Czechmatediary

Prior to the first major immigration wave (1880) the majority of Czechs settled in the US. From there some of them moved to western Canada which was known for its vast and cheap land. ” The Canadian government, in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific Railway, sponsored a number of similar colonization schemes, promising that upon arrival the immigrant could begin ploughing on a selected piece of land. These colonization schemes usually involved partial payment for transport overseas and by rail across the continent, and offered attractive, but not obligatory, land-purchase plans. These did not always work out, and many immigrants had to work on others’ farms or in the railway and mining industries before they received their own land. As a result, many never became farmers but stayed in their first jobs. In many cases, these migrants adapted to their new life and decided to stay in Canada instead of returning home. Many then arranged for their wives and children to join them” .

Czech immigration to Canada can be devided into 4 phases:

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So, why did Czechoslovakia really split up?

• The arguments had started already back in 1989, right after the Velvet revolution in early November. Both sides were bickering about what should the future federation look like: “What it’s going to be called?” “Who is going to get “burned” on this whole deal? The Czechs or the Slovaks?”
• The very decisive moment came during the elections in 1992; the Czechs elected ODS as their major leading political party, where as majority of Slovaks voted for the HZDS. Both leaders of the party, Mr. Klaus (ODS) and Mr. Meciar (HZDS) just didn’t seem to agree on anything regarding the future federation.
• The negative atmosphere was also thickened by the fact that during the presidential elections in 1992 the Slovakian parliament decided not to support Vaclav Havel as a future president. (more…)
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Do you wonder where your family came from? Are you looking for your ancestors who long time ago disappeared somewhere abroad? If that is your case and you are a beginner regarding the genealogy issues you can turn to the Czech Genealogy Institute (Ceska genealogicka a heradlicka spolecnost; www.genealogie.cz ) for help. You can also become a member. As a member you will be receiving a free Genealogy newsletter (4x/year), you can join various classes to teach you how to start your search (next class begins Sept.20th , in Prague Stodulky) and have access to various exhibitions. Martin Slaboch, an institute member, says:”If you get into genealogy, it will become your lifetime hobby “. When asked how should people start looking for their ancestors, Martin advises first to:

• talk to the oldest living relatives of yours and ask them where their grandparents came from
• search for old photos at home and look at the their back side to see if there is any other written info
• search for marriage/death certificates

Then you are ready to search in the “real” archives! (more…)

Czechs immigrating to America of course brought their traditional dances and music with them along with the more sophisticated forms of art such as classical music and Czech drama. Music had always played one of the most important roles in the life of Czechs, hence the saying “Co Cech, to muzikant” (Every Czech is a musician). Music styles that the Czech Americans would perform varied from polkas to hymns and church choirs, especially those belonging to Moravian brethren. The biggest popularity in America received a dance called Polka which was originally created to honor the Polish people. Who would have ever guessed that “Skoda Lasky” will be the most played Czech song of all time (in Czech and worldwide) and will also get it’s own American name, the “Beer Barrel Dance”! (Roll out the barrel…and we’ll have a barrel of fun…) Czech Americans also became quite known as performers in orchestral associations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra or the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (more…)

During the 1850’s most Czech immigrants felt the strongest connection with the American Democratic party. Since the majority of political positions were already taken by other immigrant groups (especially the Irish), the Czechs usually had to start their political careers in small towns of Midwest and Texas, which is where most Czech Americans lived. The first famous Czech American politician became Augustin Haidusek, who was elected in 1875 as the mayor of La Grande, Texas. The next Czech star in American politics was Adolf Sabath. Born in Pisek, this Czech fellow became the longest serving U.S. congressman in history (Adolf was re-elected into the US Congress 23 times!! And then he died..). And the list goes on: Otto Kerner became the governor of Illionis in 1960’s who became known for his “Kerner’s report” in which he warned America about the increasing division between the whites and the blacks. (more…)

Czechs always kept education in a high regard, which is obvious from the high literacy rate of the Czech immigrant groups (97% could read and write) compared to the other Slavic immigrants where the literacy rate was only 66%. Because they wanted their children to be taught about their Czech heritage, which was something that public school system could not provide, the Czech American communities would establish their own schools.

The earliest educators that came from the Czech lands were the Moravian Brethren, a Protestant religious group which came to America to find religious freedom between the years 1741 and 1762. They implemented especially the teachings of Jan Amos Komensky in their schooling system and were educating everyone, not just the Czechs. Even in these early years the Moravian Brethren already supported women to get equal education to men as well as the abolition of slavery. They were also the founders of the 6th oldest college in America (founded in 1742), the Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (see the picture attached;in the forefront is the statue of Jan Amos Komensky). (more…)

Czech Americans and their relationship towards Religion

The earliest Czech immigrants (the Moravian Brethren) came to America solely to search for religious freedom. The later immigration wave of Czechs (after 1850) was coming for many different reasons such as education, political convictions and others . Yet still the majority of Czech Americans belonged to the Catholic Church - the only recognized religion by the Hapsburg Empire. This Hapsburg re-Catholization of the Czech lands left many Czechs scared, especially since the Czech lands used to be predominantly protestant. No wonder that when these “forced Catholics” came to the free America, about a half of them decided to turn their backs on Catholicism all together. The other half that stayed Catholic and didn’t have a Czech congregation in their vicinity usually joined some German or Polish Catholic congregations. By 1920 America had about 350 Czech priests and about 200, 000 Czech Catholics.

Czech Protestants in America consisted mostly of descendants of the Hussites and Moravian Brethren. Their most famous congregation has been the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York City (founded in 1888).

And then there were the blossoming Progressives and the Freethinkers who refused any kind of religion. These two groups received support and sympathy from the socialists and the atheists and together they established in America many atheist schools, ceremonies for marriages, funerals and other important events. (more…)

In 1920s 2/3 of Czech Americans lived in the big cities. The first three decades of the 20th century are also known as the Golden Age of the Czech American culture where an average American recognized and respected the Czech-American economy, culture, as well as the public and civic achievements. This time is also characterized by diminishing number of Czech-speaking Americans, the Czech quarters were disappearing as they were moving into the suburbs. This assimilation led to reduced number of Americans claiming Czech descent to only 200,000 in 1930! The next wave of immigration was brought by the fear of Nazism, WWII and Communism. But the influx of Czech immigrants was still far smaller than what happened in 1850’s-1920’s period (the Big Immigration Wave). What is also interesting is that the earlier immigrants of the big wave were mostly blue-collar workers and peasants, where as those who arrived after 1933 were well educated and most of them already knew some English. These Czechs also assimilated much faster than the earlier immigrants. To prevent this constant assimilation, the Society for Arts and Sciences (SVU; Spolecnost pro vedu a umeni) was created in 1958 to connect these members of Czech intelligence in the US. (more…)

Finally! Our time has come! / Nas cas nadesel!

SVU (Society of Arts and Sciences; Spolecnost pro Vedy a Umeni) is planning to create an encyclopedia of famous personalities with a Czech descent. To qualify you:

• must have done something important in your life
• had to be born either in Czech or in America but have a Czech descent
• had to be born after the colonization of America

If you think you qualify send your resume/biography to: svu1@comcast.net

Good Luck! / Hodne stesti!

http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/983

Role of Czech Americans in formation of Czechoslovakia

Up until the beginning of WWI the Czech-American community did not seem united; it was divided into different groups such as the Progressives (the opposers of the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues), Catholics, Protestants, Socialists and other groups. But one thing they did have in common: none of them had in their plan to form a free state for both Czechs and Slovaks, which is what the future brought.

Once the times got heated and the US declared the war (WWI) on Germany, Czechs and Slovaks quickly joined together to support the formation of Czechoslovakia. As a result, the Czechoslovak National Council (CNC) was established to fight for the Czech/Slovak independence in America. The CNC actions were pivotal in setting up the neccessary negotiations between T.G. Masaryk (you can find more on T.G. Masaryk at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.G._Masaryk), and the American president W. Wilson. T.G.Masaryk was at that time recognized by Allies as the head of the provisional Czech government. It was these CNC-led negotiations that eventually led in agreement on the formation of Czechoslovakia!

PS: By the way, did you know that if someone says “let’s meet by the statue” it automatically means among the local Czechs in Washington to meet by the statue of T.G. Masaryk? (http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/935).

For details go to http://www.czechsinamerica.wz.cz/DPW/3-Diploma%20Work.htm