About Slovenian Museum & Archives (SMA)

SMA is non-profit (501c3) organization whose mission is to preserve and share Slovenian ethnic identity and its various migration experiences in a sophisticated, multi-functional and interactive dwelling. SMA will provide an educational, cultural and literary resource for families and will include an archives, library, museum and cinematheque. In conjunction with the Slovenian Studies Center based at Cleveland State University, SMA will render invaluable services to historians, researchers, students and genealogists.

The Slovenian Museum and Archives (SMA) provides a resolution to the critical situation in the Slovenian Community of Cleveland today. We are rapidly losing our beloved ancestors, and we are faced with the real possibility of losing our ethnic history and identity as well. We are the privileged inheritors of a legacy, not only of precious pieces of rich, ethnic, artistic and linguistic works, but also of a compelling story of migrating and thriving in America and in our City of Cleveland. We have an obligation to our ancestors, our families and to history to tell our story. Slovenian Cleveland, the largest community of Slovenians outside of Slovenia, is now building its heart, a home, in which our rich and diversified legacy can be preserved and celebrated with our minds set on the future. This is SMA. Be a part of it.