Serbian Americans


Serbian Americans or American Serbs, are Americans of ethnic Serb ancestry. As of 2024, there were over 176,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry, though broader estimates include many of those with Yugoslav ancestry. Serbian Americans represent one of the largest groups within the global Serb diaspora.

History

One of the first Serb immigrants to the United States was the settler George Fisher, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1815, fought in the Texan Revolution, and became a judge in California. Another notable early Serb in America was Basil Rosevic, who founded a shipping company, the Trans-Oceanic Ship Lines, around the year 1800. In the early 1800s, many Serbs immigrated to New Orleans seeking employment. In 1841, Serbs founded the Greek Orthodox parish with Greek immigrants in New Orleans, further solidifying their presence in the region.
Serbian Americans fought in the American Civil War, primarily on the side of the Confederacy, as most Serbs living in America at the time were in Louisiana and Mississippi. Several Confederate military units were formed by Serbian and Croatian immigrants in Louisiana, such as the Cognevich Company, and the First and Second Slavonian Rifles. At least 400 Serbs fought in these three units during the Civil War. Several other known Serb soldiers in the Civil War came from Alabama and Florida, specifically from Pensacola.
Serb immigrants first came in significant numbers to the United States in the late 19th century from the Lika, Dalmatia, and Bay of Kotor regions. During this time, most Serb immigrants to the United States settled in mid-western industrial cities.
Other Serbs often found employment in mines, and numerous Serb families moved to mining towns in California, mostly in the Sierra Nevada. Amador County, in particular, had a large Serb population in the late 1880s and 1890s due to the California Gold Rush. The Saint Sava [Serbian Orthodox Church (Jackson, California)|Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church] in Jackson, built in 1894, was the first Serbian Orthodox church in America.
Serbian miners, especially from Montenegro, and their families also settled in great numbers in Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s with the primary areas of settlement being Juneau, Douglas, Fairbanks, and Sitka. By World War I there were two Serbian societies established, one in Juneau and other in Douglas for the preservation of Serbian customs heritage in Alaska. In 1905 a newspaper called "The Serbian Montenegrin" was founded in Douglas. Serbs also made up a large number of the miners at the Treadwell gold mine until its collapse in 1917 and subsequent closure in 1922. In 1910, there was a massive explosion on the 1,100 foot level of the Mexican mine at Treadwell. 39 men were killed, 17 of whom were Serbian.
Serbian-Americans volunteered in the First Balkan War. During World War I, as many as 15,000 Serbian-American volunteers returned to the Balkans to fight for the Allied cause in their homeland, especially from Alaska and California. Serbs in the United States who did not volunteer to fight marched for the creation of Yugoslavia, sent aid to the Balkans through the Red Cross, formed a Serbian Relief Committee, and urged notable Americans to support the Serbian cause. Distinguished Serbian American scientist Mihajlo Pupin, a friend of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, led the Serbian National Defence, a Serbian-American organization which collected money and attempted to influence American public opinion with regard to the Balkans. During World War I, Pupin's Consulate in New York served as a center of Serbian-American diplomacy and volunteering of Serbian Americans to the Serbian front.
Following World War II, a significant wave of Serb immigration to the United States began, including members of the royalist Chetnik movement, after the country came under the authoritarian rule of Communist leader Josip Broz Tito. These waves primarily settled in industrial midwestern cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, as well as coastal areas such as Los Angeles and New York City, building on earlier Serbian communities. Many Serbian American cultural and religious organizations have been formed at that time.
A select group of seven pioneering Serbian American engineers, affectionately dubbed the "Serbo 7", played pivotal roles in NASA's Apollo program during the 1960s, leveraging their expertise in systems engineering, avionics, and project management to help propel humanity's first lunar landing in 1969. Their contributions spanned critical phases of spacecraft design, testing, and mission coordination, including troubleshooting during the dramatic Apollo 13 crisis.
The 1990s saw another surge due to the Yugoslav Wars, as Serb immigrants escaped ethnic conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia as well as economic collapse in Serbia. Demographically, the Serbian American population grew steadily during this period; census data shows 100,941 people declaring Serbian descent in 1980, rising to 140,337 by 2000.

Demographics

According to data from the 2023 American Community Survey, 181,469 people stated that they had Serb ancestry, out of which 42,968 were Serbia-born. Serbian Americans comprise 0.05% of total U.S. population. Some 210,935 declared Yugoslav as their ancestry in 2023 with estimates that many of those were of ethnic Serb origin.
The Serbian American community is concentrated in Great Lakes region, with major hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee metro areas.

Heritage

There are 139 Serbian Orthodox churches in 34 states across the country, many of which stand as representations of Serbo-Byzantine architecture that include unique characteristic elements from the Middle Ages. Consecrated in 1894, the Saint Sava Church in Jackson, California, is the oldest Serbian Orthodox church in the United States. The New Gračanica Monastery in Third Lake, Illinois, is an impressive architectural replica of the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Gračanica in Kosovo, the famous church that was continually destroyed and rebuilt in the course of the history.
The United States has at least seven places named Belgrade, making it one of the most duplicated foreign city names in the country. All are tributes to the Serbian capital of Belgrade, largest of which is Belgrade in Montana with population of 12,509 and named after the Serbian capital, as an expression of appreciation to the Serbian investors who helped finance a portion of the Northern Pacific Railway.

Media

Serbian Americans have historically published and continue to publish a number of newspapers in both the Serbian and English languages. The oldest Serbian American newspaper currently in publication is the Pittsburgh-based bilingual American Srbobran, which has been in circulation since 1906.
There are Serbian-language radio programs available in the United States, not as full-time dedicated FM/AM stations but as brokered-time shows on multilingual outlets, most prominent of which is Serbian Radio Chicago, a daily one-hour program on WNWI Chicago-area radio station.
Serbian Television USA is a Chicago-based media production company focused on producing content that promotes Serbian culture, values, language, and customs while covering Serbian-American community events. Its flagship show, Serb View,
airs weekly on Xfinity cable channel 19 in the Chicago area.

Organizations

The Serbian American community has developed a rich network of organizations focused on cultural preservation, mutual aid, religious life, political advocacy, and humanitarian efforts.
The Serbian American organization Serbian National Defense Council, founded in 1914, is a Serb diaspora community organization whose goal is promoting interest of Serbs and Serbia abroad as well as the interests of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is based in Chicago, and also has chapters in Hamilton and Sydney.
The Serb National Federation is the oldest Serbian American community organization, founded 1901. It publishes American Srbobran newspaper.

Notable people

In popular culture