Trustees Honor Roll

Slovenian Broadcaster (1905- 1993)
Inducted on November 30, 1996

Mary Skerlong, "the first lady of ethnic radio," was considered the "Slovenian matriarch of Western Pennsylvania." Broadcasting from Pittsburgh's Keystone Hotel in 1938, Mary featured live musicians when turntables were not readily available. Elected for thirty consecutive years to host the "American- Slovene Radio Program," Mary built an audience approaching 50,000 across four states on Pittsburgh's WPIT, and defied the experts by returning to her post just eight weeks after a heart attack in 1980. Maintaining a Slovenian focus, Mary disdained the support of politicians and sponsors, instead relying on voluntary contributions from her listeners. Mary regularly traveled to Slovenia to keep her repertoire current and featured the recordings of Cleveland-Style orchestras. Mary organized and taught Slovenian language classes, was active throughout the Slovenian community, oversaw Slovenian participation in the Pittsburgh Folk Festival, and was named "Slovenian Woman of the Year" by the American-Slovenes of Western Pennsylvania in 1985.