Coming to America: A Portrait of Hungarian Family and the 1948 Displaced Persons Act

Type of Abstract (select): Individual Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
My parents, Miklos and Maria Leovey, were World War II Hungarian refugees who were assigned the status of "Displaced Persons" or "D.P.s" and who, along with my two older sisters, were able to immigrate to the United States in February 1950 after spending several years in refugee camps in Austria. My parents came from long-established Hungarian families in eastern Hungary, with close ties to the land, culture, and people of the region. Why did they flee their homeland and refuse to return after World War II? Why did they settle in Oregon, where few Hungarians lived, instead of settling into a well-established Hungarian American community in the Midwest or the Northeast? What factors made it possible for their immigration when other members of my extended family could not, even though they met the requirement of fear of persecution? How did factors such as ethnicity, gender, age, familial status, religion, personal decisions, political, economic, and social considerations, personal narratives, and geographical dispersion enter the decisions of various governmental and non-governmental agencies enabling them to immigrate? My extensive research includes examining my parents' personal records, such as letters, photographs, government documents, family members' personal memories, and genealogy records. In addition, research on the treatment of Hungarian Displaced Persons by United Nations authorities, British and United States governmental agencies, humanitarian organizations, and contemporary newspaper reports presents a complex picture of the intersection of historical events with the realities of the immigrant experience. Included with the presentation will be family artifacts of the era.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
I am currently a student in the Doctor of Letters Program at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. My dissertation focuses on my parents' experiences as World War II Displaced Persons and their lives in the United States. Academic degrees include a BA and MA in History from the University of Oregon, an MS in Library Science, a Teaching Certificate in Social Studies from Columbia University, and a Teaching Certificate in Social Studies from Kean University. In 2024, I was awarded the Bartlett Award in Historical Studies from Drew University.
My professional career was working in a variety of libraries.