THE CROATIAN ACADEMY OF AMERICA

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

The Croatian Academy of America celebrated its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary on November 4, 1978 at the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City.

President Ivo Vučičević in his opening addresses greeted all present and expressed his thanks for congratulatory telegrams and letters received for this occasion. He asked the audience to stand up for a moment of silence honoring the memory of all those who contributed to the existence and the success of the Academy, founders, former presidents and members who have passed away.

Vučičević said that the first president, Professor Clement Mihanovich, unfortunately could not come, but wished to let him know that all those assembled here deeply appreciate his pioneering work and all that he did to get us started twenty five years ago. Vučičević then greeted among those present the following founding members, whose names are listed in the Academy's Constitution: Dr. Jere Jareb, Nick Milosevich and Bruno Kolega M.D. He also greeted Antun Nizeteo, writer and poet, whose name is not printed among the signers of the Academy's Constitution, but who played a dominant role in founding our institution. Using his rich and convincing vocabulary he found the proper approach to sell the idea of the Academy to the late Professor Walter Reeve, who embraced it with limitless enthusiasm. The President added that he thinks no one else from those early days is present here except the editor of the Journal, Karlo Mirth. In conclusion Vučičević gave an outline of the program and introduced the speakers.

Retrospect and Prospect

Mrs. Maria Krocker-Tuškan, the Executive Secretary of the Academy in her presentation: "Croatian Academy of America—XXV Anniversary, Retrospect and Prospect," said that a quarter of a century in "the life of an individual or the institution is a respectable milestone: the growing pains of the early development are over, and the individual or the institution becomes a mature, energetic being or entity whose enthusiasm is tempered by experience, who has already a past but whose visions are very much directed toward the future".

She pointed out that the Academy is a unique organization in this hemisphere and to appreciate this uniqueness one has to understand men, times and circumstances which led to its founding. The Croatian immigrants who arrived to the United States after World War II had the decisive role in it: "In contrast to the earlier waves of Croatian immigrants, the post World War II immigrants were almost entirely an educated group. The first group arrived in the early fifties from different European refugee or DP camps and/or from some intermediate stations around the world, in which they had acquired another language and witnessed another culture from which they were excluded by virtue of their temporary residence. Another group came gradually over the years directly from the homeland. Despite these chronological differences in arrival, these immigrants shared a tremendous upheaval of their own lives and all wore fresh scars of the war and post-war tragedy of the Croatian nation. The arrival to the United States meant not only personal opportunity, it also provided them with a chance to actively master their earlier sense of loss and tragedy, by offering possibilities to make this country aware of Croatia, her history, her strengths and her difficult position.

"It is my impression that exactly this sense of duty or mission made this group of Croatian immigrants obviously different from the immigrants of other nations arriving to the United States at that time."

"The new immigrants dispersed over the country but most of them settled in the East and Midwest, especially in large metropolitan areas such as New York, Cleveland, Chicago. With hard work and determination, they began gradually to enter the American academic, professional or intellectual life; they began to meet their American counterparts and began to discover or were discovered by their colleagues, Americans of Croatian descent.

"The encounter was interesting, lively and productive. In his speech given on occasion of the Academy's Fifteenth Anniversary, Mr. Mirth, one of the signatories of the Academy's Charter, referred to that process as a chemical reaction and stated that the Academy was conceived and born out of that encounter. There is no doubt that the Academy as we know it today would not have been founded, lived or survived, had it not been for the combined effort of the American-born scholars of Croatian origin and of Croatians both, those who arrived to the United States before and after World War II. The American4born contributed their avid interest in all things Croatian .(a phenomenon predating "Roots" for almost thirty years!). The pre-war group contributed the wisdom and experience of those who already have lived through the difficult process of integration. Finally, the post-war group brought their tremendous determination not to remain passive or inactive in the face of the recent national tragedy".

An American Croatian, Clement Mihanovich, Professor at St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri was the first who mentioned the idea of establishing an Academy or a similar organization. The suggestion was enthusiastically embraced by Ante Nizeteo, a Croatian poet who just arrived to the United States and by Walter Reeve, a professor at Fordham University of mixed English-Croatian parent-age (Reeve's mother was a Croatian). They and a small nucleus of Croatians in New York City, mostly newcomers, were engaged in all preliminary work which led to the founding of the Academy.

"The Constituent Assembly met in New York City on April 19, 1953. Seventeen founding members approved the Constitution and elected the following to the Executive Council: President Clement Mihanovich, Vice President Walter Reeve, Executive Secretary Jerome Jareb and members of the Council, Rev. I. Ilijić, N. Milosevich, L. Reichherzer, A. Basioli, B. Kolega and A. Oštrić. Other founding members were: V. Cvitanović, I. Duišin, N. Faibijanić, B. Haggia, J. Pintar, A. Pivac, I. Sivrić, A. Slišković and L. Zlošilo.

"The Constitution defined the name, the aim, and the principles ("The spirit of objective inquiry and non-partisanship"), the conditions of membership, classes of membership, as well as the other formal aspects of activities valid for all organizations of this kind.

"Today, after twenty-five years, these aims and principles proved so self-evident. At the time though, when the words were put on paper, they were objects of many discussions, and it is in this context that the newly arrived had to learn a new language, a new way of thinking, a new way of working.

Following Professor Mihanovich, the second elected president was Walter Reeve, who served two terms (1954 and 1955). He unfortunately passed on too early at the age of 43 years. The third President Rev. Nicholas Fabijanich, also served two terms (1956 and 1957). The fourth one, Karlo Mirth was on the helm of the Academy from 1958-1968. He was followed by Professor Stanko Vujica (1969 and 1970). The sixth President was Professor Duško Duišin (1971, 1972 and 1973). He was followed by our present President, Ivo Vučićević, who was elected to this position in 1974 and in the subsequent general assemblies since then.

"Important organizational and legal steps were made in years 1956 and 1964. In 1956 the Academy was incorporated in the State of New York as an educational and cultural organization. In 1964 the U.S. Internal Revenue granted it the status of a tax-exempt organization.

"Among the activities listed in the Aims in the Academy's Constitution the most important one was to publish a scholarly journal and the publication of the journal was discussed at the first meeting of the first Executive Council. However, it took six years till the first issue was published. The first editor, Professor Reeve died before seeing it in print. After his death J. Jareb and K. Mirth became editors; they were later joined by an editorial board formed to assist them in their difficult task. I would not dwell any longer on this topic since the Journal is the subject of the next presentation on our program of today.

"In addition to the Journal the Academy publishes the Chronicle, a newsletter, which in turn substituted the earlier Announcements, serving the same purpose: organizational communications with the members.

"Another important goal set up by the Constitution is the "education of members and public generally concerning Croatian literature, culture, and history by the sponsoring of lectures on these subjects." In the beginning the lectures were held in New York City. The membership grew in numbers, and the Academy became in reality an American Academy with members in many states. As larger concentrations of members lived in a few metropolitan centers or their vicinities the next logical step was to establish chapters. At present there are three chapters of which two are very active in sponsoring lectures and symposia: West Coast (Los Angeles—San Francisco) and Midwest (Chicago). The lectures organized by the chapters periodically bring together members who otherwise would not have an opportunity get acquainted and exchange views.

Mrs. Tuškan said that the list of symposia and lectures held in past twenty-five years is impressive. Credits should be given to the chairmen of the symposia, to the chapters' secretaries and all those who contributed their time, and organizational talents to find qualified speakers on interesting or timely topics and who usually were burdened with all other tedious tasks associated in organizing such meetings.

The Academy's activities resulted in cordial relationship and joint working meetings with the American Croatian Academic Society in Cleveland. From the first of these seminars in 1960's till today, the ties remain that of collegiality; it is a rare meeting or symposium given by one of the two organizations without the presence of members of the other organization. It is this closeness that had inspired today's President to explore the need for even closer relations between the two organizations.

When measuring the quality and quantity of the Academy's activities one has take into consideration that its total membership consists of about two hundred regular and ten corresponding members. The Executive Council is elected annually by the General Assembly and includes up to twenty-five members. As in most organizations there are relatively a few members who carry most of the burden.

The Academy has also formed a number of Ad Hoc Committees. It is hoped that permanent committees be established in the future such as the Committee on Membership Drive, the Fund Raising Drive, etc.

"And speaking of the last issue—money--it has to be stressed that the Academy lives exclusively from membership dues, sales and subscriptions to the Journal, and occasional generous contributions. The financial pressure is overwhelming, and the Academy has yet to get out of the phase of hand-to-mouth existence. As in anything else, there is an advantage too, in that the Academy, by virtue of its self-support, is also autonomous and not bound to any pressure or interest group.

"In reviewing the Academy's work, one is constantly faced with self-scrutiny and analysis of the Academy's position and responsibilities. This process is not a destructive one, the critics are usually cooperative and well meaning; they are encouraged to come forward and advance new ideas. In these twenty-five years, the Academy has also met with a different kind of criticism, based on impatience of those who do not take into consideration that the Academy is a different kind of organization which has to follow a different, unique path if it is to be successful in its endeavor.

"And now to the prospect for the future. If we only could continue to do what we have set out to do twenty-five years ago, we would achieve a lot and we could view our accomplishments as a lasting Croatian contribution to the American culture and to a better understanding of the Croatian nation.

"The prospect depends upon so many factors. It requires a raising of conscientiousness of the existing members—their becoming aware that an Executive Council cannot do a job in a vacuum, i.e., without active participation of every member and without financial support.

"It requires an improvement of the Academy's image among non-members so that they accept our work as important and necessary, would want to became proud of this unique organization and help to support it adequately.

"It requires reaching out to prospective members, whom we knew exist but now stand by passively or even negatively.

"It requires a greening of the Academy, the input of young faces who need to see the Academy's goals, aims, and principles as essential to their lives as scholars and American-Croatians. No one lives forever, and who knows how many of us gathered here will be present for the fiftieth Anniversary celebration! It is not enough to have lighted a torch—you must have runners who will pick it up and carry it on!"

A Footnote to the Academy's Journal

Karlo Mirth, Managing Editor of the Journal said in his presentation:

This talk will be exactly what its title said: a footnote. As such it will be factual and brief.

The first editor of the Journal of Croatian Studies was Walter J. Reeve, an American of English-Croatian descent, a professor at Fordham, one of the most meritorious founders of the Croatian Academy of America and its president for two terms. Reeve was elected Journal's editor-in-chief at the Third Annual Assembly in September 1956, but did not live long enough to see any issue of the Journal published. A man of failing health, he died in June 1958 at the age of 43.

A half year after Reeve's death, in December 1958, the Fifth Annual Assembly elected the following Executive Council: President Karlo Mirth, Vice Presidents Jare Jareb and Rev. Ivan Ilijic. Executive Secretary Nicholas Milosevich and Treasurer Miro Gal. On that occasion President Mirth said that the publication of the Journal would be top priority of the Executive Council. Jere Jareb and Karlo Mirth were given the task to review the articles received in the last two years, solicit additional contributions, search for a printer and prepare all manuscripts for publication. The Academy had at that time, less than seventy members, and all available funds totaled less than a thousand dollars, which was not even sufficient to bear the printing cost of a single issue. On the other hand, the editors had an enormous advantage: the policy, the program and the format of the Journal were discussed over and over during previous years and had been formulated in detail by professor Reeve as early as January of 1954. Thus the Executive Council and the editors had an exact idea of what should be done. However, to implement it was a different story, which they had to learn the hard way. Nine months after the Fifth Assembly, the first manuscripts were sent to the printer, and in 1960 the first volume of the Journal was published. The volume had 212 pages. Both the quality and the size elicited favorable comments by such scholars as Professor Oscar Halecki of Columbia University.

If we include volume 18-19, which will be published later this month, there would be 19 volumes of the Journal published so far: five single and seven double-issues, with a total of about 2,400 pages. Forty-two authors contributed articles and book reviews and six contributed creative translations. Works of five Croatian writers translated into English, along with a Walt Whitman poem translated into Croatian were also published. In most cases, both English and Croatian versions were published side by side.

The following authors contributed to the Journal: Jakov Bačić, No Banac, F. W. Carter, Theodore Cicak, Jerome Colich, Alan Ferguson, Tadeusz Gasinski, Stjepan Gaži, Louis Gebhard, Olga Grahor, Marijan Grgić, George Grlica, Vinko Grubišić, Vladimir Gvozdanović, Jere Jareb, Ante Kadić, Charles Kamber, Nada Kesterčanek-Vujica, Lucijan Kordić, Joseph Kraja, Hrvoje Lorković, Frank M. Lovrich, Vladko Maček, Dominik Mandić, Vladimir Markotić, Matthew Meštrović, Karlo Mirth, Antun Nizeteo, Ivo Omrčanin, Branko Pešelj, George Prpić, Hilda Prpić, Bogdan Raditsa, William Rieger, Christopher Spalatin, Mario Spalatin, George Štambuk, Peter Scheibert, Dinko Tomašić, Stanko Vujica and Edward Slavko Yanvbrušić. Most of the contributors (32) were Croatian immigrants who became American citizens, four were Croatians living in Europe and America, two were Americans of non-Croatian origin and one of Croatian descent, two were Canadian Croats, two were British and one was a German national. Of those whose translations were published one was American, one British, one Croat living in Europe and four were American Croats. Besides Managing editors Jere Jareb and Karlo Mirth, the following persons are serving at the Editorial Board: Matthew Meštrović, Antun Nizeteo, George Prpić, Christopher Spalatin and Maria Krocker-Tuškan. The Circulation Manager is Mrs. Xenia Duišin. Those who served at the Board and passed away are: Duško Duišin, Rev. Dominik Mandić, Nada Kestarčanek-Vujica and Stanko Vujica. To all those who contributed to the Journal and are no longer with us, the Academy owes profound gratitude and shall preserve their memory forever.

A brief reference to a strictly technical problem should also be mentioned. The Journal has so far changed printers five times due to reasons of convenience or economics. Each change represented a new trial for both the editors and the printer. The Journal's text is very demanding. Few printers are capable of handling such jobs.

The final question then remains: How far does our Journal reach. The person best qualified to answer this question is Mrs. Duišin, the Circulation Manager. I am not going to go into details and will mention only a few of the most important libraries and institutions which subscribe to the Journal. Among them are all the Ivy League Universities: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, University of Chicago, Pennsylvania University, University of California, Berkley, Stanford University, Syracuse University, University of Minnesota, University of Utah, University of Texas, University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois and many others. Several large public libraries such as New York, San Francisco and Toronto Public Libraries also subscribe. Canadian subscribers include the Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, British Columbia and others.

Among overseas subscribers I will particularly mention the British Library Lending Division, The Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark; Johannes Guttenburg Institute in Mainz, Germany; Jewish National & University Library in Jerusalem, and The Hungarian National Library in Budapest.

The Academy also has a program of exchange of publications with such institutions as the University of Uppsala, Stockholm, the Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw and others. In the past there were some exchanges of publications with other East European countries, including the Soviet Union. There are also other libraries in Western Europe which have the Journal in their collections such as the Bodleian Library, Oxford, University of Barcelona and in the Far East University of Kyoto in Japan. The Journal can also be found in the libraries of Australia.

There is a certain number of copies of the Journal sent to Croatia. There is a limited number of exchanges with a few institutitions. It is interesting however that some libraries from Slovenia and Serbia subscribe to the Journal through subscription agencies. Symptomatically no such subscriptions were received from Croatia. However, the articles from the Journal were at one time in the past quoted in several scholarly works published in Croatia. It seems that the libraries and institutions Yugoslavia which have the Journal in their collections, keep the copies out of circulation. They are not available to the general public and most of the people have no opportunity to learn of the Journal's existence.

How widespread the Journal ultimately would be, and how much it would achieve in the future will depend on how much under-standing and support it can master.

Meštrović's American Experience

Dr. Matthew Meštrović spoke about his father, the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, in a lecture titled, "Mešttović's American Experience." It was during Meštrović's triumphant participation in the 1911 International Exhibition in Rome, that some American admirers first suggested to the sculptor that he tour the United States. But due to the outbreak of World War I, Meštrović s first exhibit in the United States did not open until December, 1924, a the Brooklyn Museum. This exhibit was followed by others across America. At that time Meštrović was at the height of his artistic fame.

As a result of his American tour, Meštrović sold some of his sculptures, received portrait commissions, and eventually received the important commission to make two heroic Indian horsemen for Chicago's Grant Park. He received $125,000, a great sum of money at the time.

Though Meštrović's eight month stay in the United States in 1924-25, and a much shorter stay in 1926, were financially rewarding, he developed a mainly negative perception of American life which he was to retain for the rest of his life. Meštrović perceived America as superficial, materialistic, impersonal. He did not like the superficial friendliness, the shallow gregariousness and the emphasis on show and public relations. During a stay of several months in New York City in 1925, he was deeply depressed, had an intense feeling that he found himself in a hostile milieu, and even had dark thoughts of suicide, which was exceptional, for he was a man of a positive and optimistic attitude towards life.

His return to the United States in 1947, this time to stay until his death in 1962, was the result of World War II and his postwar financial problems. In 1941, he had briefly been imprisoned by the Ustasha Croatian authorities and this experience left a deep and frightening impression on him. In 1942, he was allowed to go to Rome, and the following year with his wife Olga, and three of his children, he was able to reach Switzerland, where he remained until 1946, first in Lausanne and then Geneva. He was fortunate to have substantial funds in a Zurich bank, part of an important commission he had completed for Rumania on the eve of the war.

In 1946, Meštrović returned to Rome where he obtained a studio at the American Academy and lived in the Trastevere area of the city. American friends, the sculptress Malvina Hoffman and the attorney Artur Nikoloric urged him to settle in the United States. Malvina Hoffman had persuaded Manhattan's prestigious Metropolitan Museum to stage a one-man show for Meštrović, the museum's first for a living artist.

Meštrović decided to go to America, and accept a professorship in sculpture at Syracuse University at an annual stipend of $4,500, for several reasons. He had learned of mass killings and imprisonments in Yugoslavia, and hesitated to return home in the midst of a revolutionary upheaval, despite repeated urgings by the Tito regime.

At the same time his funds were running low and there was no prospect of finding commissions and work in Europe. So he decided to go to the United States temporarily, hoping to obtain some important artistic commissions. In a few years, the political situation in Yugoslavia might improve sufficiently for him to return to his homeland, or alternately, he might settle in Italy or Spain.

But, as it so often happens, things do not turn out as planned. Despite the press acclaim of his Metropolitan and other United States exhibits, he made only a couple of small sales and obtained no commissions. Thus his financial problems persisted, all the more so since he felt responsible to support not only his immediate family, but other relatives and friends. He had to continue as sculptor in residence at Syracuse, and then from 1955 on at Notre Dame, at a substantially improved salary. In the 1950s he did obtain a number of commissions, mainly for religious statuary, but the financial rewards were modest and he was never able to free himself from dependence on a professor's salary.

In America, Meštrović was alienated. He was not interested nor did he understand American life, society and developments. His physical separation from Croatia and generally Mediterranean environment, gradually deprived him of the source of his artistic inspiration, which had always mainly been the people and topography of his homeland.

As a younger man, living in Italy, England, France, and Yugoslavia, Meštrović had been socially and politically involved. He had some deep and some more casual romantic encounters with beautiful women, which served as a powerful stimulus for his artistic creativity. But advancing age and the provincial and alien environment of Syracuse and South Bend, offered him no inspiration. In addition his artistic perceptions, and his philosophy as artist, were completely out of step with the mainstream of contemporary art, of the nonrepresentational, the abstract and the pop. Refusing to follow the trend, he became increasingly an artistic anachronism and his reputation gradually declined.

Meštrović's last years in America were difficult. His health was failing. He suffered from diabetes and from high blood pressure. In 1959 he had a stroke which left him partly paralysed for a while and permanently blurred his vision. He hid his ailments as much as he could and continued to work, as best he could.

But the most severe personal blow in his growing infirmity was the suicide in Zagreb of his older son Tvrtko, who was thirty-six at the time. Meštrović was convinced that he would not long survive the death of his son. He wrote about his proximate death to his remaining children. He compared himself to an old oak whose branches had been torn away by the storm of life.

He died of a stroke on January 16, 1962, in the middle of a bitterly cold Indiana winter. He had felt faint earlier in the day, as a result of a mild stroke, and was forced to lie down. He had no regrets about dying. He said to his wife Olga, "If it would only end". It did at eight that evening.

Revolutionary Actions in Croatia 1928-1929

Dr. Jere Jareb, Professor of History at Saint Francis College, Loretto, Pennsylvania, spoke on "Croatian Reaction to the Assassination of Stjepan Radić: Revolutionary Activities. From June 1928 to December 1929." The basic points of Dr. Jareb's lecture are summarized in the following pages.

On this occasion, when we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Croatian Academy of America, we should not forget another fateful anniversary in recent Croatian history. Fifty years ago, on June 20, 1928, Stjepan Radić, President of the Croatian Peasant Party, and his two fellow national representatives, Pavle Radić and Djuro Basariček, were assassinated in the National Parliament (Narodna Skupština) in Belgrade. Stjepan Radić and his party were at that time really representatives of the Croatian people because the party had obtained a large majority of Croatian votes in all parliamentary elections during the 1920's. The assassination had far-reaching political, economic, and cultural repercussions in the life of the Croatian nation. Without doubt the assassination has been a turning point in recent Croatian history, casting its shadow even on contemporary events. Our aim in this lecture is to briefly examine the formation of the revolutionary groups as an immediate result of the assassination, and their actions from June 1928 to December 1929. No revolutionary group existed in Croatia during the first decade of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes. During that period the Croatians peacefully suffered oppression, beatings, and assassinations by the representatives of Serbian rule over Croatia. They hoped that reason would prevail and a just solution could be found. Radić 's assassination profoundly changed the :previous assumptions for a peaceful solution. The goal of the revolutionary groups established after Radić's assassination was the establishment of an independent and democratic Croatian state.

The first revolutionary group was composed from the youth organized in the youth organization of the Croatian Peasant Party. It was led by Ivan Bernardić and Cvjetko Haddija. Immediatelely after the news of the Belgrade assassinations was received in Zagreb in the afternoon of June 20, 1928, the Croatian Peasant Party youth organization, joined by other Croatian youth, went to the Zagreb streets demonstrating against the assassins of the Croatian leaders and Serbian rule over Croatia. The demonstrations continued the next day. Three Croatian youth (Krešimir Jerbić, Nikola Majcen, and Djordje Bjeloš) were killed in the demonstrations and about sixty wounded, among them Ivan Bernardić. Some policemen were wounded too and some of them rejected the orders to attack unarmed Croatian youth. These demonstrations were spontaneous. The demonstrators did not have any weapons and, in their conflict with the police, they used stones, bricks, and sticks.

Shortly thereafter, this revolutionary group obtained some revolvers and used them in subsequent actions. Some of these actions are briefly discussed hereafter.

Late in the evening of August 4, 1928, Josip Šunić, a member of the Croatian Peasant Party youth organization, mortally shot a Serbian newspaperman, Vladimir Ristović, who arrived in Zagreb the same day. Ristović was editor the of Belgrade newspaper Jedinstvo (Unity) and wrote several inflammatory articles prior to the assassinations of June 20, 1928. In one of his articles, Ristović demanded the assassination of Stjepan Radić. The Croatian youth considered Ristović's visit to Zagreb as an inadmissible provocation.

On December 1, 1928,—the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenes—the authorities organized a religious thanksgiving ceremony in the Zagreb cathedral with the participation of military units in front of the cathedral. A few minutes before the start of the ceremony, three black flags appeared on the steeples of the cathedral indicating that December 1 was, for the Croatians, a day of mourning and not of celebration. Many Croatians—particularly youth participated in the bloody demonstrations that followed. Several policemen and demonstrators were wounded, and Stanko Petrić, a member of the Croatian Peasant Party, was killed.

On January 6, 1929, king Alexander proclaimed his personal dictatorship by abolishing the constitution, dissolving the parliament, and forbidding all political parties and organizations. All powers—executive, legislative, and judicial--were now concentrated in the king's hands. During 1929 several smaller actions were undertaken and secret leaflets published by the members of the revolutionary Croatian Peasant Party group. At the end of November 1929, the city council of Zagreb, obviously under pressure from the government, decided to send a delegation to Belgrade for King Alexander's birthday party on December 17, 1929, in order to express to the king the loyalty of the Croatians. At that time, during November 1929, Bernardić's and Hadižija's group was able to make three crude bombs. They intended to place a bomb under a railroad bridge near Zagreb over which the train with the loyalty delegation would be passing for Belgrade. The intended action was discovered by the police on December 13, 1929, and the entire group led by Bernardić and Hadžija was arrested. Together with them, Dr. Vladko Maček, president of the Croatian Peasant Party and the successor of Stjepan Radić, was imprisoned too. All arrested were accused on the basis of the Law for the Defense of the State and stood trial in Belgrade before the State Court for the Defense of the State from April 24 to June 6, 1930. The sentence was proclaimed on June 14. Dr. Vladko Maček and some others were found not guilty and set free. Bernardić was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment and thirteen of his colleagues to terms ranging from half a year to ten years. This was the end of the first revolutionary group.

The second revolutionary group, composed mostly of the youth organized within the Croatian Party of Rights, came into existence during February and March 1929. The most significant act of this group was the assassination of journalist Tony Schlegel, editor of the Zagreb daily newspaper Novosti (News), on March 22, 1929. Schlegel was a defender of king Alexander's dictatorship and a trusted agent of the king. For more than seven months, the police was unable to find the persons who shot Schlegel. At the beginning of the investigation, the police arrested Ivan Bernardić and several of his friends. They were released several weeks later since the investigators had concluded that they were innocent in Schlegel's assassination.

At the end of October 1929, the police discovered the organizers of Schlegel's assassination. They were arrested on October 31 and subsequent days. Mijo Babić and Zvonimir Pospišil escaped the arrest and crossed the frontier into Italy. Twenty-three persons were arrested altogether. The most prominent among them were Stjepan Javor, Marko Hranilović, and Matija Soldin. All imprisoned were inhumanly beaten and tortured. They remained in police hands and later under the court investigation for more than eighteen months. They stood trial in Zagreb during May and June 1931. The sentence was pronounced on June 30. The court came to the conclusion that Schlegel was shot by Mijo Babić who was accompanied by Marko Hranilović and Matija Soldin. Therefore Hranilović and Soldin were sentenced to death and hanged on September 25, 1931. Sixteen accused were sentenced to imprisonment from eighteen months to twenty years, and five were found not guilty. This was the end of the second revolutionary group.

Although both early revolutionary groups were eliminated by the end of 1929, their example was followed by many other Croatian youth during the 1930's. The Ustaša—Croatian Revolutionary Organization (Ustala—Hrvatska Revolucionarna Organizacija or U.H.R.O.) had its roots or seeds in the Croatian revolutionary spirit of 1928 and 1929, although its organization took place between the summers of 1930 and 1932.

***

The celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary ended with the banquet held in the Colonial Room of the Roosevelt Hotel, which was attended by more than hundred people. Among the present were members and friends of the Academy from the West Coast, Chicago, Ohio and several states of Eastern seaboard. Dr. Martin Abend, TV news commentator of New York channel 5, was a guest speaker. In his talk he discussed the Croatian problems and their coverage by news media. His incisive comments were warmly applauded.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY

President Ivo Vučičević opened the Twenty-Fifth Annual General Assembly in the New York Hilton Hotel in New York City on Mary 19, 1979. Forty-one regular members were represented in person or by proxy. Two corresponding members also attended. Edward S. Yambrušić from Washington D.C. was elected to chair the Assembly.

In his report President Vučičević, discussed the problem of rejuvenating the Academy. Most of the burden of the Academy's work is still on the shoulders of some of its founders and older pioneer members. Results of the attempts to activate a larger number of younger members were disappointing. One has to ask himself: what is the reason? Ourselves? Lack of the right approach? Or is the attitude of some younger people who are not interested in an organization which is not politically tinted? Although the Academy is a non-political and educational organization, there are ample opportunities for scholarly discussion of topics in political science, history, economic etc, as has been attested by the Academy's organized symposia and lectures.

Vučičević also referred to the case of well qualified people, who are interested in the work of the Academy, and often support it, but are reluctant in joining it formally. The reason most cited is that they want to avoid unpleasant experiences when travelling back and forth to their native country. They are often subjected to interrogations by Yugoslav authorities about the organizations they belong to, certain people they know and with whom they are associated with.

There is yet another group of people who owe their professional education to Croatian people and who are pursuing successful careers in this country, but seem interested only in accumulating material wealth. As they neither help nor contribute to any cause, they are also distanced from the Academy.

In continuation of his report President Vučičević said that main activities of the Academy consisted in publishing the Journal of Croatian Studies and in work of individual members inside or outside the chapters of the Academy. The Journal enjoys a great esteem in scholarly circles. Activities of many individual members in fields of their specialty were well recognized. A more coordinated work was adversely affected by geographical dispersion of the membership. As far as the chapters are concerned Vučičević discussed the activities of the West-Coast and Chicago chapters and efforts to revitalize the Toronto chapter. He also reported on the cooperation with the American Croatian Academic Society of Cleveland and commented on the founding of the Association for Croatian Studies, affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS). Among founders of the Association for Croatian Studies are several Academy members.

The Executive Secretary, Dr. Maria Krocker-Tuškan reported that the past year in the life of the Academy, in addition to the regular activities, was marked by the successful celebration of its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary. One issue of the Journal and one issue of the Chronicle were published and distributed. The West Coast and Midwest chapters sponsored several lectures. The Executive Council held seven meetings in New York City. She travelled from Cincinnati to attend all of them. An appeal was sent to members in arrears with their dues and results were good as many sent additional contributions. The Academy has 189 regular and 10 corresponding members. The Academy's achievements are satisfactory, particularly if taking into account all difficulties that had to be overcome. Some members of the Executive Council were unable to carry out their duties for reasons which they originally did not anticipate. Had the duties been distributed more evenly among more people, the work would be easier, and results better.

The Treasurer Vinko Kužina gave a detailed report of the Academy's finances. Main sources of income were dues, contributions and subscriptions to the Journal, major expenditure: publishing the Journal. Both receipts and expenditures were the highest on the record. Cash at hand is over $6,500.

Several members discussed the part of the President's report on generation gap. Mr. Krunoslav Mašina, having observed that by his age, he is in the middle between the alder and younger generation, said that the Academy's founders had a clear concept of what they wanted to do and how to do it, and, that they have worked to carry out this program with perseverance and consistency. The program of the Academy is broad and allows enough room for any-one willing to engage himself on some part of it. He gave full credit to the elder members who led the Academy through the last twenty-five years. Recalling some events from seven, eight year ago, he said that the doors of the Academy were open to younger people then as they are now. But those who join must respect and advance the aims for which the Academy was constituted, not to divert its purpose which would make certain the Academy's liquidation. Others who commented on the problem related to the younger generation were Dr. Maria Krocker-Tuškan, who observed that some phenomena must be viewed in the framework of post-industrial development. Mrs. Xenia Duišin remarked that many of the young people are rather oriented and interested in particular issues, than in a specific organization. Mr. Edward S. Yambrušić said that by its symposia on the occasion of the Bicentennial of the United States, the Academy experienced some sort of renaissance. At that time several members of the second and third generation developed special interest for their roots and some of them joined the Academy.

Professor Bogdan Raditsa talked of some of his experiences in participating at scholarly meetings and symposia. President Vučičević and others took part in discussion of controversial school reform in Croatia which was met there with widespread concern and opposition.

At the request of some members Karlo Mirth, managing editor of the Journal gave details about the Journal's distribution, publications exchange, contacts, the correspondence and some views on the latest issue.

Josip Knežević, President of the Committee of Control, reported that business records were found in good order. N. Milosevich recommended that the Assembly express its recognition to the members of the Executive Council and to the editors of the Journal. The following members were elected to the Executive Council: President, Ivo Vučičević (San Francisco), Vice President, Edward S. Yambrušić (Washington D.C.), and Mrs. Xenia Duišin (New York City), Tresurer Vinko Kužina (Fort Lee, N.J.), Recorder, Nicholas Milosevich (New York City). The term of the Executive Secretary Dr. Maria Krocker-Tuškan expires next year. Members of the Executive Council: Anthony Basioli (Trenton, N.J.), Josip Bosilievich (Cleveland), Dr. Francis H. Eterovich (Chicago), Mario Forgiarini (Los Alamitos, CA), Dr. Nicholas Grego (Philadelphia), Dr. Rudolph Hrascanec (Villanova, PA), Dr. Jere Jareb (Loretto, PA), Prof. Ante Kadić (Bloomington, Ind.), Christine Kielich (Washington, D.C.), Krunoslav Mašina (New York City), Karlo Mirth (New York City), Vlado Petranovic (Willowdale, Ont. Canada), Dr. Mario Spalatin (Wauwatosa, Wisc.), Charles Šporer (New York) , and Dr. Dinko Šuljak (Davis, CA). Committee of Control: Josip Knežević (New York City), Šime Vatavuk (New York City) and Ante Nizeteo (Itahaca, NY).

In the ensuing discussion of implementing the program of the Academy many useful suggestions were made. Professor Mladen Kabalin said that a sort of "affirmative action" of Croatian creative work in all field's, intellectual, cultural and artistic should be continuously advanced. Edward Yambrušić discussed the possibility of organizing a symposium, preferably with another American institution.

In the evening a banquet was held in the Hilton Hurlingham Restaurant. Monsigsor Krešimir Zorić from Rome, Italy, who is a corresponding member of the Academy, in greeting all present said that the Academy is held in great esteem in Europe. Professor Bogdan Raditsa introduced Dr. Christopher Walters, author and an expert on Byzantine iconography from Paris, France. Mr. Walter's brief address was warmly applauded. Dr. Ernest Bauer, an author of book on Croatian history, who lives in Germany was also among the guests and was greeted by the members of the Academy.