think it’s because who the hell they have there together as officers.

Stolarik: You think its leadership, then?

Stefanik: Sure it is. I blame it on the leadership! I told them all up there, I says, ‘I’m very sad.’ I’ll tell you, I’m upset! I don’t like

it, what’s going on up there. I feel bad.

Stolarik: Why are the officers so lackadaisical? Why don’t they—?

Stefanik: They just don’t care. They don’t. ‘Oh, everything is all right.’ They’ll do everything by them. Now, you take, in deciding

something. One time there we brought up questions about putting up a new door in the front, and everything like that.

They said, ‘Well, we’ll see about it. We’ll see about it.’ And I kept on going for a couple meetings, and same thing, ‘We

don’t know yet.’ Well, I said, ‘Geez, you want me to call up somebody to come up and give you an estimate, I can do that

anytime!’ And I says, ‘Anybody in business will be glad to come up and give you an estimate for a door.’ I says, ‘Why are

you holding back there?’ So finally they done it, and they got a nice door, now. The place looks good from the front. They

wanted to close the Stefanik door.

Stolarik: (Laughs)

Stefanik: I said, ‘No, you don’t have to close Stefanik, but I’m glad you’ve got it in,’ I said, ‘Because the other door was shabby, and

it was an old wooden door. It’d had its days.’ So, we needed something to brush up the place.

Stolarik: Okay, well let’s get off the lodges for a second, and go to the church. Did your family belong all to Saint Cyril’s Church,

the whole family?

Stefanik: Yes, we did. We all belonged to it all the way through, until I got married the second time. Then I joined the church where

I married my second wife.

Stolarik: Where is that?

Stefanik: That’s down here on Fourth Street.

Stolarik: Saint John Capistrano45

?

Stefanik: Saint John Capistrano, yeah.

Stolarik: And you’ve been going there because of your wife?

Stefanik: Yeah, I’ve been going there ever since I got married.

Stolarik: Your second wife was Hungarian?

45

A Catholic church that historically served a Hungarian population formerly located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was closed in 2008.

01:18:58

00:00:59

Stefanik: I quit our church, because well, I figured this way I’d see a lot of people that go there, and live right around here. A lot of

Hungarian people live around here, that I know. And I feel good going to church where I see people that I know. Even

Johnny Yusowsky (sp?) belongs to the church there.

Stolarik: The younger one?

Stefanik: Yeah, our Secretary, Financial Secretary. See, I thought I had this here from Saint Cyril Methodius Golden Jubilee.

Stolarik: Yeah, that’s a good book. I’ve got a copy of it.

Stefanik: Did you see it?

Stolarik: Yeah, (inaudible) loaned me his copy.

Stefanik: I thought it’d be—if you wanted anything out of here?

Stolarik: Oh, yeah, there’s good stuff in there.

Stefanik: Yeah, see I can show you, here’s the church now. There’s a picture in there of the church when—

Stolarik: When it was being built.

Stefanik: Yeah.

Stolarik: What I wanted to ask you is do you remember—?

Stefanik: You see, Wilsack (sp?) used to teach us gym out of that church.

Stolarik: Wilsack?

Stefanik: Bob Wilsack.

Stolarik: Used to teach you gym?

Stefanik: He was the first one; he taught us gym in there before Guman did.

Stolarik: Good grief.

Stefanik: He’d come over there. He’d tell Guman, he’d say, ‘All right, I used to be in the Army.’ He made us march around in the

church.

Stolarik: Yeah? Oh, great.

Stefanik: I remember that. I can remember that!

Stolarik: Okay, well why don’t you tell me then, in 1910—I don’t know if you remember that far back, but why did the Catholic

Sokols organize themselves? Why did a group of people break off from the National, and form the Catholic?

Stefanik: Well, you know, just like any other guys, when it comes to religion, it’s religion. As far as I know, that I tried to find out,

we had Catholics and non-Catholics in our Sokol organization from the beginning, and we still have them. And then

somebody, I guess, didn’t like what was going on in the National Sokols, didn’t like it because we had Lutherans mixed up

with us, or something like that, and figured it would be better if they had their own, and then they could join up with the

parishes, and they can get a lot of children in there to join the Catholic Sokol. And another thing is, it would be strong,

because the priests would belong to the Catholic Sokols, you know, all the way around? So somebody had a good idea, and

he organized a Catholic Sokol. And that was a fellow that—I think he lost his arm.

Stolarik: Hythold (sp?)?

Stefanik: Hythold, yeah. He’s the one that organized the Catholic Sokol. And ever since then, they’re even stronger than we are,

financially.

Stolarik: Yeah. Okay, what do you remember about the priests? What do you remember about Vlossak? What kind of a priest was

he?

Stefanik: I told you, he took me down there. He wanted me to be the artist.

01:20:43

00:00:59

01:22:03

00:00:59

Stolarik: Did the people like him?

Stefanik: He was all right. He was a good mixer. He used to go take a walk up the streets, and visit the homes. He’d go inside in the

kitchen there, and say, ‘What are you cooking now? What’s going on there? Let’s have a taste of this, a taste of that.’

That’s the way my mother used to say, you know, tell us that Vlossak used to visit the home, would go from one home to

another, and meet the parishioners that way.

Stolarik: Did he have any problems with any of the parishioners? Were there any difficulties?

Stefanik: Not that I know. Not that I know.

Stolarik: What about—?

Stefanik: I don’t know how or what happened that he got out of here, and where they—he went to Tresko (sp?), or something.

Stolarik: Yeah, he resigned voluntarily, apparently.

Stefanik: I don’t know what he did that time, but he left, and that was it. And he even organized the (inaudible) Hellertown church,

you know, Saint Theresa’s down there. Because I remember, I was down there for that dedication, the ground-breaking of

that church. The small church—not the one that’s been built up now, but the other small church that was there.

Stolarik: What about Tekethi (sp?)? What do you remember about him?

Stefanik: Tekethi? Well, he was a nice guy. He wasn’t a bad fellow. As much as I know the priests there, I think he was okay. He

acted like a priest.

Stolarik: Did he have any problems with the laymen?

Stefanik: I don’t think so. I’ll tell you—may I say something to you about our National Sokol? We never had no problems with the

church, never.

Stolarik: I was thinking of whether or not there were kudatory (sp?). I don’t know if you know about these people: kudatory in the

church.

Stefanik: Like laymen?

Stolarik: Yeah, laymen who participate in church government.

Stefanik: They collect at meetings? No, we don’t have that.

Stolarik: Yeah, but they used to. They used to have those (inaudible).

Stefanik: From the beginning, there—from the beginning there, I guess, when we built the church, I guess, like Bartos’ father might

have been one, and (inaudible)

Stolarik: I’m just wondering how they got along with the priest?

Stefanik: I think they had meetings with him when they wanted to do something, but the priest was the General. He dictated

everything.

Stolarik: So he had no problem with these guys, then?

Stefanik: No, I don’t think so.

Stolarik: Okay, and do you get any Slovak newspapers?

Stefanik: I used to get the Slovensky Dennik, then I cut it out because everything I was reading in there, I was reading in the American

papers.

Stolarik: Yeah, Narodsky Dennik

Stefanik: Yeah, Narodsky Dennik. I couldn’t see it, you know what I mean. I was paying my 6 dollars a year, or whatever it was at

that time. But I’m getting this paper here, I’m reading things in there that I read long ago in the American paper, so it was

no news to me, outside of keeping me sharp in Slovak or something.

Stolarik: Yeah, but what about some other papers? Did you read any more?

01:24:32

00:00:59

Stefanik: Well, I got the, not only Slovenksy Slovak papers.

Stolarik: Oh, yeah, the (inaudible).

Stefanik: I get that as a member; I just got it the other day.

Stolarik: Did your parents get any other—?

Stefanik: Slovak v Amerike.

Stolarik: They used to get Slovak v Amerike?

Stefanik: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stolarik: And of course, you got the Sokol’s paper, too.

Stefanik: And Sokol, I get that, yeah.

Stolarik: Oh, that’s another thing I wanted to ask you. Why did—?

Stefanik: I used to put a couple write-ups in the Sokol paper.

Stolarik: So you still send them articles?

Stefanik: Yeah, I already sent them. I had some good articles in there for them, yeah.

Stolarik: What did you write about?

Stefanik: Why, I can give you—I believe I had a copy I can—

Stolarik: You can get it after. Let’s just keep talking. What else did I want to ask you? Oh, yeah. A few years ago, the Sokols

changed their name from Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol, to Sokol USA. 01:25:45

00:00:59

Stefanik: Sokol USA, yeah.

Stolarik: Now, how did that come about?

Stefanik: That’s Babuska’s baby.

Stolarik: Who is Babuska?

Stefanik: John Babuska from East Orange. He was our Financial Secretary in the Sokols when he was in there.

Stolarik: The head Sokol?

Stefanik: Yeah, that’s the time he was deciding. He says, ‘We ought to change our name, Americanize it a little bit.’ He says, ‘That

Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol,’ he says, ‘That don’t sound right.’ He says, ‘It should be Sokol USA is sufficient.’

Stolarik: And so what happened? A convention—?

Stefanik: Well, they adopted it, but in the charter and everything like that, we’re still Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol. So we can’t

change that, unless we want to change our charter.

Stolarik: Would you have preferred the old name?

Stefanik: Why sure, because we’re Slovaks! Sokol USA? What the hell’s it mean to anybody?

Stolarik: Well how did he get away with it? Did the convention approve it?

Stefanik: Well, they adopted it. Yeah, they adopted it, while he was in there, sure.

Stolarik: What about the people here? Did they like the name change?

Stefanik: I don’t know. We call ourselves the National Sokol.

Stolarik: Yeah, right. What about the fact that they no longer—?

Stefanik: Narodny Sokols.

Stolarik: What about the fact that they don’t publish anything in Slovak anymore, they publish just in English?

Stefanik: We don’t have anybody to do so. Carol Bednar (sp?) used to be the only one that used to do so. And when whosis was in

there—before Carol Bednar. (Inaudible / pause)

Stolarik: Well, it doesn’t matter; I can look up his name. Okay, let’s get on to something else now. How did you get along with your

parents, and with your brothers and sisters? What was family life like?

Stefanik: All right. We all got along very good, all of us brothers and sisters. We still get along, those that are living.

Stolarik: No rivalry or tension?

Stefanik: No, no, never. Never had any differences.

Stolarik: Who was the boss in the house, your mother or father?

Stefanik: My father was the boss, all the time. He was pretty strict. Mother was a little bit lenient.

Stolarik: And who was your first wife? You mentioned you were married twice.

Stefanik: She was a Slovak. Katherine Pasola was her maiden name.

Stolarik: Sola?

Stefanik: Shola (sp?).

Stolarik: Oh, Shola, sure, (inaudible).

Stefanik: Yeah, they call it Pasola now, Shola.

01:27:44

00:00:59

Stolarik: Yeah, yeah. and when did you get married?

Stefanik: I got married in 1920—let’s see, ’24 [1924].

Stolarik: How long had you dated before that?

Stefanik: Three years.

Stolarik: Did your parents approve of your choice, when you got married?

Stefanik: Oh, yeah, they were very happy, yeah. I had a very good wife the first time, very good.

Stolarik: How did you meet her?

Stefanik: I met her through her father going to the National Slovak Society, and they had, I think, a dance one time up in the Catholic

Sokol Hall. And I met her, somehow. Next thing you know, we dated one another. But that was the first time. See, they

came from Philadelphia, the Pasolas. They came from Philly, and they moved here, and they were living on Southridge

Street. Not Southridge—Atlantic. No, yeah—Atlantic Street. Atlantic Street.

Stolarik: What was the wedding like? Did you have a big wedding?

Stefanik: That time, they didn’t have big weddings like now. The wedding was right up in— [portion of interview missing)

(End of Interview)