PAHA's 75th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., January 4-7, 2018

The 75th Anniversary Meeting of the Polish American Historical Association will be held in association with the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Rd NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA.  PAHA's Sessions will all be held in the Omni Shoreham Hotel at 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington DC 20008.

During the Meeting, eleven sessions will explore a variety of topics associated with the Polish American and Polish emigre experience, from migration patterns, to ways of establishing and cultivating national identity surrounded by different cultures and languages. PAHA's annual award winners will also be announced at the Awards Reception on Saturday, January 6, 2018. The meeting is held in association with the American Historical Association's 132nd Annual Meeting (www.historians.org). Registration for PAHA's Annual Meeting is free of charge and does not require AHA registration: www.polishamericanstudies.org/registration.html.

PROGRAM OF EVENTS

Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 1:30 pm-3:00 pm 
Roundtable: Teaching Polish and Polish-American History
Polish American Historical Association 1
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Anna Muller, University of Michigan–Dearborn

Papers:
1) "Surveying Polish History" - Patrice Dabrowski, independent scholar;
2) "Poland Is Europe, Poland Is the World" - Elizabeth Morrow Clark, West Texas A M University;
3) "Red, White, and Gray: Modern Polish History" - Nathaniel David Wood, University of Kansas;
4) “But My Babcia Says” - Michal Janusz Wilczewski, University of Illinois at Chicago

Comment: The Audience
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Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 3:30 pm-5:00 pm
PAHA Board Meeting 
Polish American Historical Association

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Friday, January 5, 2018 at 8:30 am-10:00 am
Americans on Poland
Polish American Historical Association 2
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk

Papers:
1) "Rupert Hughes’s Ode to Poland" - Jill Noel Walker Gonzalez, La Sierra University;
2) "US Third Army and the Displaced Persons: The G-5 Reports to the Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, 1945–47" - Wojciech Kruczkowski, University of Gdańsk;
3) "Philatelic Iconography of Poland and America" – John P. Dunn, Valdosta State University
4)  "The Myth of the Third: Henryk Mikołaj Górecki in California” – Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press

Comment: The Audience
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Friday, January 5, 2018, at 10:30 am-12:00 pm
National and Ethnic Identity Construction in Transatlantic Context
Polish American Historical Association 3
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair:Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Papers:
1) "Race, Nation, and Self-Determination in Poland and Germany, 1918–39: The Case of Danzig" - Jesse Kauffman, Eastern Michigan University;
2) "The Uncertainty of Empire: Polish, American, and Polish-American Responses to the Austrian Pavilion at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition" - Claire Orenduff-Bartos, Santa Fe College;
3) "Becoming Polish: Growing Nationalism of Polish Migrants in the United States, 1870–1940: - Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences;
4) "From 'Low Polish' to 'Proud Kashubian': The Case Study of David Shulist" - Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf, University of Gdańsk

Comment: The Audience
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Friday, January 5, 2018 at 1:30 pm-3:00 pm 
Race and Ethnicity on the Battlefields of the Civil War
Polish American Historical Association 4
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Christian Keller, United States Army War College

Papers:
1) "The 'Springtime of Nations' Comes to America" - James Pula, Purdue University Northwest;
2) "The Shadow of Slavery and Racial Discrimination in the Experience of African American Soldiers" - Joseph P. Reidy, Howard University;
3) "'Brothers in Arms' or 'Beastly Set of Men': Poles on the US Colored Troops during the Civil War" - Piotr Derengowski, University of Gdańsk;
4) "American Abolitionists and Poland" - Graham Russell Gao Hodges, Colgate University

Comment: The Audience
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Friday, January 5, 2018 at 3:30 pm-5:00 pm
Ethnic Political Mobilization
Polish American Historical Association 5
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Iwona Korga, Józef Piłsudski Institute of America

Papers:
1) "Call to Fight for Independence Recorded in the Artworks of Polish Artists Living and Working in the United States" - Anna Rudek-Śmiechowska, Polish Institute of World Art Studies;
2) "Military Mobilization Movements in Exile: From the Hungarian Legion to the Löveszek Movement, 1942–70" - Katalin Kadar Lynn, Eotvos Lorand University;
3) "Sixty-Eight Publishers: A Czechoslovak Exile Publishing House in Toronto" - Francis D. Raska, Charles University;
4) "Migrants Mobilizing for the Homeland: The Relation between Political Activism in Poland and the United States in the 1980s" - Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Comment: The Audience

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Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 8:30 am-10:00 am 
Daily Lives in the Polish American Communities
Polish American Historical Association 6
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Papers: 1) "Difficult Beginnings in a New Land: Social and Ethnic Relations in the Americas in the Memoirs of Polish Immigrants" Marcin Szerle, independent scholar;
2) "Memories of Immigration: Rearticulation of Ethnoreligious Identity in the South Texas Polish Community" - Sarah Moxy Moczygemba, University of Florida;
3) "Stills in the Hills: Moonshine Memories from Canada’s First Polish Community" - Joshua Blank, independent scholar;
4) "The Holler House: Beer, Bowling, and Bras on Milwaukee’s Polish South Side" - Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Comment: The Audience

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Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Female Friendships: Emotions, Experiences, Memory, and Narratives 
Polish American Historical Association 7

Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University

Papers:
1) "Friends from Nowolipki: Female Friendship among Working-Class Women in Warsaw, 1905–35" - Alicja Kusiak-Brownstein, University of Notre Dame;
2) "Female Friendship in Homosocial Context: Sociological and Historical Perspective" - Anna Muller, University of Michigan–Dearborn;
3) "Between Friends and Enemies: Women’s Same Gender Relationships in Recent Polish American Fiction" - Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College;
4) "Cloud Beauties and Flower Sisters: The Role of Female Friendship in the Emerging Identity of Chinese-American Women" - Patrycja Kordel, University of Gdańsk

Comment: The Audience

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Saturday, January 6, 2018, at 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm 
Polish Immigrants in the United States since the 1970s 
Polish American Historical Association 8
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Karolina Łukasiewicz, New York University

Papers:
1) "Not All in the Family: American Polonia in the Decade of the 1970s" - Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University;
2) "Between Now and Then: Contemporary Processes of European Migration to the United States" - Anna Fiń, Pedagogical University of Kraków;
3) "Seeing Greenpoint Change: Polish Americans and Gentrification in Brooklyn" - Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College, City University of New York;
4) "Polish Greenpoint and New York City: Gentrification, Ethnoracial Relations, and Immigrant Labor Market at the Turn of the 21st Century" - Anna Sosnowska, University of Warsaw

Comment: The Audience
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Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 3:30 pm-5:00 pm 
Polish Immigrants in Greenpoint, Brooklyn: Exploring the Transformations of a Polish Ethnic Enclave 
Polish American Historical Association 9
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College, City University of New York

Papers:
1) "Greenpoint, Brooklyn Then and Now: A View from the Street" - Judith DeSena, St. John’s University;
2) "'Living Is Simply Different Here': The American Dream in Greenpoint"- Ewa Dżurak, College of Staten Island, City University of New York;
3) "Aging in an Ethnic Enclave: Barriers and Opportunities for Older Polish Migrants in Greenpoint" - Karolina Łukasiewicz, New York University; Marta Pawlaczek, New York University;
4) "Tadeusz Chabrowski and Greenpoint: The History of Polish Neighborhood Seen through the Biography of Its Prominent Resident" - Izabela Barry, College of Staten Island, City University of New York; Ewa Maliga, College of Staten Island, City University of New York

Comment:The Audience

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Sunday, January 7, 2018 at 9:00 am-10:30 am 
The Wish to Be a Red Indian: The Native American Dream in East-Central Europe 
Polish American Historical Association 10
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

Papers:
1) "The Figure of the Native American in East-Central European Literature" - Katarzyna Jerzak, Pomeranian University in Słupsk;
2) "The Poet Maurice Kenny in Prague" - Derek Maus, State University of New York, College at Potsdam;
3) "Korczak Ziółkowski’s Crazy Horse Memorial as a Phantasmagoria" - Paweł Kozłowski, Pomeranian University in Słupsk

Comment: The Audience

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Sunday, January 7, 2018 at 11:00 am-12:30 pm 
New Books on the Transnational Political Activism of Poles: From World War II to the Fall of Communism
Polish American Historical Association 11
Governor's Boardroom (Omni Shoreham, East Lobby)

Chair: Katalin Kadar Lynn, Eotvos Lorand University

Papers:
1) "Catholics on the Barricades: Poland, France, and 'Revolution,' 1939–56" - Piotr H. Kosicki, University of Maryland, College Park;
2) "Third Europe: Polish Federalist Thought in the United States, 1940s–70s" - Sławomir Łukasiewicz, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and IPN;
3) "Political Exiles from East Central Europe in American Cold War Politics, 1948–54" - Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk

Comment: A. Ross Johnson, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Hoover Institution and Michael C. Kimmage, Catholic University of America

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Artwork by Polish American artist Julian Stanczak (1928-2017): Structural Cadmium Yellow, Exchanging Light-A, Structural Cadmium Red, Exchanging Light-B, Structural Orange, Structural Magenta and Structural Cobalt from a 2012 series of paintings (24 by 24 each).

Celebrations of the October 15 Death Anniversary of General Tadeusz /Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko  There are many Celebrations of the 200th Death Anniversary of Gen. Tadeusz Kosciuszko in the U.S. At the Polish Museum of America in Chicago the Bicentennial starts with a reception on October 15, 2017: The Polish Museum of America cordially invites you to attend the Kosciuszko Bicentennial Opening Reception, which will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2017, at 3:00 pm, at the PMA Sabina P. Logisz Great Hall, 984 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60642. In addition to the replicated documents included for exhibition through March 11, 2018, the opening will include a special feature: select original letters written by Tadeusz Kosciuszko, President Thomas Jefferson, American Revolution generals, and other notables will be displayed only during the reception. The program will include speakers, musicians, and students. Refreshments and a cash bar will be available. Admission: $20 | PMA Members: $15 | More information online. The Kosciuszko Foundation has a month of celebrations planned. From the Kosciuszko Foundation Newsletter: Always remember that by nature, we are all equals, that wealth and education constitute the only difference. Liberty is the sweetest fruit a man may taste in this world. Thaddeus Kosciuszko October 15, 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of General Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817) – a national hero in Poland and the United States, freedom fighter and military leader, ardent advocate for the rights of European serfs, African Slaves, Native American Indians, Jews, Women and all other disenfranchised social groups on two continents; engineer and creator of the West Point; precursor of the development of national awareness in its modern sense, embodiment of the principle of tolerance. In honor of his bicentennial, UNESCO declared 2017 as the Year of Kosciuszko. In October, the Kosciuszko Foundation will host the following events both in the USA and Poland to commemorate its Patron - Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish and American Hero:

Thursday, October 12, 7:00 p.m. Celebrating the Year of Kosciuszko at the Kosciuszko Foundation House Join us for the reception recognizing KF Friends and Partners Tadeusz Alberski and Dariusz Knapik for their efforts connected with the new Kosciuszko Bridge in NYC. The event will feature "Thaddeus Kosciuszko. The Price of Freedom" exhibit, diploma presentation to winners of the essay competition about Thaddeus Kosciuszko, talks and live music.MORE

Thursday, October 19, 2017 - April 4, 2018 Exhibition of Paintings from the Kosciuszko Foundation's Art Collection - on view in the Palace on the Isle - Royal Lazienki Museum in Warsaw, Poland The Kosciuszko Foundation in NYC and the Royal Lazienki Museum in Warsaw, Poland partnered to present paintings from the Kosciuszko Foundation Art Gallery to viewers in Poland. The following paintings will be on view in the Royal Lazienki Museum: Kosciuszko at West Point by Boleslaw Jan Czedakowski (1885-1969), oil on canvas, Gamrat and Stanczyk by Jan Matejko (1838-1893), oil on wood panel, and Light Cavalry/Lisowczycy by Jozef Brandt (1841-1915), oil on canvas.

Friday, October 20, 7:30 p.m. Act for Thaddeus Kosciuszko - A tribute concert by Cracow Duo: Jan Kalinowski, cello & Marek Szlezer, piano Join us for a tribute to Thaddeus Kosciuszko concert by Cracow Duo: Kalinowski-Szlezer, cello-piano. Both artists are based in Cracow, Poland and this will be the only NYC concert in their USA tour this Fall. The duo has performed together for 15 years in Europe, Asia and USA, including Carnegie Hall and Newman Hall in LA in 2015, receiving the highest critical acclaim. The concert will feature works by Chopin, Nowowiejski, Paderewski Stojowski, Tansman and a premiere Act for Thaddeus Kosciuszko by Jakub Polaczyk. MORE

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  And do not forget to read a book about Kosciuszko's achievements:  James S. Pula (1998).Thaddeus Kosciuszko: The Purest Son of Liberty. Hippocrene Books. SBN-13: 978-0781805766  https://www.amazon.com/Thaddeus-Kosciuszko-Purest-Son-Liberty/dp/0781805767 Alex Storozynski (2009). The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution. New York: St. Martin's Press, 352 pages. ISBN 978-1-4299-6607-8. Bartłomiej Szyndler, (1991). Tadeusz Kościuszko, 1746–1817 (in Polish). Poland: Wydawnictwo Bellona, 487 pages. ISBN 978-83-11-07728-7.

Interview with Prof. Neal Pease - by Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm

Prof. Neal Pease, Thomas Napierkowski and Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann receive
medals from the Polish government, Warsaw, 2014.

Professor Pease, you have a master's degree from the University of Kansas, a second master's degree and a doctorate from Yale University. What was the subject of your master's thesis and doctoral dissertation?

-The subject of my master’s thesis, done at the University of Kansas, under the direction of Professor Anna Cienciała, had to do with the portrayal of Poland and issues dealing with Poland in the British press during the interwar years. My doctoral dissertation, completed at Yale in 1982, under the direction of Professor Piotr Wandycz, focused on relations between the Second Polish Republic and the United States in the years following the First World War, with an emphasis on financial relations, and their political and diplomatic repercussions, between the two countries. This became the basis of my first book, Poland, the United States, and the Stabilization of Europe, 1919-1933.

How did you become interested in the subject of Polish history?

-I am often asked this, since I have no Polish ancestry. It was unusual in my day for a “niepolak” to go into this field of study—less so, nowadays, when Polish studies have gone more “mainstream” in the United States, and many of the better scholars of Polish matters, of generations younger than mine, are of non-Polish background. In my particular case, the initial motivations were purely accidental, even trivial. I grew up in a college town, and as it happened, a goodly number of the kids I went to school with, and chummed around with, were sons and daughters of faculty in Slavic studies at my hometown University of Kansas. When I was starting my second year at KU, one of these friends suggested I join him in signing up for a course in Polish and east European history that, by fortuitous chance, was taught by Anna Cienciała. I found the course fascinating, in part because its material was entirely unknown to me. Professor Cienciała encouraged me to pursue my studies further, and convinced me to spend a year abroad participating in an exchange program between Kansas and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań—and I never looked back, as we say. It also helped that these were the early 1970s, when very interesting things were starting to happen in Poland.

So, it can be said that to a large extent American historians of Polish origin - professors Anna Cienciała and Piotr Wandycz--contributed to the development or orientation of your interests and your research?

- I can safely say that, had I not had the good fortune of having been trained and mentored by Anna Cienciała and Piotr Wandycz, I never would have entered the field of Polish and east central European history. The debt I owe to their erudition, their example, and their kindly interest is beyond repayment. I can only hope that, in the course of carrying out my own career, I will have reflected well on, and done justice to the excellent preparation they gave me.

In your books and essays there are many interesting topics. One of them is the role of the Catholic Church in contemporary Polish history. You conduct courses on the history of Poland and Central Europe, the history of Christianity, including the Catholic Church. What archives do you use?

- Naturally, one uses different archives, depending on the particular subject one is researching, so my lifetime itinerary to various archives and libraries will reflect my list of publications. Over the years, I have probably spent most of my time in state and ecclesiastical archives in Poland itself, but because documents relating to Poland have been spread throughout much of the globe owing to the disruptions of war, dictatorship, and emigration, I have logged a good many hours and miles in the United States and London as well. Other collections I have consulted are as modest and nearby as in my home city of Milwaukee, or as famed and distant as the Vatican Archives.

Another topic of your lectures is the so called “Jewish revival” in contemporary Poland. Can an American student develop positive thinking about it?

- This is an extraordinarily interesting and important subject. It is not one that readers will find in my own published work to date, but it is one that I hope to get the chance to address in projects I am now working on that I hope to get into print eventually. In the meantime, there are numerous excellent scholars and commentators working on this subject, and I am eager to promote their work in my capacity as editor of the journal The Polish Review.

You lecture on the history of Western civilization - from the year 1500 to the present day. Other courses: Poland and its neighbors in 1795-1914, Poland and its neighbors - 1914-1945, Catholic Church from 1500 to the present. Can we expect books based on your lectures?

- The possibility of writing one or two books of this sort has occurred to me. For the time being, any of them would need to be added to the lengthy list of “things I’d like to get around to doing someday.”

You are a member of the Board of Directors of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences (PIASA), also in the Polish American Historical Association (2011-2012 - President), and as well you are a member of the editorial board of Polish American Studies. Since 2014 you have been the editor-in-chief of The Polish Review, a reputable scientific journal opened in 1956. It is available in 575 not only American libraries. Do you agree that the ability to read selected texts is an important aspect because it is possible to influence the elites?

- I am honored to have been entrusted with the editorship of The Polish Review, with its distinguished history. It has a slightly unusual profile, in comparison with other journals in our scholarly profession. On the one hand, it is an academic publication, and of course we seek to maintain a high standard of scholarship, but it is not purely academic, in the strict sense: it is the organ of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, whose membership and leadership is composed not merely of academics, but professionals in other fields of Polish identity, or strong interest in Polish matters. For this reason, our potential audience might be somewhat broader than is typical for most scholarly journals, and to the extent this is so, we see this as a sign that the Review is fulfilling its mission.

You are the author of important books, essays, and scholarly papers. Interesting is your book: "Rome's Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and the Independent Poland, 1914-1939". (Ohio University Press, 2009). You write that when Poland reappeared on the map of Europe it was perceived as the most Catholic country on the continent. You write that, despite this, relations between the Polish Church and the Vatican were not entirely good, and at times were even difficult. You show the intricate relations between Poland and the Vatican. The Vatican counted on Poland's plan to "convert Russia into Catholicism", while the Polish government was reluctant to take part in this plan. These are not commonly known issues. How did you reach them? Was it mainly thanks to the recently released Vatican archives?

- This was precisely the subject that, to my mind, turned out to be the most complex and fascinating aspect of the book as I progressed through the project. In brief: the Holy See, under the leadership of Pope Pius XI (who had served as papal nuncio to Poland before becoming pope) thought that the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, while monstrous in itself, opened a historic opportunity to expand Catholicism eastward into the lands historically Orthodox; this was opposed resolutely by the interwar Polish governments, and to a large extent, by leadership of the Church in Poland, because the Vatican wished to convert the Orthodox to eastern-rite Catholicism, regarded as undesirable by its Polish counterparts as a hindrance to assimilation of Ukrainians and Belorussians into Polish culture, and out of fear that these efforts might further complicate the difficult relationship between Poland and the Soviet Union. Now, these matters were not entirely unknown, and careful readers of my book will note that I made use of a wide variety of published work. But I had an advantage over my predecessors in that I was able to make use of a goodly number of archival sources in order to fill out the picture. I did indeed find some relevant material in the Vatican Archives—but on the whole, I gained the most information from documents in Polish state archives, since this was a matter of considerable discussion—usually unsympathetic discussion—within Polish official circles.

Another book entitled "Poland, the United States, and the Stabilization of Europe, 1919-1933" (Oxford University Press, 1986) is the first publication on the relationship between Poland and the US after the First World War when Poland turned to America to improve its precarious situation. Based on the numerous archives, you show how the Polish leaders in the 1920s were expecting America to support stability in Europe, as Poland regained its independence after gaining the United States of America for political and financial support. How far has this policy and expectations of the United States maintained or changed?

- The heart of that book is summed up in the joking response I would make to colleagues and friends when they asked what I was working on: I would tell them it was a detailed account of something that did not happen, the „something” being the creation of a solid economic and political partnership between the fledgling 2RP and the United States. After the First World War, as is widely known, the US decided to reject President Wilson’s vision of a permanent American role in underwriting European peace and security, preferring to limit itself to financial investment in the Old World. What I discovered was that the Polish governments hoped to overcome American reluctance to support Poland politically and to win an alliance with the transoceanic superpower “through the back door,” so to speak, by attracting US loans and investments in the country on the theory that, sooner rather than later, Washington would feel the need to protect the independence and territorial integrity of a country where many American dollars were at stake. The flaw in the plan was that Americans by and large avoided investing in Poland—precisely because the country was so obviously at risk to the unfriendly ambitions of Germany and Soviet Russia, so it became a vicious cycle discouraging American commitment to interwar Poland.

That said, it strikes me now that I wrote that book during the era of the Cold War and the PRL, and in many ways my approach to the topic reflected a prevalent view of the time, that the absence of close ties between Poland and the United States was somehow a “natural” state of the relationship, dictated by unpleasant but stubborn geopolitical realities. In light of the strong partnership that has developed between the two countries since 1989, now I might approach the subject differently, and invite readers to regard the Polish policies of the 1920s as perhaps premature, but foresighted and prophetic, rather than simply chimerical.

In an essay titled "This Troublesome Question": The United States and the 'Polish Pogroms' of 1918-1919. "Ideology, Politics and Diplomacy in East Central Europe”. (Ed. Biskupski, M. B. University of Rochester Press, 2003) you quote a fragment of Herbert Hoover's journals (1874-1920). Hoover writes that in the news in April 1919 information about the "Pinsk massacre" was reported - the execution of 50 Jews executed at the command of the General of the Polish Army. Americans - at the request of President Wilson, with the approval of Paderewski - sent a delegation to investigate what had happened. It turned out that such an accident did not occur, that it was a lie. In the meantime, I read, for example, in Polish wikipedia, that historians do not judge the massacre in Pińsk unequivocally. Do you think it is important and possible to clarify this matter?

- Over the years there has been considerable discussion and controversy over the sufferings inflicted on Jews dwelling in the kresy in the chaotic aftermath of the First World War, particularly those areas affected by the warfare between Poland on the one hand, and the Bolsheviks and advocates of an independent Ukraine, on the other. These gave rise to lurid reports of perhaps thousands of Jews slain in pogroms at least partially attributable to the encouragement or negligence of Polish military or governmental leadership. While emphasizing that historians still disagree on these matters, in good faith, I think it is fair to say that most commentators agree that these accusations, while not groundless, were considerably exaggerated. The significance of the Pińsk incident was that it was reasonably well documented and verifiable, enough so to prompt the American government to launch an official inquiry into the broader charges of Polish mistreatment of Jews—and there is reason to believe that the U.S. State Department hoped that the verdict of the investigation would largely absolve Poland of blame, and, going further, that the American diplomats cared considerably less about the welfare of the Jews of eastern Europe than they did about protecting the image of the Poland they saw, in that interlude right after the war, as an important European ally of the United States.

But your question raises the larger issue, of the necessity of re-examining the history of relations between gentiles and Jews in the Polish lands. This is of primary and urgent importance, and has been much discussed since 1989, primarily having to do with the years during and immediately after the Second World War, but it can, and should, pertain to the entirety of Polish history. One of the principal signs of a mature and confidently democratic country is its willingness to explore and confront its history, including those issues that are painful or challenging. The record of Polish scholars since 1989 in filling in the “blank pages” of the country’s past, of challenging old taboos, and of correcting the historical record as needed, has been admirable. One hopes they will be able to continue this valuable work, and that they will encounter no such obstacles as those that have hampered the free inquiry of Polish historians in the past.

Interesting is the subject - how Americans write about their "mistakes and distortions". In my opinion they do it usually without tearing robes and lamentations. I read a very interesting book by Lynne Olson entitled "Those Angry Days. Roosevelt, Lindbergh and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 ", N.Y. 2013). The author, a well-known historian, writes about the years before America joined the Second War, and how strong were the anti-war and pro-German moods. Charles Lindbergh - American pioneer of aviation - in 1938 received a medal from Hermann Goering. 

The book has a separate 18 page chapter titled "Setting the Ground for Anti-Semitism," where the author writes that most American universities, including almost all "Ivy League" institutions, had a strict quota system (numerus clausus) for admission to studies. The university Yale Daily News quoted anti-Semitic commentary. The author writes that even after graduation the Jews had problems finding a job. The book has a lot of reviews, none of the reviewers referred to this chapter, a topic that almost nobody knows. Ability to reject, perhaps rather: retraction of many topics - this is an American characteristic (and can be seen from different perspectives). Maybe that's why the average American is so aware of America's "unique role"? Even Indians do not want to remind them of the painful periods in their history. The National Museum of the American Indian (opened in 2004) does not show the period of suffering, "Trail of Tears”. When I was collecting material for the book, the Indians themselves did not bring it up, but they proudly talked about their participation in the Second World War, the code talkers.

- Generally speaking, all people everywhere find it easier to speak of, let us say, the more glorious moments in their histories, and more difficult to recognize or admit those that do not reflect well on them—and all countries have them. In the case of the United States, you mention the destruction and displacement of the American Indians, and a long heritage of class based, “genteel” antisemitism. There is no denying these. Of course, there is also the matter of slavery and its legacy, which lasts to this day. At the same time, historians in the United States have been examining these questions, and others, quite vigorously in recent, and it is likely that their findings will gradually gain more acceptance in wider American society with the passage of time.

You are also interested in sport - soccer in Poland and baseball in the United States. In the essay "Diamonds Out of the Coal Mines: Slavic Americans in Baseball”, you write about the baseball star, very well-known, and much admired, Stan Musial. The legendary baseball player Stan Musial was of Polish descent. (I remember my husband talking about him with admiration and respect). Do you agree that team sport is a form of teamwork and that it is important especially in the early years of youth?

- I am indeed interested in sport, as a pastime of my own, and, as a historian, in the ways sport can reflect and make connections with what we might call „real” history, the meatier affairs of politics, society, economy, and culture. So I have taught, or plan on teaching, courses in the role baseball has played in American history, and soccer (piłka nożna) in world history. For instance, sport has played an important role in the history of the Polonia of the United States, largely because athletics traditionally has served as a significant entryway for acculturation of immigrant populations into American ways of life. And yes, Stan Musial is, by all odds, the greatest American athlete of Polish ancestry.

The question you pose about the usefulness of team sport in teaching youth the values of teamwork, fair play, and citizenship is very interesting. In fact, one can argue the point both ways, either that it does encourage these positive social attributes, or that it can do the opposite. There is probably no one answer. By the same token, there is no question that over the years many social thinkers, in the English speaking world at least, with its vibrant and highly developed sporting culture, have believed that sport can serve these desirable purposes, and that this is the main practical virtue of having young people learn and play these vigorous, organized games—one thinks of the British saying that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, which, while undoubtedly overstated, certainly summarizes an argument for the social benefit of sport.


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The Polish version of this interview appeared in ODRA, Wroclaw, May 2017.

PAHA Travel Grants and Calls for Papers, Photos, and More...

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR GRADUATE STUDENT / YOUNG SCHOLAR TRAVEL GRANTS, DUE APRIL  15, 2017

PAHA encourages graduate students and emerging scholars (up to three years after graduation) to apply for a Travel Grant. Two such grants of $500.00 each will be awarded to offset travel costs to attend the 2018 PAHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.  The grants will be awarded by the Program Committee for two best conference proposals dealing with the Polish American experience in any historical epoch, scholarly field, or aspect submitted by junior scholars.

To apply please submit:
- your paper proposal (as required by the general CFP)
- a brief letter of application (no template will be provided)
- a complete CV
- one letter of recommendation from a senior scholar (e.g. thesis advisor).

In order to receive the travel grant it is mandatory to present the paper at the conference in person. Awardees will receive remuneration during the Awards Ceremony in Washington D.C. Failure to present the paper in person at the annual meeting shall result in the immediate cancellation of the grant. The deadline for application, to be submitted with the paper proposal, is April 15, 2017.

Please send your application packets by email to chair of the Awards Committee, Dr. Iwona Drag Korga, with the subject line "Graduate Student Travel Grant" - email i.korga@pilsudski.org.

Awardees of the PAHA Awards and Prizes, Denver, CO, January 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS  FOR 75TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE POLISH AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D.C., 5-7 JANUARY, 2018

PAHA's 75th Annual Meeting will be held on January 4-6, 2018 in Washington, D.C., as part of the 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.

The theme for the AHA conference is: "Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism in Global Perspective." This year’s focus explained in the general CFP is on: "transnational and global histories of race and ethnicity." (For more information visit the AHA website: https://www.historians.org/annual-meeting/future-meetings).

The PAHA’s focus within this theme is on the Polish-American experience in comparative perspective. We invite scholars who study the Polish American communities, the greater Polish diaspora as well as those who deal with migration, ethnic, and regional studies and would like to join the discussions related (but not limited) to the following topics:
• Migration, settlement and assimilation patterns
• Ethnic experience and interethnic encounters
• Intersections of ethnicity, class, gender and race
• Ethnic lobbying and occurrences of ethnic mobilization
• Polish Americans and the restoration of Poland’s independence, 1918

We invite proposals for sessions as well as individual papers related to all aspects of the Polish American experience (in history, sociology, literature, art, music, etc.) on both American continents.

The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2017. Abstracts for papers and panel proposals are now being accepted and should be submitted to:

PAHA President and Chair of the Program Committee
Anna Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D.
Instytut Historii, Uniwersytet Gdański,
ul. Wita Stwosza 55, 80-308, Poland,
anna.a.mazurkiewicz@ug.edu.pl

Electronic proposals in email and word format are strongly preferred.

Individuals and session organizers should include the following information when submitting a proposal:
• Paper/Session title(s) (of no more than 20 words)
• Paper/Session abstract(s) (up to 300/500 words, respectively)
• Biographical paragraph (up to 250 words) for each participant
• Mailing and e-mail address for each participant
• Chair (required) and commentator (optional) for the session
• Audiovisual needs, if any.

Please be advised that it is not always possible for PAHA to provide AV equipment for all sessions due to the high cost of mandatory rental from AHA. All presenters are encouraged to consider submission of their papers for publication in PAHA's peer-reviewed journal: “Polish American Studies”.

For more information please see:
http://polishamericanstudies.org/CallForPapers.html

Library of Congress receipt for the 1943 donation of the manuscript of Alexander Tansman's Fifth Symphony to the LOC collection. Tansman Archives Paris. 

CALL FOR PHOTOGRAPHS FOR PAHA'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY BOOK

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding, the Polish American Historical Association will publish a book about the history of the organization, edited by Prof. James Pula. All PAHA members and friends are encouraged to submit photographs from PAHA's past meetings and other events, to ensure that the history of the organization and its contributions to Polish and American culture will be well documented and illustrated.

The editor will collect the articles that have previously been written about PAHA’s history, adding an introduction and an additional article to bring it up to date from the time the most recent article was published. The previous articles include, from Polish American Studies, those authored by: Tony Turhollow (Autumn 1980), Konstantin Symonolewicz (Spring-Autumn 1970), John Bukowczyk (Autumn 1993), and Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann (Spring 2008). The book will be approximately 200 pages including photographs, an index, and a few documents.

Please send your photographs and other information pertaining to PAHA's history to Prof. James Pula, Editor, jpula@pnw.edu.

PIASA CALL FOR PAPERS - SIXTH CONGRESS OF POLISH STUDIES IN KRAKOW, POLAND

The Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America is pleased to invite proposals for the Sixth World Congress on Polish Studies to be held in conjunction with the Polska Akademia Umiejętności (Polish Academy of Learning) in Kraków, Poland, June 16-18, 2017.

Proposals are solicited for complete sessions or individual papers in any of the disciplines in the liberal arts, sciences, or business/economics. The conference language is English, however sessions in Polish will be accepted provided they are clearly labeled as such.

Since the Institute values comparative sessions, individual papers need not focus on Poland or the Polish diaspora, but it is hoped that at least one paper in each session will do so. Sessions including presenters from more than one nation are encouraged. Each session is scheduled for 90 minutes to accommodate three papers or about 20 minutes per paper. All conference rooms will be equipped with AV for the use of PowerPoints and CD/DVD presentations. It is expected that acceptable conference papers will be submitted for possible publication in The Polish Review subsequent to the conference.

To submit a paper or complete session, please send the name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation, a tentative paper title and brief abstract (3-5 sentences is OK) for all presenters to the chair of the program committee, Prof. James Pula, at jpula@pnw.edu.

The deadline for proposals is April 15, 2017. All participants are expected to pay the conference registration fee. For further information see http://www.piasa.org/annual-meetings.html.

Call for Papers for 3rd Congress of Polish History in Poland, October 2017 - Due September 30, 2016

The III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History will take place on October 11-14, 2017 in Kraków, Poland. This congress occurs every five years and is a cyclical meeting of academics from throughout the world who, in their research,address not only problems associated with Polish history but also within its culture, arts and sciences. This congress’s guiding theme is “The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth: History – Memory – Legacy” („Dawna Rzeczpospolita: historia – pamięć – dziedzictwo”).

The organizers aim to gather in one place and at onetime those scholars interested in the phenomena of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth what it was, how it was memorialized over subsequent decades as well as what consequences or manifestations from its existence are seen in the later histories of Poland, Lithuania and the remaining countries who once found themselves within its sphere of influence. During our conference, we hope to focus on the phenomena of the modern Polish state, in an attempt to answer several important questions: to what extent was the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth a unique state and to what degree was its history similar to the histories of neighboring, other European or world states? An important point for deliberations will be questions surrounding the legacy of the Polish -Lithuanian Commonwealth and its presence in the consciousness of national groups inhabiting its territory – Byelorussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Germans,Russians, Ukrainians and Jews.

The organizers cordially invite and encourage you to take part in the deliberations of this upcoming congress. In response to this invitation, your desire to participate may be declared through sending an abstract of your proposed presentation. A detailed  list of conference panels  with proposed problems and issues is enclosed, with a request that they serve as a guide for your proposed presentation. The proposers are asked to choose the panel which best suits their research interests. Abstracts should be no longer than 1800 characters. The languages of the conference are English and Polish.

The organizers state: "We ask that those interested in participating please inform us by September 30, 2016, using the registration panel. Deadline for submitting abstracts is September 30, 2016. Received abstracts will be analyzed by panel moderators and those accepted will be notified by October 30, 2016. All presenters will be guaranteed lodging in Kraków and a modest reward of 500 PLN. There is no conference fee. We would also be very pleased to receive preliminary information regarding whether you would be interested in conference participation without a presentation. You will be informed in an additional notification about the formal registration date."

This Call for Proposals was submitted by Prof. Andrzej Chwalba, President, Organizing Comittee of the III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History and Prof. Krzysztof Zamorski,
President of the Organizing Bureau of the III Congress of International Researchers of Polish History

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Secretary of State and Senator Anna Maria Anders to Give the Keynote Address at the Generations Remember 2016 Conference in Warsaw, on September 18, 2016

The 2016 edition of the Generations Remember conference in Warsaw, Poland, scheduled for September 17 through 19 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Soviet "amnesty" and release of exiled Poles will feature the keynote address by Senator Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State, Pleniponentiary of the Prime Minster for International Dialogue and Chair of the General Wladyslaw Anders Foundation.  The address will take place during the conference opening rception lunch hosted by Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.

Anna Maria Anders Costa is a Polish politician and Polish American activist, serving since 2016 as Secretary of State, representing the Prime Minister in internaitonal dialogue. As a senator ishe is a member of the Committee for Emigration Affair and Contact iwth Poles Abroad, dealing wiht care of the Polish daspora and Poles abroad, migration of Polish citizens, ties between Poladn and Poles and people of Polish descent residing abroad, initiating and coordinating cooperation among Polish diaspora communities and protecting the heritage of Polish history and culture abroad. Anna Maria is the daughter of Genral Wladyslaw Anders and Irena Anders. She was educate d at the University of Bristol in Britain where she graduated in Romance Philology. She also studied at Boston University where she earned an MBA in economics. She worked on the UN mission in the UNESCO Press Office in Paris. After the death of her mother, she became the chief executive of the General Wladyslaw Anders Foundation providing scholarships for students of Polish descent from countries of the former USSR, among other projects.

Other events of the Conference include  Generations Remember March on Saturday, September 17, and conference presentations on Monday, September 19. See: www.GenerationsRemember.org
For a copy of the conference program visit also the previous issue of the PAHA Blog.

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Searching for Research Project Participants - Descendants of Immigrants from 1945-1952

Pepperdine University’s Culture and Trauma Research Lab is currently seeking participants who are descendants of European immigrants who emigrated post World War II for an important psychological study on generations. Participation involves the completion of an online survey which will take about 15-20 minutes. Participants may be eligible if: they are 18 years of age or older and if their parent or grandparent emigrated from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia (formerly known as Czechoslovakia), Austria, Hungary or Romania to the United States between 1945 -1952. This study will create a more robust understanding of the long-term impact of specific immigration factors. Participation in the study is voluntary and confidential. Participants will receive a $10.00 Amazon or Starbucks gift card for the completion of the survey.

If you have any questions or would like more information on the study, please feel free to contact our principal investigator, Melissa Duguay, at (818) 971-9877. You can also reach her at Melissa.Duguay@pepperdine.edu or contact mjsinger@pepperdine.edu. Additionally, this study is being conducted under the auspices of Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis.