Slovene emigrants in Ely, Minnesota as seen by the Slovene-American ethnic press, 1891 - 1939

Magistrska naloga prikazuje življenje slovenskih izseljencev v Elyju, majhnem mestu v severovzhodni Minnesoti, v obdobju od leta 1891 do leta 1939. Razvoj mesta Ely je zaznamovalo rudarstvo, ki je bilo v obravnavanem obdobju v njem glavna gospodarska panoga. Imelo je velik vpliv na življenje, delovanje in organiziranost tamkajšnjih Slovencev, ki so bili večinoma rudarji, nekateri pa tudi lastniki številnih malih podjetij. Naloga je napisana na podlagi slovenskega ameriškega časopisja (Amerikanski Slovenec, Nova doba, Prosveta), arhivskih virov in literature. Obsega krajši pregled zgodovine slovenskega izseljevanja in zgodovine Minnesote. V osrednjem delu naloge je splošen zgodovinski pregled mesta Ely, ki mu sledi opis rudarstva, delavskih razmer, turizma in drugih gospodarskih dejavnosti. Sledi pregled političnega življenja Slovencev v Elyju. V nadaljevanju je obravnavano versko življenje s krajšim pregledom dela slovenskih misijonarjev v Minnesoti. Pri tem je predstavljeno življenje in delo misijonarja Jožefa Frančiška Buha, podan pa je tudi pregled zgodovine Župnije sv. Antona v Elyju. Na koncu so opisana društva v sklopu bratskih podpornih organizacij in društveno življenje.The master’s thesis presents the lives of Slovene immigrants in Ely, a small city in the north eastern Minnesota from 1891 till 1939. The development of the city of Ely was marked by mining, which was the main source of income of its inhabitants in the observed period. It had a significant impact on the lives, activities and organisation of the Slovene Americans in the city. They were mostly mine workers, some of them owned various small companies. The master’s thesis is based on the Slovene-American ethnic press (Amerikanski Slovenec, Nova doba, Prosveta), archival sources and literature. The master’s thesis is divided into six chapters. The first presents an overview of the history of Slovene immigration and the overview of the history of Minnesota. The main chapter of the master’s thesis describes the general overview of the history of Ely, followed by the description of mining, working conditions, tourism and other economic activities. The next chapter presents the political life of Slovenes in Ely, followed by the religious life. This part contains a short overview of the work of Slovene missionaries in Minnesota and the life and work of the missionary Jožef Frančišek Buh. Also shown is the overview of the history of the St. Anthony’s Parish in Ely. The final chapter presents the description of Slovene fraternal organisations and the overview of the social life of Slovenes in Ely