Bulgarian Americans originated in present-day Bulgaria and in surrounding areas in the Balkans, most especially the historic region of Macedonia, located today primarily in southern Yugoslavia and northern Greece. Their ultimate source is a subject of dispute. But whether Asian or Slavic, Bulgar tribes had developed an independent state by the early 8th century, and their empire covered a large part of the Balkans. They accepted Christianity in the 9th century and the liturgical language, Old Church Slavonic, was very close to Old Bulgarian, a distinct South Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
After several decades of intermittent domination by the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria lost its independence in the late 14th century and was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. Turkish rule lasted until a Bulgarian national renaissance in the early 19th century. This led to a series of uprisings [crushed by the Turks and the eventual attainment of independence in 1878, largely through the intervention of Russia. For a few months the new Bulgarian principality included most of historic Macedonia, but this territory was restored to thc Ottoman state by the Westem powers at the Congress of Berlin in June 1878. Bulgaria became a kingdom in 1908; its borders cxpandcd and then contracted during the two Balkan wars (1912-1913). Fhe desire to regain lost territory, especially Macedonia, prompted the Bu]garian government to ally with the Central powers during World War I and again with the Axis powers in World War II. In 1946 Bulgaria became a republic, and since that time has been dominated by a Communist govemment closely allied with the Soviet Union.
MIGRATION AND ARRIVAL
Bulgarian Americans are composed of two groups: the majoriry who came from Macedonia and those who came from Bulgaria proper. For the most part, Macedonian Bulgarians arrived in the United States hefore World War I, at a Slime when the idea of a distinct Macedonian nationality had not yet developed. This group of people continue to refer to themselves as Macedonians but only in the sense of identifying themselves with a geographic region; as for nationality or ethnic descent, they consider themselves Bulgarian.
Those Bulgarians who came from "the kingdom" (as the independent Bulgarian state was called) emigrated mainly from area.s that suffered from overpopulation and economic hardship. As a result, these regions traditionally had been suppliers of seasonal and migrant labor. Conditions at that time in Macedonia still under Ottoman ruler were similar, but inhabitants there left for an alditional reason: the Macedonians revolted against the Turks in 1903 but were tmsuccessful, and many people fled in the face of mass reprisals by the Turkish army.
The first period of Bulgarian immigration to the United States began around 1900 and lasted until 1910. An estimated 50,000 came during these years; the vast majority were single menópeasants or unskilled laborers with little or no education who came with the intention of eaming enough money so that they could return home and buy land or open a small business. The U.S. restrictions on immigration that went into effect in 1924 limited to only 100 the number of Bulgarians who could be admitted in any one year. Between 1924 and 1965, when the national origin quota restrictions were abolished, official statistics state that 7,660 Bulgarians came to the United States, but there were many more who entered illegally or with non-Bulgarian passports. During the interwar years (1919 to 1939), the iMmigrants were largely women and children joining husbands and fathers who had decided to remain permanently in the New World. The last period of immigration began after World War II and continues to the present.
The most recent immigrants are likely to be political refugees and opponents of the Communist regime in Bulgaria. Among them are a large number of educated and professional people who come with little prospect of ever resuming home.
In contrast, the earlier immigrants showed a very high rate of reemigration; between 1910 and 1929 the number of returnees exceeded the number of new immigrants. Some left in order to join the Bulgarian army during the two Balkan wars and World War I, while others were dissatisfied with their life in the United States.
It is not possible to determine the exact number of Bu]garians who came to the United States or who live here now. U.S. immigration statistics have class)fied Bulgarians with Serbs and Montenegrins; in 1950 and 1960 they were not listed at all, but the 1910 Census shows 19,380. In 1970 the Bulgarian language does not appear in the mother-tongue tahle but the table on the origin of the foreign stock in the United States records 20,553 Bulgarians. Unofficial estimates place the number of immigrants and their descendants as high as 100,000, however, and it seems reasonahlc to assume that the figure is about 70,000. The discrepancies can be explained in several ways: many Bulgarians arrived illegally via Canada or Mexico; others came at different times with Turkish, Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, or Yugoslav passports; some are recorded by the country of last residence rather than hy country of birth.
SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC LIFE:
Most of the early immigrants headed for the Midwest. Towns like Granite City and Madison, Ill., may have had as many as 8,000 Bulgarians in 1907. Eventually they settled all over the United States, although many were attracted to the Northeast by the growth of American industry. Because they were peasants with practically no capital or marketable industrial skills Bulgarians had to accept low-paying unskillcd jobs in the mines and steel mills of Pennsylvania and in the factories of several midwestern states. Out west they worked in railroad construction. At present the majority of Bulgarian Americans live and work in industrial centers, although a growing number have been able to start small businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores, tavems, bakeries, and construction firms.
The settlement pattems of Bulgarian Americans have changed little. The largest number still live in Michiganóas many as 10,000. There are smaller concentrations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, New York, New lersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Califomia. The cities with the greatest concentrations of Bulgarian immigrants are Detroit, Mich.; Gary, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis, Ind.; Lorain; Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Akron, Ohio; New York City; and Los Angeles. At one time Pittsburgh was a leading center for Bu]garians, but it has declined in importance in recent years.
SOCIAL AND FAMILY LIFE
The earliest Bulgarian immigrants were concerned primarily with their jobs and with overcoming the difficulties of adjusting to the new environment. Nonetheless, in response to social needs they established in the United States two institutions: the boort (a Bulgarian-American version of the English boarding house) and the kafene (coffeehouse). Both were very popular in the first three decades of the immigration.
The boors was a simplified boarding house, usually nun by a Bulgarian, sometimes with the help of his wife and family. Typically he would let two big rooms to a group of as many as 12 immigrants, who would use one room as sleeping quarters and the other as a combination living room, kitchen, dining, and recreation area. Often the immigrants would work at the same factory, would come from the same place in the old country, or would be relatives or close friends. Sometimes they would work in different shifts at the mill, using the same beds at different times. Since many steel mills functioned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there was not much opportunity for the two groups to meet. One of the shifts would prepare meals, the other would do housekeeping and other chores. Sometimes, the boors owner would also provide rmeals, but in most cases the boarders, to save money, preferred just to rent two big rooms and to divide their other expenses among themselves.
The kafene was a place for recreation and a social club on days free from work. It would usually be owned and nur, by a Bulgarial1, but he was likely to be better educated or more experienced than the boors owner. In order to succeed he probably would have had to have been in the United States for a few years, to be familiar with the English language and local customs; he would act as an interpreter, counselor, and attorney, and as an insurance, job, and real-estate broker; he would enjoy considerable prestige among his clientele, for whom he would stock traditional Bulgarian drinks and snacks. Often he would als0 run a supplementary business, such as a grocery store, restaurant, hotel, boarding house, or even a banking establishment.
Family life among Bulgarian Americans generally followed a traditional pattern. The father had the dominant role in family affairs and the second generation lived with or near their parents. Initially, of course there were not many Bulgarian families because the great majority of early immigrants were single men. Those who decided to settle in the United States often acquired brides from the homeland, either directly during a visit home or by prearranged plan through friends and relatives. These so-called mail brides were not unusual, and because of the similarity in background and the careful groundwork done by the parents of both parties, such arrangements often resulted in happy and sound marriages. Few Bulgarians married outside the group, and whenever intermarriages took place someone with at least a Balkan background was preferred.
The family was usually closely knit, and parents tried to instill in their children the ethical principles and customs they themselves had reamed. Members of the second generation, however, were often eager to become Americanized. Children wanted to shed the vestiges of a past which they thought had prevented their parents' (and might similarly threaten their own) acceptance in the United States. Nonetheless, even among the second generation there are numerous instances where love and respect for one's family and ethnic heritage have been stronger than the desire to assimilate or to deny one's background. In the case of the third generation, there is even more interest in the heritage of the homeland.
RELIGION
The majority of Bulgarian Americans are Eastem Orthodox. The first Bulgarian Orthodox church was founded in 1909 at Granite City, Ill., and thereafter 30 more were established, although many have since closed. After World War 1, the mling Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Bulgaria created a Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Mission for the United States and Canada. In 1938 the mission was raised to the status of a diocese, headecl by Bishop Andrey Velichki (d. 1972). However, jurisdictiorlal and political controversies developed between the Bulgarian-American diocese and the mother ch-urch, disputes that were exacerbated after World War II when Bulgaria came under Communist rule. In 1963 several parishes formally broke relations with the Holy Synod in Bulgaria. They now have an independent diocese comprising eight churches with its own bishop, Kyril Yoncheff, and in 1976 they joined the Orthodox Church in America. Eight other Bulgarian Orthodox churches in the United States remain under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian hierarchy, while two are independent.
Despite jurisdictional controversies, Bulgarian Orthodox churches remain at the center of community life. Social events are often held in churches and many parishes sponsor schools where Bulgarian and English are taught. A small minority of Bulgarian immigrants joined Protestant sects, but the influence of Protestantism among Bulgarians has declined substantially since World War II. In 1907 a Bulgarian Evangelical Mission was established with branches in several Bulgarian settlements. These missions performed not only religious but also valuable non-religious functions, assisting newly arrived immigrants to find houses and jobs and conducting courses in English and civics.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND POLITICS
Bulgarian immigrants organized voluntary associations, most of them consisting of former inhabitants of a village or region in the homeland, and they formed fratemal or mutual-banefit societies in order to provide assistance to members in need. Therc were also societies with a nationwide appeal, but these were mostly con cerned with organizing and coordinating immigrant efforts to assist the homeland in times of crisis, such as during the Balkan wars of 1912-1913 and the two world wars.
Since the majority of the early immigrants came from Macedonia, the first societies, such as the MacedoOdrin (Adrianople) Club (Chicago, f. 1902), had a decidedly regional profile. In an attempt to attract all Bulgarian Americans, a Bulgarian People's Union and a women's society, Bulgarkata v Amerika (Bulgarian Woman in America), were established in 1913. The largest and most successful group was and continues to be the Macedonian Political Organization (Fort Wayne, f. 1922), which in 1952 chnaged its name to the Macedonian Patriotic Organization (MPO). It has branches in most cities where Bulgarians live. The MPO, which publishes the weekly Makedonska Tribuna/Macedonian Tribune (Indianapolis, Ind., f. 1927), claims that all Macedonians are Bulgarians and supports the idea of a united and independent Macedonia made up of parts of present-day Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Greece.
From the very beginning, Bulgarian immigrants also showed an interest in American and intemational politics, most especially of the left-wing variety. Some joined thc industrial Worl;crs of the World, the American Socialist party, or tne Communist party. In 1910 they even founded their own Bulgarian Socialist Labor Federation, which for several years published Rabotnicheska Prosveta/Workers' Enlightenment in Madison, Ill. In 1917 the federation joined the Socialist Labor party, and after the group split in 1919 some Bulgarian members joined the Communist party, others the Socialist Labor party (DeLeon branch).
Several new leftist and radical groups emerged during the 1920s and 1930s. These activities were especially pronounced during World War IJ when the joint American-Soviet military effort encouraged so-called Al!-Slav fronts, the most prominent being the American Slav Congress. Many of that group's founders, including thc general secretary, George Pirinsky (1901-), were Bulgarians. After the war the U.S. Attorney General declared many of these organizations to be subversive and some of their officials were deported.
The post-1945 immigrants have also established political organizations, such as the anti-Communist Bulgarian National Committe ó Free and Independent Bulgaria (Washington, D.C., f. 1949). Led by the former Bulgarian politician, Georgi M. Dimitrov (1903-1972), the committee claimed to represent all Bulgarian Americans. This claim has been successfully challenged by royalist and other right-wing anti-Communist refugees who have set up the Bulgarian National Front (New York, f. 1958). Both groups hope to see political changes that would result in a non-Cormmunist Bulgarian homeland.
There also have been several attempts to create umbrella groups to unite the divergent political and regional trends among Bulgarian-American organizations. One was the anti-Communist American Bulgarian League (New York, i. 1944), which published the Amencan-Bulgarian Review (Pittsburgh and New York, 1952-1962) in onler to present the Bulgarian cause before the American public. Another was the Bulgarian National Council (New York, f. 1960) which for five years included representatives of twenty Bulgarian-American organizations.
In recent years, a few Bulgarians have been successful in American politics. The author Stoyan Christowe (1897-) was elected a state senator in Vermont and served on various federal boards. Also, several officials and elected representatives in other states, especially Indiana, have been Bulgarian Americans.
CULTURE AND ETHNIC COMMITMENT
The history of the Bulgarian-American press reflects both the cultural achievements of the group and its ability to sustain itself. More than 50 Bulgarian newspapers and magazines have appeared in the IJnited States, although most of them have been short-lived. The most important was Naroden glas (National Herald; Granite City, Ill., 1907-1950). During its height, between 1913 and 1926, this newspaper appeared in a daily edition of &,000 copies; it also sponsored the publication of almanacs (until 1933) and books in both Bulgarian and English. These materials provided news of thc homeland and the immigrant community, and also fostered knowledge and pride in the native culture. The oldest Bulgarian-language publication still in cxistcnce is the weekly published by the Macedonian Patriotic Organization. In addition there are 6 other publications, 4 Bulgarian and 2 Bulgarian-English; their total circulation is in the vicinity of 7,000.
Fhe decline of the press reflects thc decreasing use of the Bulgarian language among the Bulgarian-American community. The language survives (though Americanized through the incorporation of many English words) in family conversations, in church services, and in social gatherings such as picnics and vecherinkas - typical Bulgarian meetings with litcrary-musical programs and dances. Yet while language maintenance has cleclined, there has been a recent surge of interest in Bulgarian music and folk dances, especially among the younger generation. More and more young people are participating in Bulgarian gatherings, which, coupled with Easter, Christmas, and other national holidays provide occasions on which immigrants and tneir offspring can get togetheróan important factor in the preservation of Bulgarian culture and traditions.
Bibliography
A comprehensive study of the group has recently been published by Nikolay Altankov, The. Bulganan-Amencans (San Carlos, Calif., 1979). Several articles by social and charity workers describing the life of the early immigrants were published between 1908 and 1914 in (.hanties and the Commons and Survey. The sociological study by Margaret Byington, Homestead: The Households of a Mill Town (1910, reprint, Pittsburgh, 1974), discusses Bulgarians in Pennsylvania. Joseph Roucek, "The American-Bulgarians," Orientator (1937), is an early scholarly account.
The almanacs of Naroden glas (Granite City,111., 1908-1933), especially the 25th anniversary issue, 25-godishen iubileen almanah na vestnik Naroden gias i Bulgarite v Amerika, present a rich mine of information on the life and activities of the immigrants. Also useful are Makedonski Almanah, 1940 (Indianapolis, 1940) and the Amencan-Bulgarian Review (New York, 1952-1962).
Autobiographical accounts of life m Bulgaria and in the new world are Peter D. Yankoff, Peter Menikoff, The Story of a Bu/ganan Boy in the Great Amencan Melting Pot |Nashville, Te:m., 1928), Boris George Petroff, Son of the Danube (New York, 1940); and three by Stoyan Christowe: This is My Country (New York, 1938); My American Pilgrimage (Boston, IY47), and The Eagle and the Stork, An American Memoir (New York, 1976).
There is a small collection of matenals on the Bulgarian-Americans at the Southcrn Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill.