Just inside the Haughville neighborhood on the west side, the Slovenian National Home salutes passersby with two flags: the red, white and blue of the U.S. and the white, blue and red of the Republic of Slovenia.
The home serves as a meeting place for descendants of Slovenian immigrants, who came to Indianapolis in the late 1890s and early 1900s to escape the Austro-Hungarian Empire and work jobs at manufacturing plants in the city.
Many Slovenians took up residence in Haughville. They brought their traditions, heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, and cuisine like jota, the traditional stew containing beans, sauerkraut and beef, or potica, the swirled sweet walnut pastry.
More than a century removed from the migration from their ancestral homeland, the current generation of Slovenian Americans are working to keep those, and other Slovenian traditions passed on by their grandparents, alive — even as demographics change in the blue collar part of town.
Links to the past
Brothers Al and Charlie Turk visit the home regularly. They say it serves as a place for Slovenian Americans to grab a beer and talk about their common heritage and upbringing.
They say the most important traditions they’re trying to keep alive aren’t complicated.
“It’s the work ethic, treating people with respect and treating other people like you like to be treated,” Charlie Turk said.
The Turks say that the Slovenian National Home helps people keep connected with their family and their history. Many of the people that come to the home have known each other for decades. Some grew up together.
“That’s why everybody’s here,” Charlie Turk said. “They have the same background and the same story about getting here.”
Jim Leslie’s family came to the U.S. from the village of Sabonje in the early 1900s. They came through Ellis Island, where millions of immigrants from around the world were processed to enter the country.
Leslie said the home helped him pass on some of the Slovenian traditions he learned from his parents. He and his wife, Judy, who is not of Slovenian ancestry but has learned a lot about the culture over the years, regularly get together with their daughter, Stephanie Leslie, to make potica pastries.
Stephanie Leslie is the director of the study abroad program at IUPUI’s Office of International Affairs. Inspired by her upbringing in Slovenian culture, she convinced her parents to take their first trip to Slovenia to see their ancestral hometown. She also serves on the committee that establishes cultural links between the city of Indianapolis and its Slovenian sister city, Piran.
“I do feel like it’s part of my identity, and it’s something that I intentionally tried to share with my kids,” Stephanie Leslie said. “They’ve been able to go to Slovenia a couple of times as part of this sister city connection, and so they’ve been sort of cultural ambassadors in Slovenia as a way to share about the U.S., learn about each other and meet family.”
Gatherings at the Slovenian National Home have inspired others to get in touch with their roots.
Stephen Fon, a board member, visited the country in the 1970s.
“We’ve got a neat connection, because when my grandmother on my mom’s side came over, she came over with two sisters and a brother,” Fon said. “Her brother didn’t like it here, so he went back. And we still have family over there that we visit.”
Keeping their heritage alive
While many Slovenian Americans take clear pride in their culture, the seats at the Slovenian National Home are not being filled like they were in the past.
Charlie Turk, who also is a board member, said membership at the home began to decline in the 1970s, when the last of the original Slovenian immigrants began to die off and major manufacturers in the city began winding down operations.
Over the years, people began moving out of Haughville and into Avon, Brownsburg and other communities outside of Indianapolis. Haughville is still a neighborhood of immigrants, but streets where Slovenians, Serbians and other eastern European immigrants once lived are now home to immigrants from Mexico, Honduras and other Latin American countries.
Al Turk sees similarities in the immigration stories of Latinos and that of his immigrant relatives: their efforts to move to the U.S. for jobs and a better life, and the balancing act of fitting into their new home while keeping the old traditions alive.
To him, it sounds like the same struggles faced by Indianapolis’ first Slovenian Americans.
Now, he hopes future generations of Slovenian Americans keep their traditions going. He said the home will most likely be at the heart of that effort.
“It’s really hard, but you gotta make it fun,” Al Turk said. “It’s hard for this generation, which is always on its phone, but the key is letting them get that feeling of being in a true community.”
Bartender Jaymie Brodnik takes drink orders. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy 
Slovenian National Home members Jim and Judy Leslie enjoy a traditional Slovenian meal of jota and potica. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy 
Slovenian National Home President Rok Cerne, a Slovenian immigrant, speaks about Slovenian poet France Prešeren, who wrote the poem that became the Slovenian Anthem. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy 
Slovenian National Home board member Charlie Turk picks up an order of jota, a traditional Slovenian stew. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy 
The Slovenian National Home serves as a gathering place for Slovenian Americans. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy 
Hanging above the bar, a neon sign with the initials of the Slovenian National Home. Credit: Enrique Saenz / Mirror Indy
Directions and events
The Slovenian National Home is located at 2717 W. 10th Street and is open to members every Friday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
For more information, check out the home’s website.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz.
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