The Slovak-American Cultural Center (S-ACC) was founded in 1967 in New York City as a not-for-profit organization to pursue the following goals:

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• To preserve Slovak heritage in the United States for the Slovak-American community.

• To promote Slovak cultural, scientific, and athletic activities at home and abroad.

• To familiarize the American public with Slovak culture, history, and current events in Slovak life.

• To publicly recognize and promote the achievements of Slovak-Americans in the United States and abroad.

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The founders of S-ACC were Slovak immigrants who came to the US to escape political persecution after the Second World War. Many of them settled in the New York metropolitan area and immediately set out on a rich program of lectures, seminars, concerts and other cultural events. These activities gave Slovaks in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut the opportunity to socialize and to study, enjoy, and preserve, as well as further develop, their rich cultural heritage.

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Since 1993, S-ACC has organized annual Slovak Balls, and also used them as an opportunity to recognize and honor people of Slovak origin for their significant achievements. Some of our past honorees are:

 

• Captain Gene Cernan (1995)

• Luba Mason (1996)

• Marina Belica (1996)

• Tania Halko (1996)

• Rev. George Torok (1997)

• Hon. John L. Mica (1999)

• Hon. Benjamin Gilman (2000)

• Gregg Whiteside (2001)

• Michael Novak (2002)

• Hon. Carl Spielvogel (2003)

• Barbara Lee Diamonstein Spielvogel (2003)

• Peter Stastny (2004)

• Leo Danihel (2005)

• Rudolf Gregus (2006)

• Larry P. Hinterbuchner, MD (2006)

• John Holy (2006)

• Gregor Lazarcik, PhD. (2006)

• Lubica Markovich (2006)

• Ludwig Pavlo, MD (2006)

• H.E. Ambassador Rastislav Kacer (2008)

• Joseph T. Senko (2009)

• Eva Virsik (2010)

• Nina Holy (2011)

• Zoltan G. Mesko, MD (2012)

• Oto Racek (2015)

• 50th Anniversary of the founding of SACC (2016).  Those honored for their dedication, leadership, and many contributions to SACC included: Dr. Milan Beres, Matus Culen (current Vice President), Lydia Demko (founding member), Gitka Hlavinka, Eta Jendrek, Jaroslav “Jerry” Krupa (founding member), Judith Lepko,  and Ema Stasko (founding member).  Recognition awards for volunteerism were given to Zuzana Krcmar, Stano Krcmar, Rosemary Golia, and Maria Sevcik who inspired the concept of the first Ball.  We salute all of those honored and the current Board members for their outstanding service and commitment to the organization.

• Andrew M. Rajec (2018) & Daniel F. Tanzone (2018)

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   Slovak Ball special guest perfomers

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• Andrew Pulver (2015) - Young opera star

• Peter Lipa (2016) - Slovak Jazz legend

• Filip Pogády (2016) - Violin Virtuoso

• Peter Cmorik (2017) - Award-winning Slovak musician and composer

• Alexandra Apjarova (2018) - Acrobatic performer

• Ladi Smigura (2018) - Violinist

• Pavol Hammel (2019) - Slovak music superstar 

• Vlado Kolenic (2020) - Lead singer of legendary Slovak rock band "Taktici"

• Ondrej Kandráč (2022) - Frontman of the Slovak folk band "Kandráčovci"

• Štefan Štec (2023) - Slovak folk singer