Saturday, May 25, 2019

Objects that Speak - Zither of a Compassionate Dreamer

PAHA Website includes a new section entitled "Objects that Speak" and curated by President Anna Muller.  In the introduction to the site Muller writes:

"In the collection of objects included on this site, PAHA hopes to engage with the history of Polish Americans, but also to reflect on the phenomenology of objects. The objects tell the stories of people who traveled across the Atlantic. Most of the objects were to help them fulfill their dreams of remaking their lives anew far away from home. While they symbolize the importance of the home left behind, they also testify to the Polish immigrants’/people’s efforts to imbue a new home with significance. One of the first stories that grabbed our hearts – the story that is included on the website – was the story of a photo from a grandfather’s passport – a terrific example of how some objects, with time, take on a separate life from the one that served their creation; and how many of them now play a role in the lives of future generations. The relationship between us and objects is fluid – they affect our lives, but we also change their purpose. The passport was a tool that helped the grandfather’s transition, but with time, for the younger generations, it became the symbol of that transition, and also a link to the past. Photos of objects send a message of the power of human agency, but also of an individual’s daily life – daily gestures of care that nourish the connection with the past for the future."

More information: 
http://polishamericanstudies.org/text/38/objects-that-speak.html

Below we reprint one of the posts from the site.



Zither of a Compassionate Dreamer

Taylor Lenze (with the help of Henrietta Nowakowski and Anna Muller)

The strummed notes of a zither are striking and clear, overlapping one another in harmony and vibrating in the wooden hollow of the soundbox. The curved, wooden, string instrument, somewhat like a gentler-sounding harpsichord with additional guitar strings, and the ability to play music on it has been vastly forgotten today. For Henrietta Nowakowski, however, the zither (cytra, she calls it) was always a touchstone of her life.

For Nowakowski, the zither was a part of her mother (Aniela Zapytowski’s) identity, a symbol of her dreams. It’s story began earlier though, tracing back beyond Nowakowski’s memory to her maternal grandparents, Aniela’s parents.

Nowakowski never met her grandparents. She knows that her mother’s father took care of horses on an estate. Being a younger son in a family of multiple children, he hadn't inherited land from his own father and instead had to travel with his trade. His wife, [Nowakowski's grandmother], who passed away when little Aniela was 10 or 11 years old, must have been a strong, knowledgeable woman because professionally she was a herbalist. People came from all over her region to be cured by her.

After Aniela’s mother’s death, her father remarried. Aniela’s youngest sister was most impacted by the changing circumstances and was mistreated by her new stepmother. Eventually she couldn’t bear it, and at 16, set out for on a journey in hopes of a new life in America, a monumental decision for a young person without question, but one which would have ripple effects throughout the entire family and future generations.

This determination and courage, shared by late mother and youngest daughter is also apparent in Aniela’s story. Aniela, a middle daughter in the five children, was also a strong professional woman, matriarchal, determined and independent. Trained in sewing, Aniela worked in Lwów for an Austrian family as a seamstress and governess. Her hard work and practicality didn’t signify a brevity of imagination, however. Aniela was a dreamer, always thinking of other places and possibilities. In 1913, she and her older sister decided to make a short visit to the youngest sister, traveling by ship in second-class from Bremerhaven to the US where the young woman now lived in Philadelphia. Traveling second (rather than third) class on the ship was a big deal, and only possible because of Aniela’s own efforts and work as a seamstress (Zakład Krawcowy in Lwów). Nowakowski recounts with pride that they paid their own way and must have saved for their passage. 

        


Aniela herself was only 26. The beautiful wooden zither was clearly one of her cherished possessions because she included it among her necessities. Apart from the instrument and some pictures, Nowakowski has just a few other momentos her from her mother's European life. "I also have a picture of dried edelweiss flowers, a souvenir of my mother’s visit to Austria, where she accompanied her Austrian employer," Nowakowski recalls. Aniela once recounted seeing the operetta “The Merry Widow” in the Burg Theatre in Vienna during this trip. Her daughter now deduces that "judging by the time period, it must have been just at the time that this work by Franz Lehar premiered. The card with the dried ‘szarotki’ had to have been important to my mother since I remember that in the late 1940’s, about 30 years later, she went to a lot of effort to have the card beautifully framed. It’s now in my living room." Slowly, by looking at the objects and by going deeper in her memories, Nowakowski begins to piece together the story.

In Philadelphia, Nowakowski knows that the three sisters met up just as the war broke out. Though unexpected and probably not in line with Aniela’s plans for her life, she made the best of the compulsion to stay in the US and fell back on her sewing skills to support herself, finding work as a seamstress. A single woman forced to survive in a foreign country, Aniela could have become hardened and rough by the stress and work, but perhaps it was the zither and her music which allowed her to stay “soft hearted and tender” as Nowakowski remembers. Eventually Aniela moved to Pittsburg, becoming active in the Polish Falcons, a Polish paramilitary organization.

It was here that love struck. At the Pittsburgh Falcon Nest, Aniela met her husband and Henrietta's father, Ignacy Zapytowski. Also from the Lwów area, he had served in the Austrian army and first at age 24 immigrated to America (in 1907). In Pittsburg, he enlisted to go back to Europe and fight with the Polish Army in WWI. This decision stirred turmoil in his family because there was the potential the family would be fighting against itsself.

After his safe return to the US at the conclusion of the war, he and Aniela were married. Both remained very active in Polish military organizations, however. Ignacy’s work brought him to Detroit (where he could use his cabinetmaker skills as a wood model maker for future cars), Aniela assumed directorship of a woman’s group, headquartered in Detroit, which worked to help returning Polish veterans.

The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters. Though busy as a working mother, Aniela still tried to play the zither, actively seeking out sheet music for it, in addition to the ones she brought from Poland. Probably because it was such an uncommon, specific instrument, the only music she had was that which a piano tuner gave her. Assumedly she could not play by ear but relied on written notes.


By the mid 30s Aniela had stopped both working and playing the Zither. It was badly in need of tuning and fixing but there was no one with the necessary knowledge and skills to do the work. This may have been heartbreaking, a tangible severing of Aniela’s connection to her past, home and dreams of returning. But if so, she didn’t express this to her children nor allow it to break her soft spirit and love of music. Even though, from the earliest Nowakowski can remember, the Zither was hidden away out of sight, the house remained full of music and dreams. Nowakowski and her older sister both took piano lessons and practiced on the piano at home, continuing their mother’s tradition.

By this time, Aniela's dreams of returning to Poland were also lovingly put aside like her instrument. Though she and Ignacy had always wished to return home, the depression had wiped out their savings. Based on a copious amount of postcards and letters, it's assumed that Ignacy traveled frequently with work before marriage, but the family was never able to permanently relocate to Poland. Despite this too, Nowakowski recalls how her mother always remained a "very compassionate dreamer," full of softness and hope. Over and over again, Aniela’s strength and grace showed through as she adjusted to circumstances beyond her control and continued on ungrudgingly.

Unfortunately, the instrument hasn't held up as well to hardship. After being stored 15 years in a humid basement, the instrument's wood split beyond repair. Nowakowski recovered the instrument in the 90s when her sister moved to Alaska and has preserved and protected it ever since. Not able to play the Zither herself, she nevertheless cherishes the link it represents for her to her mother’s dreams and desires to learn.




Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Polish American Studies, Vol. 76, No. 1, Spring 2019



The Spring 2019 issue of the Polish American Studies has been published!  The Editor, Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann writes:

"We are glad to present to you the new issue of Polish American Studies (vol. 76, no. 1: Spring 2019)! This issue highlights two distinct themes in the research on Polonia in the Western Hemisphere.

The first theme pertains to the transformations within contemporary Polonia in one specific location: Greenpoint, NY. A group of distinguished sociologists and urban anthropologists share their research on this topic. Jerry Krase discusses how the media coverage coming both from print and internet sources created a changing image of the Polish Greenpoint. Judith DeSena comments on how economic changes and gentrification affected the housing market in Greenpoint. A group of researchers from NYU and CUNY (Karolina Lukasiewicz, Ewa Dzurak, Ewa Maliga, Izabela J. Barry, and Marta Pawlaczek) present a sociological study of the aging population of Polish residents in Greenpoint.

The second theme focuses on the history of the Kashubs, a regional ethno-linguistic group originating from the northern part of Poland. In his article, Joshua C. Blank offers an insightful look into the culture of Kashub settlers in Ontario, Canada, and especially the traditions of imbibing. In "Varia" Anne Gurnack, Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf, and Janina Kurowska recall a forgotten story of the Kashub fishermen from Jones Island, WI, who became an object of the travelling exhibit on both sides of the ocean.

In Memoriam includes a tribute to Professor Thaddeus C. Radzilowski. Book Review section brings reviews of publications authored by Anna Mazurkiewicz, Sheldon Anderson, Waldemar Glinski, Thaddeus Gromada, and Katrina Shawver.

Last but not least, please note the cover: it is an image of a mural on the walls of the Polish National Home in Greenpoint, NY, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising of 1944. It had been unveiled in 2014. The mural was painted by artist Rafal pisarczyk and sponsored by the Pangea Network/Gram-X Promotions and by the Polish American Veterans Association Chapter 2 in New York City."


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Polish American Studies, vol. 76, no. 1 (Spring 2019)

IN MEMORIAM
Thaddeus C. Radzilowski

EDITORIAL NOTE
by Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann

FORUM

  • Seeing Greenpoint Virtually and Actually Change: Polish Americans and Gentrification in
  • Brooklyn - By Jerome Krase
  • The Polish Community of Greenpoint, Brooklyn Then and Now: A View from the Street -  By Judith N. DeSena
  • Getting by or Making it? Polish Immigrants Aging in an Ethnic Enclave of Greenpoint - By Karolina Łukasiewicz, Ewa Dżurak, Ewa Maliga, Izabela J. Barry, and Marta Pawlaczek


ARTICLES

  • Stills in the Hills: Moonshine Memories from Around Canada’s First Polish Kashub Community -  By Joshua C. Blank


VARIA


  • The Saga of the Jones Island’s Kaszube Fishermen Returns Home to Poland in 2017 - By Anne M. Gurnack, Aleksandra Kurowska- Susdorf, Janina Kurowska


REVIEWS

  • Anna Mazurkiewicz, Uchodźcy polityczni z Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej w amerykańskiej polityce zimnowojennej, 1948-1954 (Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann)
  • Sheldon Anderson, The Forgotten Legacy of Stella Walsh: The Greatest Athlete of Her Time (Mary Patrice Erdmans)
  • Waldemar Gliński, ed. Polonia kanadyjska. Przeszłość i teraźniejszość (John M. Grondelski) 
  • Thaddeus V. Gromada, Tatra Highlander Folk Culture in Poland and America. Collected Essays from “The Tatra Eagle” (Marek Liszka)
  • Katrina Shawver. Henry: A Polish Swimmer’s True Story of Friendship from Auschwitz to America (Sheldon Anderson)



POLISH AMERICAN STUDIES

Polish American Studies is the Polish American Historical Association's interdisciplinary double-blind refereed scholarly journal (ISSN 0032-2806; eISSN 2330-0833), which has been published continuously since 1944.  It appears biannually and is available world-wide through JSTOR, a database of full-text research journals. PAS is indexed in America: History and Life; American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies; ATLA Catholic Periodical and Literature Index; Bibliographic Index; Current Abstracts; Historical Abstracts; MLA International Bibliography; PIO - Periodical Index Online; PubMed; TOC Premier and EBSCO.

To subscribe and for more information please go to http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/pas.html

The editors welcome scholarship including articles, edited documents, bibliographies and related materials dealing with all aspects of the history and culture of Poles in the Western Hemisphere. They particularly welcome contributions that place the Polish experience in historical and comparative perspective as part of the larger Polish Diaspora, and by examining its relationship to other ethnic groups. Contributions from any discipline in the humanities and social sciences are welcome. The Swastek Prize is awarded annually for the best article published in a given volume of Polish American Studies.

SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES

Manuscripts or inquiries should be submitted in Microsoft Word via e-mail attachment to the Editor, Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, at anna.k@polishamericanstudies.org or KIRCHMANNA@easternct.edu.  Manuscripts should be no longer than 8,000 to 10,000 words plus notes, tables, etc. They should include an abstract of about 200 words, and a brief author’s biographical information, their affiliation, and email address. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain all copyright permissions for illustrations and images. Editors will not review works previously published in any form or ghost-written. Authors should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. Contributors whose first language is not English should have their work reviewed for clarity and style prior to submission.

Dr. Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann
Editor, Polish American Studies
Eastern Connecticut State University,
Department of History, Webb Hall 333
83 Windham Street, Willimantic, CT 06226
anna.k@polishamericanstudies.org


SUBMISSION OF BOOKS FOR REVIEW

Books for review should be sent to Mary Patrice Erdmans (English language) or Joanna Wojdon (Polish language) at the addresses below. Books may be submitted by publishers or authors. Submission is no guarantee that books will be reviewed and books will not be returned.

Mary Patrice Erdmans
Book Review Editor
Polish American Studies
Department of Sociology
10900 Euclid Avenue
Case Western Reserve University                 
Cleveland, OH 44106                                       

Joanna Wojdon
Book Review Editor for Poland
Polish American Studies
University of Wroclaw
Faculty of History
Szewska 49, 50-139
Wrocław, Poland

EDITORS

Editor: Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University, anna.k@polishamericanstudies.org or KIRCHMANNA@easternct.edu

Book Review Editor: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University, mary.e@polishamericanstudies.org or mary.erdmans@case.edu

Book Review Editor for Poland: Joanna Wojdon, University of Wroclaw, Poland, joanna.wojdon@uni.wroc.pl


EDITORIAL BOARD

M. B. Biskupski, Central Connecticut State University
Tobias Brinkmann, Pennsylvania State University
John J. Bukowczyk, Wayne State University
Silvia Dapia, John Jay College, CUNY
William J. Galush, Loyola University Chicago
Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Columbia College Chicago
Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College
Karen Majewski, University of Michigan
Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk, Poland
Thomas J. Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Angela Pienkos, Polish Center Wisconsin
James S. Pula, Purdue University
John Radziłowski, University of Alaska - Southeast
Francis D. Raška, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Suzanne R. Sinke, Florida State University
Dariusz Stola, Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, Poland
Adam Walaszek, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
__________________________________________________________

Monday, May 6, 2019

Prof. Dominic Pacyga - Vice-Marshall in Chicago's 127th Constitution Day Parade

Dr. Pacyga among officials of  the Parade. Students present the banner
with the motto of the 2019 parade. Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk. Used by Permission

Dr. Dominic Pacyga, a highly respected historian of Polonia and an expert on the history of Chicago served as Vice-Marshall in the 2019 Constitution Day Parade in Chicago.  He commented: "Being Vice- Marshall of the Polish Constitution Day Parade in Chicago was one of the high points of my professional life. I was surprised and honored to be nominated by the Dziennik Związkowy and grateful for their endorsement of my work. The parade was wonderful. It was a delight to see so many young people and children involved. I was especially happy to see the widespread support of Polonia for the event. It proves the staying power of Polskość and that the Chicago area’s Polonia remains a vital force in the social, economic, cultural, and political life of the city and suburbs."

Dominic Pacyga getting ready for the parade. Photo by George Woznicka

Dominic A. Pacyga is Professor Emeritus of the Columbia College in Chicago. For three decades, he taught  in the Liberal Education Department at the college. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1981 and has wide ranging interests in urban development, labor history, immigration, and racial and ethnic relations.   He worked with museums including the Chicago Historical Society, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum in Chicago on a variety of public history projects. Pacyga has also worked with numerous neighborhood organizations as well as ethnic, labor, and fraternal groups to preserve and exhibit their histories. Pacyga acted as guest curator of a major exhibit, "The Chicago Bungalow" at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and co-edited The Chicago Bungalow (Arcadia Press 2001), a companion volume to the exhibit.

St. Maksymilian Kolbe Polish School and youth in Lowicz costumes 
at the 2019 Parade. Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk

Dr. Pacyga won the Oscar Halecki Award from the Polish American Historical Association for his book, Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago (1991) and the Catholic Book Award for Chicago: City of Neighborhoods (1986). Dr. Pacyga served on PAHA Board in 2016-2018. During the 75th Anniversary  Conference of PAHA (at Loyola University Chicago, September 2018), Dr. Pacyga took the participants on a tour of Polish Chicago; and a summary was posted on this blog: http://pahanews.blogspot.com/2018/10/tours-of-chicago-with-dominic-pacyga.html


The Parade in 1999. Photo by Belissarius. Wikimedia Commons.

The Polish Constitution Day Parade in Chicago was held for the first time in 1892 in Humboldt Park, and after World War II it was moved to downtown, currently being held in Grant Park, from Buckingham Fountain to the bridge.  The event honors Poland's May 3rd Constitution, the first democratic constitution of Europe, adopted by the Polish Seym in 1791, after four years of debating. It is the second constitution of its kind, following the Constitution of the United States Constitution.

Women in Highlander Costumes. Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk


The 2019 Parade Marshall was Józef Cikowski, president of Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America, an organization gathering former residents of the Tatra Mountains and their foothills, who emigrated to Chicago in large numbers mostly prior to World War I. The election of the Marshall was held in March, with interviews of the top candidates w ho presented their achievements on behalf of Polonia. http://dziennikzwiazkowy.com/polonia/jozef-cikowski-marszalkiem-parady-3-maja/

St. Urszula Ledochowska Polish School. Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk

More than 100 Polonia organizations participated in the parade, including schools, culture clubs, Polish student clubs, Polish scouts (Harcerstwo), businesses, and fraternal and social organizations. The parade was watched by about 200,000 viewers. All Polish language schools their students to the parade, and about 10,000 students participated in the parade, marching with their teachers, carrying flags and banners.

 Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk


Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk

Casimir Pulaski Polish School. Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk

Polish American Student Alliance from Northwestern University.
Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk

Photo by Andrew Mikolajczyk