New eBook!
Transforming Ancestral Photographs into Digital Art with Photoshop Elements 2022. Copyright 2022, Lisa A. Alzo. 44 pages.
This practical guide will teach you how to use Photoshop Elements 2022 to create digital art from your old family photographs.
Digital Download versions available for my popular Scrivener for Genealogists QuickSheets for Windows and Mac
The Scrivener for Genealogists Quick Sheet (Windows) is a 4-page PDF guide with all of the basics you need to know to get up and running with Scrivener,the popular combination word processor and project management tool by Literature and Latte. This guide will show you how to use Scrivener for any genealogy/family history writing project.
The Scrivener for Genealogists Quick Sheet (Mac) is a 4-page PDF guide with all of the basics you need to know to get up and running with Scrivener,the popular combination word processor and project management tool by Literature and Latte. This guide will show you how to use Scrivener for any genealogy/family history writing project.
Internet Genealogy Special Issue
Tracing Your Eastern European Roots
($9.95 + $4.50 s/h). Click here to purchase.
Some of my fondest memories from childhood are the times spent in my Baba’s kitchen. The aromas of fresh bread baking in the oven and chicken soup simmering on the stove, the blending together of voices young and old, and my grandmother in her apron and babushka, provided a warm and welcoming atmosphere for her family. The kitchen served as the center of the home and as the place where some of life’s most important lessons were taught and learned. Simple principles of generosity, honesty and love. It was also in this kitchen I learned to eat the
foods and celebrate the traditions that were central to my Slovak and Rusyn heritage.Paska bread at Easter, Bobalky at Christmas and Halushki every Friday night. Baba’s Kitchen is a collection of recipes and traditions passed down through the generations in my family. I share them as a tribute to my grandmothers and to Rusyn and Slovak women everywhere who continue to preserve and share their cooking, rituals and traditions.
Print edition: $16.95 Purchase from Lulu. eBook edition: $7.49: Purchase from Lulu.
Three Slovak Women, 2nd Ed.
Three Slovak Women is a nonfiction account of three generations of Slovak women in the steel-producing town of Duquesne, Pennsylvania and the love and sense of family binding them together. The book opens with Verona Straka, who immigrated to the United States from the tiny village of Milpos , Slovakia in 1922. The first section unfolds with Verona ‘s journey from her homeland, and then chronicles her arranged marriage to J?nos Figlyar, a hardworking, but stern coal miner/steelworker, whose fondness for alcohol led him to the often violent outbursts of which she was the target. The story then follows Verona ‘s first-born, her daughter Anna, as she grows up as a first-generation American, fearful of her father and devoted to her mother, and how this influenced the choices she made for her own life. Finally, the book concludes with Verona ‘s granddaughter, Lisa, showing how the opportunities presented to her differed from those afforded her mother and grandmother, with reflection on family values and traditions of the Slovak culture-honoring those that have been passed down from the previous two generations, while lamenting what has been lost.
by John Sabol and Lisa Alzo.
Arcadia Publishing, Oct 2009.
Cleveland’s Czech community is one of the area’s oldest European ethnic groups, with a presence in the area even before the Civil War. It is almost a geographical accident that Czechs arrived in Cleveland, where they would have stopped on the way to Czech or Bohemian communities in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin. From 1850 to 1870, the Czech community grew from 3 families to 696, according to The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Many found work making barrels for John D. Rockefeller’s fledgling Standard Oil Company, while others found their way in professional life, including the arts. Their neighborhoods show their migration from Cleveland’s central city to its outlying areas and suburbs including neighboring Geauga County. Today they continue to support three Czech halls and participate in the Czech gymnastic movement-Sokol. The photographs in Cleveland Czechs give readers a glimpse of those neighborhoods and their importance to Cleveland’s history.
Price:$21.99
by John Sabol and Lisa Alzo.
Arcadia Publishing, Oct 2009.
Cleveland’s Slovaks can best be characterized as survivors. Many survived ethnic persecution and poverty so they could have a chance at something better. Beginning with a small core of immigrants seeking work aboveground rather than in the coal mines of neighboring states, Cleveland’s Slovak community grew through a giant chain migration. Their neighborhoods flourished close to their jobs and their churches. Many of the ancestors of today’s Slovaks came to the United States classified as Hungarians. In their hearts, though, they knew what they were and what language they spoke. They held on to their native language even as they learned English and unwaveringly encouraged their children to strive for the opportunity America offered. According to the 2000 census, 93,500 northeast Ohioans claim Slovak heritage. The photographs in Cleveland Slovaks show their neighborhoods and family life and give readers an appreciation of the community’s legacy.
Price:$21.99
“Book Review: Cleveland Slovaks” Jednota, Wednesday, January 20, 2010
by Lisa Alzo
Arcadia Publishing, August 2007
Since the late 1800s, sports have played a key role in shaping the very character of western Pennsylvania. The area’s largest city, Pittsburgh, boasts well-known professional sports teams in baseball, football, and hockey. In fact, no other city of comparable size has had such success in sports at the professional level, earning bragging rights and the nickname “City of Champions.” Sports Memories of Western Pennsylvania is a salute to the athletes, coaches, announcers, and fans, both professional and amateur, who together created a rich sports history for western Pennsylvania.
ISBN: 073855037X
# of Pages: 128
Retail Price: $19.99
Arcadia Publishing, December 2006
No other city in the United States is home to more Slovaks than Pittsburgh. It is estimated that close to 100,000 Slovak immigrants came to the area in the 1890s looking for work and the chance for a better life. The hills and valleys of this new land reminded newcomers of the farms, forests, and mountains they left behind. They lived in neighborhoods close to their work, forming numerous cluster communities in such places as Braddock, Duquesne, Homestead, Munhall, the North Side, Rankin, and Swissvale. Once settled, Slovak immigrants founded their own churches, schools, fraternal benefit societies, and social clubs. Many of these organizations still enjoy an active presence in Pittsburgh today, serving to pass on the customs and traditions of the Slovak people. Through nearly 200 photographs, Slovak Pittsburgh celebrates the lives of those Slovaks who settled in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, and the rich heritage that is their legacy.
ISBN: 0738549088
# of Pages: 128
Retail Price: $21.99
Arcadia Publishing, May 2006
Since the mid-1700s, Pittsburgh has welcomed generations of immigrants. This region in southwestern Pennsylvania was once a magnet for European immigrants who carved out livings in steel, iron, glass, and other factories along its famous three rivers. Those immigrants built the city’s ethnic neighborhoods: the Irish North Side, the Polish South Side, the Italian Bloomfield, as well as other immigrant enclaves in smaller cities and towns in the surrounding areas. The diversity of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods symbolizes a city truly rich in history and culture. Many notable Pittsburghers in business, the arts and entertainment, and sports were either immigrants themselves or children of immigrants. Pittsburgh’s Immigrants pays tribute to the hardworking men and women who made significant contributions to the growth and development of western Pennsylvania and left a legacy of rich and vibrant ethnic
culture that endures to the present day.
ISBN: 0738549088
# of Pages: 128
Retail Price: $21.99
