Survey of Czech and Slovak Historic Sites and Monuments in America
Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), in cooperation with other
major Czech-American organizations, associated with the National Heritage
Commission, has initiated efforts toward preserving Czech cultural heritage
in America. The project has been recognized and fully endorsed by the US
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.
This effort was prompted by the concern for the sad state of Czech historical
monuments and memorabilia, as well as for the continuous loss of historically
important archival materials regarding the life and work of the Czech
immigrants and their descendants. Although the focus is on Czech memorabilia,
considering the frequent difficulties in separating Czech from Slovak
materials, the relevant Slovak and Czechoslovak materials will also be
included. The organizers eventually hope to enlarge the project to cover all
Slovak material with cooperation of the Slovak-American organizations.
The first phase will focus on information available at and provided by
individual societies and organizations. In this connection, most of the
Czech-American ethnic societies have been contacted, as were numerous
American institutions, libraries and document centers. The organizers
obviously cannot know of all relevant organizations and are therefore asking
the Czech-American and Slovak-American public for assistance and advice. We
are particularly interested in learning about the less known organizations,
their addresses and suitable contact.
Furthermore, we are interested in information concerning archival and
documentary material held in private hands which are not generally known.
These types of materials are lost continuously, and without anybody knowing
about it. The immigrant families, for generations, have kept old Czech books,
almanacs, anniversary publications, calendars, posters, photos, letters and
other family treasures which have reminded them of their old country and
which they have held in great reverence. As the old generations die, the
subsequent generations lose interest not only in the Czech language but also
in their own family heritage. Since the grandparents' material is written in
a strange language and has presumably no monitory value, they simply toss it
away. This is of course a great irreplaceable loss. Many of these
publications are long out of print and cannot be found even in the Naprstek
Museum in Prague, not to mention archival material of which there was only
one copy. Some of the material may contain important letters and other
documents relating to the life and activities of an individual who played a
vital role in the Czech-American community or on behalf of the Czech
Republic. We would thus welcome any information concerning material of this
sort, with the address and the name of the keeper. We would be willing to
provide some small financial aid for preparing this inventory.
Besides information about publications and archival material, we are
interested in receiving information about historic sites and monuments, e.g.,
statues, memorial plaques, buildings, halls, churches, cemeteries, parks,
etc., which are related in some way to history of Czech immigrants in the US.
Memorabilia of this type are scattered throughout the US, and no survey has
ever been made of them. Individuals hardly ever even know about history
relicts in their own neighborhood. Most of these monuments are in sad shape
of disrepair which, without some repair or restoration, will be completely
destroyed.
The initial purpose of this effort is to simply gather information. In the
subsequent phases of this endeavor we shall start serious discussions and
negotiations with various government agencies on both sides of the Atlantic
concerning the transfer and storage of the materials for safe keeping and
scholarly research, or the restoration of a specific object.
To simplify your response, we would be pleased to send you questionnaires
that have been prepared for this purpose. Apart from the requested
information we would also welcome volunteers to help us gather information in
particular localities, cites and states.
In particular, we would welcome volunteers who would help us search the
Internet for possible web sites relating so Czech and Slovak-American
historic sites and monuments, festivals, archives, etc.
Contact: Please send the relevant information, concrete suggestions and
comments to the Project Coordinator, SVU President, Dr. Mila Rechcigl, 1703
Mark Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; tel./FAX: (301) 881-7222; e-mail:
rechcigl@aol.com
