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YOUNGSTOWN – The importance of religion in Youngstown, and the Mahoning Valley at large, cannot be understated.
This fact is evident with the many churches, synagogues, cathedrals and mosques present in the area.
For some, the emphasis on religion is historical. During periods of mass migration, where various groups moved to the Valley to work in the steel mills and other industries, they brought with them their culture -- and thus, their religion. Mahoning Valley Historical Society Executive Director H. William Lawson said the assimilation period of these groups into the area was accompanied by segregation.
This, he said, led them to create "enclaves" to serve the African American, Polish, Slavic, Greek, Irish and Italian communities.
"Within the enclaves, there would be one -- maybe two or more -- denominations that served, in native language, the people living in those enclaves. Also, there were social clubs and fraternal organizations that had headquarters in these enclaves, and they were very tightly knit," Lawson said.
He said the establishment of this tribal-like system caused groups to look at members of other enclaves with a level of distrust.
The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 limited the groups and the number of individuals who were allowed to move to the United States.
Lawson said the Act decreased the availability of workers, and employers had to look within the U.S. for employees. Lawson added that immigration in the area increased after World War II. He said many people emigrated from Europe because of displacement caused by the restructuring of country borders.
He said there were noticeable disparities between the European immigrants who settled in the Valley and the new arrivals.
"They came, in many cases they clamped onto existing cultural institutions like the churches and fraternal organizations, and social clubs, but they were different in terms of their world view than the second and third generation, like Polish Americans and the Polish displaced persons," Lawson said.
"So, a very interesting dynamic to see that because, of course, like the ones (who) came generations before, they preferred to worship in their native language and to have cultural events that spoke greatly to their culture, which they still very much felt."
There were several churches established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that offered religious services in the native language of their congregants.
The Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church was opened in 1906, SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Ukrainian Church, Evangel Baptist Church (started as the Swedish Baptist Church in 1890), St. Rosa de Lima Catholic Church and St. Dominic Parish, among many others.
Lawson also said the influx of immigrants during this period, who brought their religions with them, added to the tension within the area.
He said the tension was reduced through schooling and sports.
"Cultural tension is one of the big things that we can't discount, because Protestant Christians seeing Roman Catholic and Orthodox Jewish people coming here from Europe, a lot of them weren't happy with that, especially in the working and middle class, social strata, of course, the upper class. The management and owners of the mills, they're bringing these people over because they need them to work here, so it's understood, there's a reason for it," Lawson said.
As the steel industry boomed, so did the culture of the Valley. As the economic developments began to dwindle, so did the population, and with them, their culture.
Lawson said some members of older immigrant generations who left Youngstown because of the economic and industrial decline are looking to return.
"I'd say some were happy to get out, some realized how much the cultural connections that we have, that are very strong in this community, meant to them and, so, they might try to come back," Lawson said. "Gen X especially, they're very curious about, you know, what is going on around here in terms of the traditions that have lasted and, you don't see some of the things that we do here, happening in too many other places, so they take some pride in that. They want to bring it back a little bit, in terms of ethnic festivals, food festivals ... That's all good and I think it’s good for this community to try to preserve the cultural heritage that we have going back all that way into the 19th century."