Katia Yoza-Mitsuishi

From 1890 to the beginning of World War I in 1914, a large number of rural Hungarians arrived in the United States and settled in industrial American cities.[1] Many of these migrants planned to make enough money to return to Hungary.[2] Following this first wave of immigration, additional migrants came to New Brunswick hearing of job availability from their already-arrived families. Johnson & Johnson and the United Cigar Company factories were the main employers at this time. Additionally, the presence of many Hungarian institutions made New Brunswick even more attractive. Hungarian migrants composed two-thirds of Johnson & Johnson factory employees in the 1910s.[3] Most of the Hungarians working at Johnson & Johnson from this time remained in the area for their lifetime.[4]

Hungarian migrants settled close to the Raritan River and factories in the Fifth and Sixth Wards.[5] They established around French, Somerset, and Hamilton streets, as well as the connecting streets.[6] According to Molnar, Hungarians founded twenty-two societies and organizations, six churches and one synagogue in New Brunswick.[7] Hungarians founded the first Magyar Reformed Church (Bayard Street Presbyterian Church) in 1903, and St. Ladislaus Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1904. Early Hungarians in New Brunswick also founded an amateur theater troupe that went on tour around New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri and Canada.[8] The Hungarian-American Athletic Club, which focused on baseball and soccer, was founded in 1913. According to The New York Times, this club worked as an, “undisputed social and cultural center for Hungarian-Americans in the New York region.”[9] The Magyar Building and Loan Association, known today as Magyar Bank, was founded in New Brunswick in 1922. A Hungarian print shop established in New Brunswick in 1909 allowed Hungarians to publish newspapers, as Magyar Hírnök, in their native language. Hungarians opened businesses in New Brunswick along French Street, such as grocery stores, taverns, and butcher shops.[10] The American Hungarian Foundation was established in 1954 on Somerset Street and supported research on Hungarian studies through the Hungarian Research Center and the publication of the Hungarian Studies Newsletter. Other associations that promoted Hungarian culture and language in New Brunswick were the Hungarian Alumni Association and the Hungarian Scout Association.[11] The Institute of Hungarian Studies opened at Rutgers University in New Brunswick in 1991 following an agreement between Rutgers and the Ministry of Culture and Education of Hungary.

By 1910, New Brunswick had 2,463 Hungarian migrants, which made up 10.5% of New Brunswick’s total population.[12] According to Listokin et al., the Hungarian population grew to 3,209 in 1920. However, the Hungarian population declined over the next two decades; there were 2,304 in 1940, and 1,928 in 1950.[13] After World War II, due to a general national trend towards suburban living, the Hungarian population in New Brunswick decreased as they also moved to the suburbs. As the Hungarian cultural institutions remained in New Brunswick, they started to serve not only local neighborhoods, but the wider regional communities.[14] 

In 1956, Hungarians stood up in Budapest for political reform and independence from the Soviet Union and started a national revolt against the Soviet-influenced government of the Hungarian People’s Republic.[15] Soon after, Soviet troops entered the country to stop the revolts. As a result, more than 200,000 Hungarians fled the country, mainly students, young professionals, skilled technicians, and industrial workers.[16] Hungarian refugees arrived at Camp Kilmer, a United States Army camp located in New Jersey between Edison and Piscataway. With the help of the Hungarian Escapee Program, 30,000 Hungarians who arrived at Camp Kilmer were resettled during 1956 and 1957.[17] 1,000 of these Hungarian refugees settled in the New Brunswick area. However, during the next several decades, the Hungarian community continued to decline. The Hungarian population in New Brunswick was 2,588 in 1970,[18] but in 1980 there were only 561 Hungarians. By  1990 that number decreased to 298, and in 2000 it declined to 140. By 2010, the Hungarian population was totaled at 43 people.[19]

Today, there are still vestiges of Hungarian heritage present in New Brunswick. The Hungarian Festival, which features traditional music, dancing, and food, is held each June on Somerset Street.[20] Kossuth Park in New Brunswick was named after Lajos Kossuth, leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.[21] On the corner of Somerset Street and Plum Street is Mindszenty Square, where the first ever statue of Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty was erected.[22] Mindszenty was opposed to fascism and communism for decades and spent years exiled in the American Embassy in Budapest due to his opposition to the communist regime in Hungary.[23] The American Hungarian Foundation still operates in New Brunswick and holds the Hungarian Heritage Center, which gathers a unique archive on American Hungarians, a museum, and a library with a collection of more than 60,000 written works.[24] Magyar Bank has many locations in the county, but their corporate headquarters are still located in New Brunswick.[25]

[1] Embassy of Hungary. Washington. “About Hungarian Immigration to the United States”. Accessed July 28, 2022. https://washington.mfa.gov.hu/eng/page/about-hungarian-immigration-to-the-us.

[2] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982.

[3] Gurowitz, Margaret. “Hungarian University”. June 19, 2018, ch. 57. https://www.kilmerhouse.com/2008/06/hungarian-university

[4] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 86. 

[5] Listokin, David, et al. New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 48. Accessed July 28, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bw1hjs.

[6] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 86. 

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] James A. Zinsmeister. The New York Times.” New Brunswick Journal; Where Hungarian Pride Lives On”.Jun 28, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/28/nyregion/new-brunswick-journal-where-hungarian-pride-lives-on.html

[10] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 87. 

[11] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 90. 

[12] New Brunswick’s total population was 23, 388 people. Listokin, David, et al. New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 48. Accessed July 28, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bw1hjs.

[13] Listokin, David, et al. New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 48. Accessed July 28, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bw1hjs.

[14] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 87.

[15]  Listokin, David, et al. New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 48. Accessed July 28, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bw1hjs.

[16] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 89. 

[17] Ibid.

[18] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 85.

[19] Listokin, David, et al. New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 49. Accessed July 28, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1bw1hjs.

[20] New Brunswick City Center. “45th Annual Hungarian Festival of New Brunswick.” Accessed Aug 17, 2022 https://www.newbrunswick.com/pub/event/story/1946/Hungarian-Festival-2022.

[21] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 84. 

[22] Molnar, August. “The Hungarian Community”. In The Tercentennial Lectures, New Brunswick, New Jersey, edited by Ruth Patt, 83-91. City of New Brunswick, 1982, p. 89. 

[23] Briitannica. “József Mindszenty”. Accessed August 18, 2022. 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jozsef-Mindszenty

[24] American Hungarian Foundation. “About Us”. Accessed August 18, 2022.  https://www.ahfoundation.org/about-the-foundation/

[25] Magyar Bank. “About Us”. Accessed August 18, 2022.  https://www.magbank.com/About.aspx