Czechmatediary

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

The Second Wave of Immigration (1870s-1890s)

The Second Wave of Immigration is connected with the declaration of the Homestead Act in 1862, which enabled immigrants to obtain 160 acres of wild land and they would become its owners after 5 years of its cultivation. This Homestead Act brought Czech immigrants especially to Nebraska and Kansas.
Many Czechs were convinced to immigrate here (to Nebraska and Kansas) by American railway agents who looked for people to settle along the new railways. To begin farming in Kansas or Nebraska the farmers needed as much as $1,000, which was incredible amount of money at that time. That is why most farmers could not pay off their debt earlier than in 20 years. Families with a lot of children had a big advantage since they had their own free labor and that way could actually save some money from their harvest.

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  I found the greatest paper on the history of Czechs in America!! The article is 82 pages long so I will try to summarize it here a little and pull out the most interesting points:

The most important waves of imigration happened first after the Battle of White Mountain (1620), after the revolutionary year 1848, with the outbreak of WWII, 1948 (when communists seized power) and in 1968 (Soviet occupation). In 1990 the national census showed 1,300,000 Czechs living in the US!!! (52% in MW, 22% in the South, 16% in the West and 10% in NW) So I guess there is a lot of us!!!

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