Guide to the Papers of the Getting Family, 1908-1991

Arrangement

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Papers of the Getting Family
Creator
Getting family.
Collection Number
MSS#186
Extent
9.0 cubic feet (16 boxes)
Date
1908-1991
Abstract
The Getting family was a Slovak family who worked to preserve Czech and Slovak culture in the United States and to promote the notion of a Czechoslovak state both here and abroad. The papers include correspondence, financial materials, newspaper clippings, journal articles, reports, and other sundry items.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Susan J. Illis on August 15, 1995. Translation assistance was provided by Jan Getting. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Spring 2000.
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Biographical Sketch of the Getting Family

The Getting family was a Slovak family who worked to preserve Czech and Slovak culture in the United States and to promote the notion of a Czechoslovak state both here and abroad. Milan Alexander Getting was instrumental in the founding of several Slovak Sokol lodges in Western Pennsylvania, served as editor of the Slovensky Sokol, and was Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh from 1924 until 1933. His eldest son, Milan Peter Getting, was a longtime member of the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee and was a well-known member of the Czech and Slovak communities in Pittsburgh.

Milan Alexander Getting was born in Velka Bytca, Slovakia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on September 9, 1878. Although he was an excellent student and received a scholarship from the state-supported Freunds Institution, Getting was apprenticed as a machinist so that he could contribute to the family income. He became an expert on the newly invented Westinghouse air brake, but feared that he would not be able to advance his career because he refused to change his name to make it sound more Hungarian. Already acquainted with the concept of Slovak nationalism, he emigrated from Slovakia to the United States in December 1902. After staying with a cousin in New York City for a time, Getting continued on to Pittsburgh where his four sisters lived. His first job was at American Locomotive Works in Allegheny City (now Pittsburgh's North Side). The closest Sokol Lodge was inconveniently located across the Ohio River in McKees Rocks, so Getting started a new Sokol Lodge on the North Side. As additional Sokols were started throughout the country, Getting perceived a communication problem among these groups and suggested that a weekly newspaper be started. His suggestion was adopted at the 1904 National Convention, and Getting published the first issue of the Slovensky Sokol in Pittsburgh on July 15, 1905. He remained the editor until July 1919.

Getting's remuneration as editor was not sufficient to support him fully. He continued to work in industrial positions until an accident in 1907 resulted in the loss of one of his eyes. During his recovery period, on July 26, 1907, he married Hermina Almasy, a resident of New Jersey whom he had met during one of the national conventions. Hermina was born in 1890 in the village of Stiavnica, near Ruzomberok. The couple lived in Pittsburgh, where they had three sons: Milan Alexander (1908-1990), Vlado A. (1910-), and Ivan Alexander (1912-). Seeking a steady income to support his growing family, Getting was admitted to the University of Pittsburgh Dental School, despite the fact that he had not fully mastered the English language. However, his commitments to the Slovensky Sokol forced him to drop out of the program when the newspaper's printing offices were moved to New York City.

In New York, Getting founded both the New Yorksky Dennik, a national daily, and the Slovenska Narodna Skola, the Slovak National School. Through the two newspapers, Getting made Slovaks in the United States aware of the continued efforts assimilate Slovaks into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He continually posed questions to Count Karolyi, who was in the U. S. to promote a proposed Austro-Hungarian Democratic Federation. Eventually, Getting and Count Karolyi held a public debate in Carnegie Hall, attended by thousands of Czechs and Slovaks. This debate strengthened Getting's conviction that the Czechs and Slovaks must unite to avoid complete absorption into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the related loss of their national identities. Getting popularized the new motto, "Away from the Magyars (Hungarians)!" When in 1917 Milan Stefanik, the military head of the Tomas G. Masaryk, Edvard Benes, and Stefanik triumvirate, set up his headquarters in New York, Getting added duties as Stefanik's aide-de-camp to his editorial and Sokol responsiblities.

American Slovaks provided financial support for the liberation of Slovakia by participating in the Million Dollar Fund, or Million Dollarova Sbierka. After an earlier effort ended in the disappearance of funds, Getting recruited a group of Slovak priests to spearhead the effort. The group was led by Father Joseph Murgas (1864-1929), who was a founder of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and was popularly known as the "radio priest." American Slovaks donated small amounts, often as little as nickels and dimes, at weddings, funerals, and other gatherings, and forwarded the money to Father Murgas. In spite of the initial loss of money and the people's confidence, they were still able to raise $600,000 that was sent to the fledgling Czechoslovak Republic.

During World War I, Getting helped organize the American Czechoslovak Legionnaires, a group of American Czechs and Slovaks who went to Europe to fight to liberate Czech lands and Slovakia from Austro-Hungarian domination. Getting was also involved in the Pittsburgh Agreement, signed May 30, 1918. During a speaking tour of the United States, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk stopped in Pittsburgh, where thousands of Czechs and Slovaks came to hear him speak and held a rally in downtown Pittsburgh. Following the rally, Masaryk and representatives of the Slovak League, the Czech National Alliance and the Federation of Czech Catholics met at the Moose Hall (on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh) and passed a resolution approving a political union of Czech lands and Slovakia in a democratic republic, granting Slovakia some political autonomy, and making Slovak the official language in schools, public offices, and public affairs in Slovakia. Getting was one of the twenty-nine signatories of this pact, the long-reaching effects of which are still a matter of some debate.

At the end of World War I, Masaryk, by then president of the Czechoslovak Republic, asked Getting to go to Bratislava to assist Dr. Vavro Srobar, minister of Slovakia. Getting's responsibilities included establishing a Slovak press bureau, instructing personnel in the Slovak language and new laws, and the establishment of a counter-espionage agency. The Gettings travelled to Czechoslovakia at their own expense and found a small apartment in Bratislava, where food shortages were rampant. After a trying year, the Gettings returned to the U.S. when Milan was offered a position with the Czechoslovak Press Bureau in Washington, D. C. Getting's primary responsibility there was furnishing President Masaryk reports of Czech and Slovak communities in the U. S. In Washington, the family also presented puppet theater. Puppetry was considered to be a national art form and was used as a means of expressing national solidarity. A puppet theater and puppets were ordered from Czechoslovakia and all three Getting sons performed and provided technical support for the performances.

When Albert Mamatey, Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, died, Getting was offered that post, which he accepted. Getting moved the consulate from downtown Pittsburgh to North Craig Street, in Oakland, Pittsburgh's growing civic center. The consulate was located on the first floor of 149 North Craig Street, with the family occupying apartments on the second and third floors. In addition to his consular duties, Getting continued to contribute to both the Slovensky Sokol and the New Yorksky Dennik. At this time, Getting was also awarded the Order of the White Lion by the Czechoslovak Republic, the highest civilian decoration, in recognition of his dedicated contribution toward the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic before, during and after the first World War. Getting was active in the formation of the Czechoslovak Committee for establishing a Czechoslovak nationality room in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. In 1933, Getting resigned as consul due to poor health. He and Hermina retired to Masaryktown, Florida, where Getting continued to write for the Czechoslovak newspapers. Getting died on October 15, 1951 and was buried in Masaryktown. Hermina remarried in 1960 to John Hrvol. She died in 1985.

Getting's three sons attended and graduated from Schenley High School. Vlado studied pre-med at Johns Hopkins University, and earned his medical degree at Harvard University, specializing in public health. For ten years, he was Public Health Commissioner of the State of Massachusetts, then served on the faculty at the University of Michigan. While still in high school, Ivan Getting was one of five students in the country to win a Thomas Edison scholarship. He studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for his graduate studies at Oxford University in England. His technological advances in the areas of cosmic rays, radiation and nuclear instrumentation are widely recognized. From 1940 to 1945, Getting served as director of the Army Radar and Radiation Laboratory at MIT. After the war, he remained at MIT as a faculty member. He later served as Vice President, Engineering and Research, of the Raytheon Company and then the first President of Aerospace Corporation.

The eldest son, Milan Peter Getting, graduated from Schenley High School in 1926 and studied electrical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. As an undergraduate, Milan was active in the Pitt String Quartet, Cap and Gown musical comedy group, and was a founder of the Kollar Club, an organization of students of Czech and Slovak descent. As the students graduated, the Kollar Club was transformed into the Junior Czechoslovak Circle. As a member of the Junior Czechoslovak Circle, Milan organized the annual Independence Day Dinner, held in conjunction with the Czechoslovak Circle, celebrating the independence of Czechoslovakia. These organizations formed the basis of the Czechoslovak Classroom Steering Committee. Through these organizations, Milan became acquainted with many young adults of Czech and Slovak descent, including Norma Cibula, a fellow Pitt student. Norma was the daughter of John and Marie Cibula, both of whom had emigrated from Slovakia in the late nineteenth century. John Cibula worked as a security guard at Allis-Chalmers, and the family resided on the North Side. Norma studied history and math, earning her bachelor's degree in three and a half years. Norma and Milan were married on December 27, 1933.

Milan began working for Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company as an apprentice on the Electrical Test Floor. After graduating from Pitt in 1931, Getting was employed in the Inspection Department. During World War II, he was Allis-Chalmers' representative with the War Manpower Commission. He worked for Allis-Chalmers in various positions including superintendent of the Test Department for electrical transformers, assistant to General Manager of the Pittsburgh works, and head of research engineering until his retirement in 1972. He was also active in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Association of Standards & Testing M., and the Instrument Society of America. Milan and Norma had seven children: Zora (1935-1966), Milan (1936-2015), Marcia (1937-), Jan (1938-2007), Vlado (1944-2020), Thomas Masaryk (1950-), and Frank Alvin (1951-). The Gettings lived at 1522 Pennock Road on the North Side until 1939, when they purchased a home in the northern suburb of Bellevue (Allegheny County), at 38 South Euclid Avenue. Both Norma and Milan were active in the Boy Scouts of America, Bellevue Presbyterian Church, and the North Boroughs Symphony Orchestra, and Norma volunteered at Suburban General Hospital. Milan also was heavily involved in the Spolecnost pro Vedu a Umeni pri Cx. N. R. A. (SVU), the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America. The SVU is an academic, literary and artistic organization, founded in 1960 to acquaint other nations with the contributions of Czechs and Slovaks in these field, and to support Czech and Slovak scientists, scholars, writers, and artists. The SVU held a world congress every other year, and Milan usually attended, generally participating in the program and planning.

Both Gettings were very active in the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee, with Milan serving as chair for many years. The Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee oversaw the maintenance and improvement of the room, annual commemorations of Tomas Masaryk's birth, annual celebrations of Czechoslovak independence, the donation of books and manuscripts to the Hillman Library of the University of Pittsburgh, an annual picnic, and other events. Norma was also in the Women's International Club, while Milan served on the Nationality Rooms Council. As they got older, Norma and Milan somewhat curtailed the level of their involvement in the Czechoslovak Room Committee. However, when the Moose Hall in downtown Pittsburgh, the site of the signing of the Pittsburgh Agreement, was threated with demolition to make room for the construction of new office buildings, Milan became involved in an effort to halt the demolition. Despite the historical significance of the building, it was razed to make way for the CNG Tower. In recognition of the Pittsburgh Agreement, a memorial plaque was placed in the lobby, and Milan was instrumental in the design and dedication of the memorial in October 1989. Norma Getting died in 1987, and Milan died in 1990.

Scope and Content Notes

The papers include correspondence, financial materials, newspaper clippings, journal articles, reports, and other sundry items documenting Milan Alexander Getting's career as Czechoslovak press bureau chief and Czechoslovak consul in Pittsburgh, the origination and maintenance of the Czechoslovak Classroom in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning, and the Czech and Slovak communities in Pittsburgh from the 1920s to the late twentieth century. A fair amount of the papers, particularly the papers of Milan Alexander Getting, are written in either Czech or Slovak. The papers are a particularly rich resource for documenting the preservation of Slovak culture by a few select individuals in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Arrangement

Series have been designated for Getting Family Papers, Czechoslovak Nationality Classroom, and Miscellaneous Materials.

The Getting Family Papers are housed in sixteen archival boxes and have been arranged in three series.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials were received in several accessions and were combined into one body of papers in 1995.

Acc# 1990.97 -- Gift of Thomas M. Getting and Marcia Getting Sutherland, (Getting Family History).1990

Acc# 1990.114 -- Gift of Marcia Getting Sutherland, (Photographs).1990

Acc# 1991.16 -- Gift of Marcia Getting Sutherland, (Papers).1991

Acc# 1993.0278 -- Gift of Ivan Getting, (Books).1993

Acc# 1994.0035 -- Gift of Vlado Getting, (Photographs and books).1994

Preferred Citation

Papers of the Getting Family, 1908-1991, MSS#186, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Susan J. Illis on August 15, 1995. Translation assistance was provided by Jan Getting.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Kimberly A. Tryka on April 21, 2000.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Czech National Alliance.
    • Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America, Inc. (SVU).
    • Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
    • Nationality Room Council (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.).
    • Federation of Czech Catholics.
    • Million Dollarova Sbierka.
    • Slovak League.
    • Sokol Times (Newspaper : United States)
    • University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

    Personal Names

    • Getting family.
    • Getting, Milan Alexander, -- 1878-1951.
    • Getting, Milan Peter, -- 1908-1990.
    • Getting, Norman Cibula, -- 1912-1987.
    • Mamatey, Albert.
    • Masaryk, Alice Garrigue, 1879-1966.
    • Masaryk, Jan.
    • Masaryk, Thomas Garrigue, -- 1850-1938.
    • Benes, Edward.
    • Mitchell, Ruth Crawford.
    • Murgas, Father Joseph (1864-1929).
    • Postrednik, Stanley.
    • Stefanik, Milan.
    • Sustar, J. Jaroslav (1908-1988).

    Geographic Names

    • Czechoslovakia -- History -- 1918-1938
    • Masaryktown (Fl.) -- Social life and customs.

    Other Subjects

    • Consular reports -- Czechoslovakia.
    • Consuls -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • Czech Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • National liberation movements -- Czechoslovakia.
    • Puppet plays, Czech
    • Slovak Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • Universities and colleges -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • Czechoslovakia -- Diplomatic and consular service -- United States.
    • Czechoslovakia -- Politics and Government -- 20th Century.
    • Ethnicity -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • Nationalism, Slobak.
    • Newspapers.
    • Slovak-American Newspapers -- United States.
    • Czechoslovakia -- Pittsburgh Agreement, 1918.
    • Pittsburgh Agreement, 1918.

Container List