Speech #890149500

The story of Slovenes in the United States begins during the first half of the 18th century when a group of people from Yugoslavia sailed for America. A large number went to Georgia and settled on the right bank of the Savannah River. This group constituted the earliest Yugoslav settlement in the United States so these Slovenes were the pioneers of their kinsmen in the New World. The next important settlement of Yugoslav immigrants took place in New Orleans. where they engaged in the oyster industry. In the late 1840s. during the gold rush. a Slovenian community was founded in California. In the meantime Slovene clergymen were arriving here to carry on missionary work in the Northwest.