The Kossuth House is the Home Office of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. It is located on the corner of 20th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, just off Dupont Circle in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Where does this continued enthusiasm for and dedication to Kossuth come from among ethnic Hungarians and others? Why did the Federation name its headquarters after Kossuth in 1938?

Lajos Kossuth was the preeminent Hungarian patriot and statesman of the mid-19th century, described by many as the father of Hungarian democracy. A respected jurist, Kossuth was an early student of the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, knowledge he put to specific use when Hungary declared its independence from the Austrian Empire, and he was elected as first Governor of Hungary's newly formed republic (and its first constitutional government).

Rejection of the republic by the Hapsburg monarchy led to the 1848 War of Independence, which Hungary subsequently lost when the Russian Empire joined forces with the Austrians to crush the movement of independence in 1849. Forced into exile with tens of thousands of his compatriots, Kossuth found himself an international hero with a particularly fervent following in the United States where his struggles on behalf of democratic ideals and constitutional principles had particular resonance. In 1852 he became the second non-citizen after the Marquis de Lafayette ever invited to address both houses of Congress. His subsequent tour of the country was so well received that a county (in Iowa), towns in five states and numerous streets were named after him, not to mention the placards and statues dedicated in his honor. And it is in this spirit of honor, that the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America in 1938 dedicated its new headquarters in Washington, D.C., to Kossuth.