Congratulations on your new website of PITTSBURGH IMMIGRANT and the ideas you would like to foster herein.

As a grandchild of Pittsburgh Serbian immigrants from 1897, 1900 and 1906, I would like to share with you and your readers the website I’ve developed. My http://www.babamim.com website documents much of the love, hope, dreams, hardships, successes and exciting adventures that our early Serbian immigrants had here in Pittsburgh at the beginning of the last century.

Most of all, it shows their burning desire to be the best Americans they could be, but at the same time, to cherish and maintain their Serbian cultural heritage and values.

I’m sure you will love Pittsburgh. Several years ago while still teaching for Quaker Valley School District in Pittsburgh, we had several In-Service classes on Diversity Training. It was hard not to chuckle at even the thought, as I grew up in Pittsburgh where we celebrated EVERYONE’S heritage, starting with my neighbors of every ethnicity around me, the Pitt Nationality Rooms and the Annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival days. To us, it was always “Unity Through Diversity!”

Even my High School Music Teacher, Mr. Schmidt, was ahead of the curve. He made us learn at least one song from every culture, so that if we ever went to a party or celebration, we could also sing along. While I don’t remember everyone’s song, I do remember ours. The words were printed on the blackboard for all of us to learn, “Oj, Devojka oj…. primish pozdrav moj, samo nemoj, moj Majci kaziti.”

Welcome again. And best of luck to all of you there. If you need any help learning more about Serbian immigrants, I’m here to help.

Sincerely,
Milana (Mim) Karlo Bizic