2024

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society (C-RS) celebrates its 30th Anniversary

2024

C-RS unveils its newly redesigned website

2023

Sharon Jarrow becomes fifth president of C-RS

2022

C-RS holds its Annual Meeting for the first time as a fully virtual function

2020

The Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center holds its first internet-based Summer Seminar Series

2020

The C-RS Heritage Program, hosted by Dean Poloka, becomes part of Rusyn.fm, an internet-based radio station in Slovakia

2019

At its 25th Anniversary, C-RS is gifted $200,000, in part from the Greek Catholic Union, earmarked for renovations of its Cultural Center

2017

The John Schweich Collection, the largest collection of anniversary books published by American Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox churches of Carpatho-Rusyn background, is donated to C-RS

2016

The Anna Donson Scholarship is funded to assist students who would advance Carpatho-Rusyn culture, language, or tenets of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society

2016

Maryann Sivak becomes the third president of C-RS

2015

The Timo Foundation releases its first documentary, entitled “Changed by Thalerhof”

2014

Formation of the John and Helen Timo Foundation, the largest Carpatho-Rusyn charitable organization

2013

Jim Kepchar-Kaminski becomes second president of C-RS

2012

First Annual Rusyn Genealogy and Heritage Conference is held in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

2010

October 26th is designated Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America honoring the date in 1918 when Rusyn representatives met in Independence Hall to sign the Declaration of Common Aims. The United States and remaining participants recognized the Carpatho-Rusyns as an independent nationality

2010

Founding of the Carpatho-Rusyn Consortium of North America for Rusyn advocacy

2009

Inaugural international summer school for Rusyn Language and Culture (Studium Carpatho-Ruthenorum) in Prešov, Slovakia

2008

Institute of Rusyn Language and Culture is established at Prešov University

2008

Institute for the Culture of Vojvodinian Rusyn is established in Novi Sad, Serbia

2007

Regional government of Transcarpathian Oblast recognizes Rusyns as a distinct national group; however, national government of Ukraine fails to follow suit

2007

The Museum of Rusyn Culture (Múzeum rusínskej kultúry) opens in Prešov within the context of the Slovak National Museum

2004

C-RS purchases the former St. John the Baptist Cathedral for use as its National Cultural and Educational Center

2003

Tom Ridge, baptized at St. John the Baptist Cathedral, becomes the first Rusyn-American — and first Slav — to enter the U.S. Cabinet serving as the first Secretary of Homeland Security

2000

The Carpatho-Rusyn language is codified in Poland

1999

The New Jersey chapter (originally the Metro New Jersey/New York chapter) of C-RS is chartered. This regional model ultimately expands to 13 chapters across the country

1996

The inaugural Carpatho-Rusyn Society Rusyn Heritage Tour to Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine (Subcarpathian Rus’) is led by John Righetti and Jerry Jumba

1995

The Carpatho-Rusyn language is codified in Slovakia

1994

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society (C-RS) is founded by nine original members to promote Rusyn culture in the United States. John Righetti becomes its first (and later, fourth) president

1994

The Andy Warhol Museum opens as a global destination for scholarship and learning about Warhol’s life, art, and relevance to contemporary culture

1991

The first World Congress of Rusyns is held in Medzilaborce, Czechoslovakia

1990s

Countries of the European Union recognize Rusyns as a distinct national minority

1989

Fall of Communism leading to revival in Rusyn nationalism and self-identification in European homeland

1983

The Rusin Association is established in Minnesota, the first Carpatho-Rusyn organization in the United States not affiliated with a religious group

1978

The movie ‘Deerhunter’ focuses on a group of friends of Carpatho-Rusyn background from Clairton, Pennsylvania. Rusyn wedding traditions can be seen in one scene of the movie

1978

Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center is founded by Paul Robert Magocsi to publish and distribute scholarly and popular reading materials about Carpatho-Rusyns

1959

Slavjane Folk Ensemble, a premiere Rusyn performance organization, is formed by Jack Poloka

1950

Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries bar emigration from the Carpatho-Rusyn homeland for most of the four decades of Communist rule

1947

Operation Vistula forces resettlement of 150,000 Lemkos and Boykos from southeastern provinces of post-war Poland to the west of the country

1945

Transcarpathia is annexed by USSR

1945

Sgt. Michael Strank, Rusyn-American immigrant, is one of six Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima

1941

Fr. Joseph Hanulya publishes first history of Rusyn literature written in English

1939

The Rusin Cultural Gardens (today the Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Garden) open in Cleveland’s Rockefeller Park

1939

Subcarpathian Rus annexed by Hungary under the Second Vienna Award

1937

Formation of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America (ACROD)

1934

First Labor Day religious retreat is held on the grounds of Mount St. Macrina near Uniontown, Pennsylvania

1931

Representatives of various Lemko organizations meet in Cleveland, Ohio to form the Lemko Association

1929

“Cum data fuerit” decree mandates celibacy for all Rusyn clergy in America and consignment of parish churches to ownership by the bishop leading to an estimated 200,000 Ruthenian faithful becoming Orthodox

1928

Artist Andy Warhol, the most famous Rusyn-American, is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1927

The Rusin Elite Society is founded in Cleveland to maintain Rusyn traditions among youth, ultimately becoming the Rusin Educational Society

1927

Rusyn-American comic artist Steve Ditko, creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, is born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

1926

St. John the Baptist becomes first Greek Catholic cathedral in America exclusively for Carpatho-Rusyns

1924

United States national quota system severely restricts immigration from Eastern Europe

1924

Papal bull creates Ruthenian Greek Catholic Exarchate (missionary diocese) in America

1923

Modern Rusyn literary language is codified in Serbia

1921

First Rusyn Day celebration Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1919

Subcarpathian Rus’ annexed into the newly formed Republic of Czechoslovakia

1918

Majority of Lemkos in Poland form the short-lived Lemko-Rusyn Republic hoping to unite with their southern brethren in a newly-formed Czechoslovakia

1918

American National Council of Uhro-Rusins formed, convening in St. John the Baptist Church to advocate for Carpatho-Rusyn self-determination

1907

Vatican appoints Soter Ortynsky as the first bishop for America’s Greek Catholics

1892

Founding of The Greek Catholic Union, the oldest continuous fraternal benefit society for Rusyn immigrants and their descendants. It’s official publication, Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, becomes the leading Rusyn-American newspaper of the first half of the twentieth century

1885

St. Nicholas Brotherhood founded in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania as the first Rusyn fraternal organization

1880-1914

First and largest wave of Rusyn immigration from Austria-Hungary to the northeastern United States, estimated at 225,000 people

1867

Austria-Hungarian Compromise establishing the dual monarchy with majority of Carpatho-Rusyns residing in the Kingdom of Hungary. Rusyn language schools forced to shut down under Magyarization

1864

Writer and national revivalist, Aleksander Pavlovych, publishes patriotic and didactic poetry in Transcarpathian dialect

1864

Transcarpathian jurist, Adolf Dobriansky, is appointed advisor to the Hungarian Court Chancellery, after unsuccessfully advocating for Rusyn autonomy within the Austrian Empire

1851

Dukhnovych publishes his poem “I was, I am, and will always be Rusyn” (Я Русин был, єсмь, и буду)

1850

Aleksander Dukhnovych, known as the “national awakener of the Carpatho-Rusyns”, establishes the first Ruthenian cultural association, the Eperjes (now Prešov) Literary Society

1848

Serfdom is abolished throughout the Austrian Empire freeing Carpatho-Rusyns from centuries of servitude

1847

Publication of the first school primer of the Carpatho-Rusyn language by Aleksander Dukhnovych

1830

Publication of the first grammar of the Carpatho-Rusyn language by Mykhaïl Luchkaj

1818

Creation of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Prešov

1778

Establishment of the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary in Uzhhorod during the “golden age” of Bishop Andrij Bacyns’kyj

1777

Creation of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci

1772

The Austrian Habsburg Empire annexes Galicia (including the Lemko Region) from Poland

1771

Creation of an independent Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, whose seat is moved to Uzhhorod in 1780

1745

The first Carpatho-Rusyns move to the Bachka (Vojvodina) region and settle in Ruski Kerestur

1733

The last Orthodox bishop of Maramaros county dies and the remaining Orthodox parishes in Subcarpathian Rus’ join the church union with Rome

1703 – 1711

Carpatho-Rusyns join the unsuccessful rebellion of the Hungarian Prince of Transylvania and lord of Mukachevo, Ferenc Rakoczi II, against the Austrian Habsburg rule

1698 – 1699

Appearance of the first printed books for Carpatho-Rusyns; the Primer (Bukvar) and Catechism (Katychyzis) of Bishop Joseph de Camillis

1692

Orthodox Eparchy of Przemyśl joins the church union with Rome

1646

Union of Uzhhorod creates the Uniate Church in Hungary, eventually including all of Subcarpathian Rus and the Prešov Region

1595

Union of Brest creates the Uniate Church in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, eventually reaching the Lemko Region

1573

Implementation of proprietary serfdom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Lemko-Rusyn peasants subjected to their landlords

1526

Austria’s Habsburg rulers become kings of Hungary and claim authority over the entire kingdom, including Carpathian Rus’ on the southern slopes of the mountains

1514

Implementation of proprietary serfdom in the Hungarian Kingdom; Carpatho-Rusyn peasants subjected to their landlords

1440

First Orthodox bishop for Carpatho-Rusyns begins to reign from Mukachevo

1396

Part-legendary Prince Fedor Koriatovych of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania settles in Mukachevo; supports the nearby Orthodox monastery on Monk’s Hill and a new monastery at Krasnŷi Brid.

1340s

Galicia and the eastern Lemko Region are incorporated into the kingdom of Poland

1030s – 1050s

Hungarian Kingdom begins to establish its authority over the Rusyn-inhabited region south of the Carpathians

992

Kyivan Rus’ principality of Galicia begins to expand its influence over the eastern part of the Lemko Region

899

Creation of the Eparchy of Przemyśl perhaps by the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, who brought Christianity to the Lemko Region

894 – 896

Magyar tribes cross the Carpathians and defeat the Slavic Prince Laborec at Uzhhorod (Hungvar)

862 – 863

Byzantine-Greek missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, are believed to bring Christianity to Rusyns south of the Carpathians on their way to Greater Moravia

6th and 7th Century

Carpathian Rus is sparsely settled by Slavic tribes known as the White Croats