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Libraries & Culture 39.4 (2004) 461-466



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The Cover


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The Cover

The original bookplate of the American Hungarian Foundation (AHF) Library was curious in its subject: a bust in profile of American founding father George Washington on a disc resembling nothing so much as the U.S. quarter. The history of Hungary spans more than 1,100 years, a rich stew peppered with the art, music, history, and literature [End Page 461] of culturally significant ethnic groups: Magyars, Scythians, Transylvanians, Romanians, Roma, and Turkic peoples, all with admirable leaders and political upheavals of their own. This begs the question why the bookplate would depict one of the premier figures of the American Revolution. The answer is a series of oblations, if you will, that together form a paean to a man who is a symbol of success for independent-minded American Hungarians.

The 7.5 by 11 cm bookplate is a facsimile of the George Washington Award, given by the American Hungarian Foundation annually in recognition of outstanding contributions by a person of Hungarian background or to a non-Hungarian who has enhanced the appreciation of Hungarian culture or aided the Hungarian community.1 The award itself commemorates a statue of George Washington erected in the City Park in Budapest in 1906, a gift from American Hungarians as a gesture of affection for their homeland and as a call to action. Budapest Mayor István Bárczy declared, "This statue will always be an unfailing, eternal fountain of the strength in our struggle toward real freedom, the prosperity of the entire nation and democratic independence."2

The founding of the AHF and the establishment of the award closely followed an influx of immigrants driven by the failure of the Hungarian revolution against Communist control about 1956. The lofty ideals of freedom and independence that the image of George Washington represents appealed to AHF founders, just as they did to the previous generation of American Hungarians. The statue, the award, and the bookplate upheld Washington as an emblem of possibility for people who yearned to be independent and democratic themselves.

Early in the 1980s a bright green bookplate and logo came into use, with the initials AH and a stylized flower rising between them atop the shared crossbar that connects the letters. It was designed by a Young & Rubicam team at the behest of Y&R president Alex Brody, then and now a member of the AHF board. This more modern, more utilitarian plate has been used since then.

The American Hungarian Foundation began as gleam in the eye of August J. Molnár while he was teaching Hungarian studies at Elmhurst College near Chicago in the early 1950s. Long before it was fashionable to acknowledge and embrace the contributions of immigrants to America's proverbial melting pot, Molnár envisioned a cultural center that could serve as ambassador of the American Hungarian community, with library, museum, and archives as well as a nationwide string of academic programs devoted to scholarly studies of Hungarian language, history, and culture. Molnár's vision achieved would ease the acceptance and assimilation of peoples with [End Page 462] a rich heritage they continue to honor and celebrate. (An interesting aside, though it may just be semantics: the term "American Hungarian" seems to be preferred over the more typically styled "Hungarian American." Ostensibly putting American first, the phrasing manages to put the emphasis on the Hungarian, with American serving as an adjective.)

In December 1954 the nonprofit American Hungarian Studies Foundation was born with the goal of "furthering the understanding and appreciation of the Hungarian cultural and historical heritage in the United States."3 The name was subsequently altered to the American Hungarian Foundation. In 1959 Molnár moved to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick, to establish what would become the Institute for Hungarian Studies. The nascent organization came with him, and it is obvious that this is his life's work and that it is a labor of love. Molnár serves as the foundation's diplomat, broker, and deal-maker.

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