More Photos from PAHA's 72nd Meeting in New York

View from the Empire State Building

The 72nd Annual Meeting of the Polish American Historical Association ended on Sunday, January 4, 2015, with two sessions (instead of the planned three).  The morning session, "Themes in the History of Polish Music" was combined with a simultaneous morning session, "Polish American History from the Seventeenth Century through the Mid-Twentieth Century."  Presenters Juliana Wrycza Sabol (Szymanowski's Songs) and Anne Gurnack (Kashube Fishermen) did not attend and Maja Trochimczyk's paper replaced Anne Gurnack's. 

The afternoon session on the aftermath of World War II brought a fascinating variety of subjects and ended with a paper by Rachel Rothstein, the winner of the 2015 Graduate Student Award. All participants are encouraged to submit their paper for consideration by the Polish American Studies. 

Times Square on a rainy night.

After the conference sessions, participants continued discussions in less formal settings, as well as took tours of New York, from an afternoon in Central Park to Times Square at night, in the city that never sleeps.  Even the rain did not put a damper on the enthusiasm of all scholars and fans of Polish American history and culture.

Our dearly departed mentor and friend, Prof. Anna Cienciala was remembered and specifically singled out for praise during the Award Ceremony on Friday, January 2, 2015, by Prof. Neal Pease - who attributed his success as a historian to the models of Prof. Cienciala (who died recently on December 24, 2014), and Prof. Victor Greene.   The names of our awardees will be published shortly.

Central Park

 _______________________________________________________________

Polish American History from the Seventeenth Century through the Mid-Twentieth Century,  combined with Themes in the History of Polish Music

Sunday, January 4, 2015: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
New York Hilton, Harlem Suite; Chair: Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Dr. Pien Versteegh with Dr. Tom Napierkowski.

• New Amsterdam or New Gdańsk? Polish Settlers in New Amsterdam, 1624–64 - Pien Versteegh, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences and James Pula, Purdue University North Central

• KNAPP: The National Committee of Americans of Polish Descent -  Charles Chotkowski, Piast Institute 

Dr. Maja Trochimczyk with Dr. Tom Napierkowski and Dr. Jim Pula.

• The Impact of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s American Years on Spiewy Historyczne -  Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press

• A New Polonia? The Recreation of Polish American Identity, 1918–45 -  John Radzilowski, University of Alaska, Southeast

 ___________________________________

The Aftermath of World War II

Sunday, January 4, 2015: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM New York Hilton, Concourse F; Chair: Anna Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Conn. State University

Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann introduces the panelists.

• Citizenship Practices during the Cold War: A Polish American Model? - Florence Vychytil-Baudoux, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

• Paralyzing the Polonia from Within: Communist Secret Police Infiltration of the Polish American Community -  Pawel Styrna, Institute of World Politics

Panelists at the last session.

• Cold War Émigrés: Looking for Patterns in Exile Political Activism -  Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk

• Polish Refugees from Siberia in the United States, 1945–2014 -  Iwona Korga, Józef Pilsudski Institute of America

Presentation by Iwona Drag-Korga.

• Defending the Remnants: American Jews Respond to Poland’s 1968 Anti-Zionist Campaign -  Rachel Rothstein, University of Florida

Mary Erdmans participates in the discussion.

Dr. Grazyna Kozaczka with Dr. Mary Erdmans.

Discussion continues after the closing of the last session.

Dr. Grazyna Kozaczka, Dr. Maja Trochimczyk and Dr. Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann.

For more PAHA pictures by Dr. Karen Majewski, Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, Dr. Anna Mazurkiewicz and Marcin Mazurkiewicz visit our Photo Album.