News from Polish Archives and Collections in America

Jerzy Skwarek's Polish American Photographic Collection at the Polish Museum of America

The Polish Museum of America in Chicago, Il, is pleased to announce adding a photographic collection by Jerzy “George” Skwarek to its permanent collection. Mr. Skwarek grew up in German-occupied Poland and spent his youth in Soviet-occupied Poland after WWII. After emigrating to the U.S. and settling in Chicago in 1971, he became a photographer and journalist documenting Polish American life. Since moving to Chicago, Skwarek worked as an author and travel guide; he published Polish-language travel books on the National Parks, Florida and an “Around The World” guide. As photographer and journalist for the Polish Daily News, Skwarek was given an opportunity to document major events in cultural and social life of Polish Americans.

Pope John Paul II’s Mass in Brighton Park 1979, Skwarek’s photo (Polish Museum of America, Chicago, Il.)

The Polish Museum of America was established in 1935 as the “Museum and Archives of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America.” The first public display area opened on January 12, 1937 in a specially designed and constructed room within the headquarters building of the PRCUA. From that date the Museum’s collection and importance grew very rapidly and quickly gained autonomous status as “The Polish Museum of America” with its own governing board of directors. There were two events that caused the rapid expansion of the Museum’s collections. The first originated from the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, New York. Unfortunately, in September of 1939 Poland was invaded and war had gripped Europe. At the close of the World’s Fair, it became clear that the Polish exhibits could not return to Poland and their disposition was uncertain. In order to preserve at least a portion of the exhibits the directors of the Museum determined to purchase from the government of Poland nearly three fourths of the exhibits.The second significant event was the donation to the Museum of the personal possessions of Ignacy Jan Paderewski following his death in June 1941. Both Ignacy Paderewski and his sister, Antonina Paderewska Wilkonska, were enthusiastic supporters and generous sponsors of the Museum. Antonina, executor of Ignacy’s will, decided to donate these personal possessions to the Museum. In addition, the management of the Buckingham Hotel in New York City, where Ignacy spent the last months of his life, allowed Antonina to obtain the furnishings from the suite of rooms he had occupied.
More information about PMA: https://www.polishmuseumofamerica.org/about-pma/

Alfred Szebla's Historic Donation to the Pilsudski Institute

In September 2019, The Pilsudski Institute was pleased to announce that a letter of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) from Vilnius, dated October 17, 1513 was donated to the Pisudski Institute. The letter, whose originality has already been pre-confirmed, is addressed to Jan Mikołajewicz Radziwiłł, land marshal in the then Duchy of Lithuania, and concerns the land of Bogusz Bohovalnowicz in the Słonim poviat. The letter is signed "Zygmunt". This unique document from the Jagiellonian era is a gift from Alfred Szebel, a famous collector from Chicago, who has been working with the Pilsudski Institute and supporting the Institute for many years.

The Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America was established on July 4, 1943 in New York City as a major research archival and science institution for research of modern history of Poland. It was founded by a group of Polish-American community leaders, prominent Polish statesmen, and political expatriates.The Institute houses a rich collection of primary sources covering the period from the 1863 Insurrection to the present day. The collection includes documents, photographs, films, posters, periodicals, books, personal memoirs of diplomats, and political and military leaders. The archival collection contains over one million documents, or 150 linear meters of shelf space.  It is one of the largest and most important archives outside of Poland. The most important documents relate to the following subjects: the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1922, Marshal Jozef Piłsudski, the Silesian Uprisings of 1919-1921 and more. 

The Library contains about twenty thousand books and many rare manuscripts mainly related to the modern history of Poland. The Institute also houses 20,000 photographs covering the period from the beginning of twentieth century related to Polish and European political, military and cultural institutions, events, and personalities. The collection includes 2,450 maps from the second half of the nineteenth century through 1999. An art gallery with more than 240 items features oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and illustrations by such artists as Jan Matejko, Józef Chełmoński, Juliusz Kossak, Tadeusz Styka, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Leon Wyczólkowski, Aleksander Gierymski, and Jacek Malczewski. https://www.pilsudski.org

New Polish-American Composers' Collections at Polish Music Center, California

Manuscripts by Witold Lutoslawski at PMC since 1985.

Located at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the Polish Music Center collects items pertaining to Polish music and culture. The PMC Archives began when the Polish Manuscript Collection was established in 1985 with a gift of five original manuscripts from Witold Lutosławski (with Mi-Parti, Paroles tissées, Preludes and Fugue, and Novelette). Works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Tadeusz Baird, Joanna Bruzdowicz, Marta Ptaszyńska and Stanisław Skrowaczewski created the core of the collection, enlarged in 2000-2002 by gifts from over 30 Polish composers (Rafał Augustyn, Zbigniew Bujarski, Krzysztof Knittel, Zygmunt Krauze, Hanna Kulenty, Szymon Laks, Roman Maciejewski, Krystyna Moszumanska-Nazar, Krzysztof Meyer, Krzysztof Penderecki, Elżbieta Sikora, Edward Sielicki, Aleksander Tansman, Romuald Twardowski, Tadeusz Wielecki, Lidia Zielińska, and many others). Recent additions include the Ludomir Różycki Collection

 From the core of the Manuscript Collection, the PMC Archival Collection has grown with the addition of full collections held by several important composers. Encompassing not only original musical manuscripts, but also rare printed scores, letters, photographs, books, personal items and much more, these collections are:

• Henryk Wars [Henry Vars] Collection (donated by the Vars family in 2005) – featuring the composer’s newly discovered symphonic music
• Zygmunt and Luisa Stojowski Collection (donated by Alfred and Henry Stojowski in 2006) – featuring Zygmunt Stojowski’s manuscripts and first editions of scores, as well as articles, personal notes and a portion of his private library
• Bronisław Kaper Collection (donated by his former agent in 2007) – featuring his film scores and popular songs
• Paderewski Archive—the Paso Robles Collection (donated by related persons and collectors in 2008) – featuring items relating to his travels in the US, visits in California, and his life in Switzerland, illustrated by rare photographs, documents and personal memorabilia
• Roman Ryterband Collection (donated by the Ryterband and Eisele families in 2016) – featuring manuscript scores, drafts of compositions, correspondence, photographs, artwork and personal items

https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/pmc-archives/


The Polish Room at SUNY Buffalo's Lockwood Library


The Polish Room, room 517 in the State University of New York at Buffalo’s Lockwood Library, is open by appointment to the general public as well as to the UB community. The collection includes over 12,000 volumes. Its website notes: “Its strengths are in literature and history, but the genealogical literature and the language sections are very strong for a collection of this size.

In addition to the book collection, the Polish Room possesses a number of unique materials, which include 21 manuscripts of the Polish kings from the 16th to 18th centuries, by Sigismund August (1548-1572), Stefan Batory (1576-1586), Sigismund Third Vasa (1587-1632),  Ladislaus Fourth Vasa (1632-1648), John Casimir (1648-1668), John Third Sobieski (1674-1696), August Second of Saxony (1697-1733) and 

Stanislaus August Poniatowski (1764-1795). The collection also holds letters and other signed documents of important people of the 20th century, including writers such as: Stefan żeromski, Maria Konopnicka, and Maria Dąbrowska. Other items include hundreds of video recordings, some Solidarność documents; 135 underground press books on microfiche, along other microfische documents.

https://library.buffalo.edu/polish-room/

Anna Jaroszynska Kirchmann about Polish American Studies 75/1

In the year when Polish American Historical Association celebrates 75 years of its work, it is highly satisfying to see how our journal Polish American Studies reflects the development of our scholarly field. The Spring 2018 issue of PAS (Vol. 75, no. 1) features on the cover a photograph taken during the very first meeting of what became PAHA in New York in 1943. Although to the contemporary observer it is now striking that the group does not include any women, the first issue of PAS did feature an article by Rev. Sister M. Ligouri, Ph.D., from St. Mary's High School in Worcester, Mass. If you are interested in the history of those early years of PAHA and PAS, pick up the recently published book, edited by James S. Pula, which discusses various directions and areas of development of our organization over the last 75 years.

The Spring 2018 issue of PAS brings together three articles, posing questions about Polish American experience seen in three different and little known contexts. James S. Pula examines antislavery arguments promoted by the early immigrants from the Polish lands to America. Thomas Hollowak describes various aspects of the unique experience of Polish immigrants who found employment in oyster dredging in the Chesapeake Bay. Kathleen Urbanic and Thomas Duszak present a history of Polish Baptists in the United States, as seen through the activities of the parishes in Rochester, NY, and Wilmington, DE.

The issue features also books by Anna Rudek-Smiechowska, Sylvie Aprive, Rachel Feldhay Brenner, Joshua Blank, Tara Zahra, Czeslaw Karkowski, and Marek Liszka.

Subscription to PAS comes as part of the membership in PAHA. To join, visit the website of University of Illinois Press, the publisher of our journal.

To find out more about the journal, about its editorial board, and submissions, visit PAS page on PAHA Website: http://polishamericanstudies.org/text/13/polish-american-studies.html. The website also features tables of contents of earlier issues of PAS. These articles are available as PDF downloads from JSTOR.

WWII Memoir by Jurkowski & Wright and A Surprising Discovery By Kossakowska

Between the Swastika and the Bear by Jurkowski and Wright

Between the Swastika and the Bear - A Polish Memoir 1925 - 1948 

by Andrew Jurkowski and Lisa Wright 

Cave Art Press in Anacortes, Washington, 2017
 http://www.caveartpress.com/between-the-swastika-and-the-bear.html

Between the Swastika and the Bear is a compelling memoir about a young man’s survival of the Nazi and Russian occupations of Poland. Born in 1925, Andrew Jurkowski enjoyed a peaceful boyhood on his grandfather’s farm in western Poland until the Nazi invasion of 1939. For the next six years, he and his family endured the occupation, determined not only to survive but to fight back with small acts of defiance until Germany was defeated.

Instead of bringing relief, the end of the war brought new dangers as Poland was taken over by Russian-led Communists. Andrew, then a young man of twenty, was sentenced to a labor camp. He was forced to choose between death and a dangerous escape to the West. This book is Andrew Jurkowski’s account of his experiences in the vanished world of rural Poland before, during, and after World War II.

Please direct your request for a complimentary copy of Between the Swastika and the Bear - A Polish Memoir 1925 - 1948 by Andrew Jurkowski and Lisa Wright to:

Kathleen Kaska, Marketing Director, Cave Art Press
13589 Clayton Lane, Anacortes, WA 98221
360-317-1620, kkaska@caveartpress.com

Please note that complimentary copies are only available for reviews to be published or for bookstores to preview the book before stocking. 

A Surprising Discovery - Love Letters of Wacław Kossakowski
An Update by Irena Kossakowski-Clarke

I am the author of A Homeland Denied, the story of my Dad, Wacław Kossakowski, a student of maths and astronomy at Warsaw University in 1939,  before he was transported to a Siberian labour camp.
The book of his incredible journey was published last year. To my amazement, I received an email from a lady in Warsaw a few weeks ago. This lady had bought the book for her Mother, Regina now 98. It was translated over several months by the grandson as only he could understand English and through him they emailed me.

It transpires that to their astonishment, the book is about the childhood sweetheart of Regina, my Dad Wacław. They had grown up together in the small village of Kapice near Białystok; they attended the same village school and became extremely close. Aged 11, Dad gained a scholarship for a prestigious boarding school in Suwałki, but they saw each other when he was home for the holidays and later did correspond frequently.  When he was 17, he was accepted into Warsaw University and they continued to write letters. In  September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland and the war began, Dad joined the army cadets but was taken prisoner by the Russians just two weeks later when Russia invaded Poland.

There are 20 letters in all, several of six pages.  All  were written in neat handwriting and are kept with their envelopes. The last  three letters were sent from the internment camp in Ukmerga, Lithuania where Dad was a prisoner for several months before being transported to Siberia. They  reek of propaganda, but are also poignantly sad and despairing, yet full  of hope. He desperately wanted to hear news of his family and was unsure of what would happen and where he would have been going.

The letters tell a story of a love that was destroyed by the war and yet was never forgotten. He was a young student, 17 years of age; the last letter was written when he was 19 years old, just weeks before deportation to Siberia. Sadly he was unable to receive any letters from Regina though she wrote constantly over the years. They both presumed each other dead.

After leaving Siberia with the 2nd Army Corps commanded by General Anders, Mr. Kossakowski served in the Middle East and participated in the battle of Monte Cassino. He was assigned to the1st artillery survey regiment, topography  division. Unable to return home after WWII ended, for fear of imprisonment or even death, he came to England and met my Mother (Irene Clarke, born 12 March 1921, died  in 1990), whom he married in 1950. They had three children.

Meanwhile, in Poland, Regina also married. At this time, there was a strict censorship of communication with the West, under the communist government in Poland and Dad did not receive any news of his family until 1959. For twenty years after the start of the war, he and they had been thought dead. Of Regina there was no news.

Dad died two years ago just before the publication of the book and sadly does not know of these letters being kept safely all this time. I hope to have them all translated and published as a book. Dad was born on May 19, 1919 and died on August 12, 2016.

A poem by my Dad was included in the last letter he wrote to Regina, from the internment camp Ukmerga, Lithuania. 1940, weeks, written before he was transported to gulag in Siberia.  This poem is reproduced below,  translated from the Polish by Stella Overall.

                                                                                                    ~ Irena Kossakowski-Clarke

Lost in thought

When I am away from you and I contemplate loneliness
I recall all the past moments and hours
One image of the past I repeat for the hundredth time 
As this is the only thing that I  have left

I remember each moment spent with you 
I remember each word you said to me
How these moments quickly flew away 
The moments of no return

Now, when I am here and I have to spend my time here
Lonely, I drink the tear wept with sadness
Now, I live of my memories and keepsakes
I want to feed my soul with these. 

I feel a miss-you kind of ecstasy when I remember 
Oh, will I remember it in future the same way I do now that I am young?
Oh my dear, you will not give me the reason to forget
I beg you -I swear!

Wacław Kossakowski

Translated by Stella Overall

What's New in our Journal, the Polish American Studies?

One of the most important projects of the Polish American Historical Association is the publication of its peer-reviewed scholarly journal that appears twice per year and is now printed by the University of Illinois Press.  The Polish American Studies journal is edited by Dr. Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann (Eastern Connecticut State University), supported by the following team of scholars.  

• Book Review Editor: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University
• Book Review Editor for Poland: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Editorial Board

• M. B. 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
• 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
• Joanna Wojdon, University of Wrocław, Poland

The tables of contents  for the past four issues from 2015 and 2016 are copied below.  In order to read recent articles, you have to be a member of PAHA. Older texts may be ordered from JSTOR (the cost of JSTOR subscription is included in the full membership fee, or you can pay per each article).

Polish American Studies, Vol. 72, no 1 (Spring 2015)

Articles:

• Troubles with “Mela”: A Polish American Reporter, the Secret Services of People’s Poland, and the FBI – by Paweł Ziętara
• Cold War Airwaves: The Polish American Congress and the Justice for Poland Campaign – by Robert Szymczak
• Leaving Kożuchów, a Village in Dobrzechów Parish, Galicia – by Patricia B. Yocum
• The Khaki Boys Series: Images of Polish Americans, 1918-1920 – by Thomas J. Napierkowski

Polish American Studies, Vol. 72, no. 2 (Autumn 2015)

Articles:

• The Polish Political System in Exile, by Sławomir Łukasiewicz
• Exiles and the Homeland: The State of Research, by Paweł Ziętara
• Polish Political Emigration in the 1980s: Current Research, Perspectives and Challenges, by Patryk Pleskot
• Political Emigration from East Central Europe During the Cold War, by Anna Mazurkiewicz
• Perspectives on Research on the Post-1939 History of Polish Americans, by Joanna Wojdon 

Polish American Studies Vol. 73, no. 2 (Fall 2016):

Articles:

• James S. Pula: Bibliography of Works, by Thomas Duszak
• Introducing the Polish Experience into American History, by James S. Pula
• “So They Will Know their Heritage:” Reflections on Research post Polish Americans, by Mary Patrice Erdmans
• Has the “Salt Water Curtain” Been Raised Up? Globalizing Historiography of Polish America, by Adam Walaszek
• Writing Poland and America: Polish American Fiction in the Twenty First Century, by Grażyna J. Kozaczka
• Polonia’s Ambassador to the United States:  The Mystery of Jerzy Jan Sosnowski, 1917-1918, by M. B. B. Biskupski

Polish American Studies Vol. 73, no. 1 (Spring 2016):

Forum:

• Bringing the Notion of “Ethclass” to Life: Victor Greene’s Contributions to the History of American Industrial Workers, by Ewa Morawska
• Victor Greene, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, and Urban Studies, by Ronald Bayor
• Victor Greene: Colleague, Friend, and Mensch, by Dominic A. Pacyga
• Victor Greene, the Polish Immigrant Miner, and the Origins of the New Labor History, by James R. Barrett
• Remembering Victor Greene, by James S. Pula
• Victor Greene as Immigration Historian: Themes and Contexts, by Dorothee Schneider

Articles:

• Were There Really Poles in New-Netherland? by James S. Pula and Pien Versteegh
• Crossing the Boundaries of Modernity: The Post-Abolition Journey of Polish Peasants to the United States, by Marta Cieślak
• Nationally and Religiously: Commemorations in the Life of the Polish Diaspora in Sweden, 1945-1989, by Arnold Kłonczyński

List of articles from the earlier volumes of the Polish American Studies may be found on the PAHA website.

Call for Papers for International Conference at the Museum of Emigration in Gdynia, Poland

II International Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference 

of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, Poland

"Poles and Polish Diaspora in North America"

21-22 September 2017

Emigration Museum in Gdynia is a local government cultural institution. It gathers and facilitates collections on the history of Polish emigration and aims to disseminate knowledge about the processes of migration over the centuries. The Museum's mission is to reconstruct the fate of emigrants and to speak about them. This applies both to the stories of well-known and famous people, whose names appear in the context of scientific, sport, economic or artistic achievements, as well as to millions of anonymous emigrants leaving their homes in search of a better life. The ambition of the museum is to popularize knowledge about various aspects of migratory movements, their conditions, consequences and the impact on the formation of Polish Diaspora clusters, as well as the mutual relationships between these clusters and their country of origin. We would also like to create a forum for researchers and those interested in the issues of migration and Polish communities abroad.

The first project in the science and popularization area was last year's conference inaugurating activities of the Museum in this field. It was devoted to the issues of Poles and the Polish community in Latin America. The event was attended by nearly 40 researchers representing more than 20 research centers and institutions from Poland, Brazil, Argentina, Austria, Israel and the United States. Continuing this activity Emigration Museum in Gdynia, together with its partners: the Migration Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, The Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America, Polish American Historical Association and the Polish Association for Canadian Studies, are pleased to invite you to the second international conference. It will be dedicated to the Polish presence in North America.

During the conference, we would like to focus on issues such as: the history of emigration from Poland to North America; social, legal and political conditions of the transatlantic migration; the formation, development and transformations of the Polish community in the US and Canada; the contribution of Poles in the political, social, cultural and scientific life of the US and Canada; cooperation and contacts of the Polish diaspora with Poland and its impact on relations between Poland and the US and Canada; language and identity of the Polish communities in North America; literary and cultural aspects of the Polish presence in the US and Canada; functioning of the Polish organizations and media; activities of the Polish clergy on the American continent; the image of Poles in the American and Canadian societies, etc.

The above list is only a suggestion of issues that can be presented at the conference.
The conference will be of interdisciplinary character and therefore we invite experts specializing in issues of the Poles and the Polish communities in North America representing various disciplines, including historians, specialist in American Studies, Canadian Studies, political scientists, sociologists, culture experts, literary scholars, cultural anthropologists, etc. We hope that, as it was the case last year, the Emigration Museum in Gdynia will provide the conference participants with an inspiring space conducive to creative and critical exchange of views and the latest research findings. The conference will be summarized with a monographic reviewed publication in a printed format.Conference languagse: Polish / English

APPLICATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE:
Application form attached to the present invitation shall be sent until 30 April 2017 to the following e-mail address: r.raczynski@muzeumemigracji.pl Information on the paper acceptance will be sent no later than on 15 May 2017. Participation in the conference is free of charge for the participants.

Conference organizers provide presenters with:
 one stay on the night of 21 September for participants from Poland; three stays on the nights of 20, 21, 22 September for participants from abroad,
 catering (breakfasts, lunches, coffee breaks and a formal banquet),
 upon having obtained a positive review, print of the text in a post-conference publication.

NOTE: The number of participants is limited. The final selection of those qualified to participate in the conference will be made by the Scientific Committee of the conference on the basis of the submitted abstracts.

SCHEDULE:
 up to 30 April 2017 – receiving applications,
 up to 15 May 2017 – confirmation of qualification to participate,
 21-22 September 2017 – conference in the Emigration Museum in Gdynia,
 up to 15 November 2017 – deadline for submittal of texts for publication.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:
 Prof. Adam Walaszek, Ph.D. – Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora Studies, Jagiellonian University (chairperson),
 Prof. Katarzyna Jerzak, Ph.D. – Institute of Modern Languages, Pomeranian University in Słupsk,
 Magdalena Lesińska, Ph.D. – Centre for Migration Research, University of Warsaw,
    Prof. Bożena Leven - The College of New Jersey, director of The Polish Institute of Arts
& Sciences of America,
    Anna Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D. – Institute of History of the University of Gdańsk, president
of the Polish American Historical Association,
    Prof. Anna   Reczyńska, Ph.D. - Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora
Studies, Jagiellonian University.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
    Sebastian Tyrakowski
    Rafał Raczyński, Ph.D (conference coordinator)
    Katarzyna Morawska, Ph.D.


PARTNERS:
The Migration Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences http://www.kbnm.pan.pl/
The Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America http://www.piasa.org/
Polish American Historical Association http://www.polishamericanstudies.org/
The Polish Association for Canadian Studies http://www.ptbk.org.pl/

CONTACT PERSON:
Rafał Raczyński, Ph.D. phone: +48 58 67 04 171
e-mail: r.raczynski@muzeumemigracji.pl

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
http://www.polska1.pl/pl/
The Museum is a member of the Association of European Migration Institutions (AEMI).

Mid-Year Meeting of the PAHA Board in Rochester, NY

Polish American Historical Association organizes two meetings each year: the Annual Meeting held in early January, in association with the American Historical Association Conference, and the Mid-Year Meeting held in May, and scheduled in collaboration with a local Polonia organization. Typically the Mid-Year meeting include site visits to Polonian places of interest and a public lecture by one of our distinguished scholars.

Iwona Drag Korga and Czeslaw Karkowski arrive at the Skalny Center.

The 2016 Mid-Year Board Meeting was preceded by a public lecture by Professor James Pula of Purdue University, discussing "Poland in World War II." The lecture was followed by a reception organized by the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester (PHSR) at The Joseph S. Skalny Welcome Center at St. John Fisher College.

Lecture by Prof. James Pula. Photo by Pien Versteegh.

The second day commenced with a site visit to St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church, including a Mass in Polish and a tour provided by Kathy Urbanic of the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester.  The church's recently restored interior includes many Polish accents, icons of Our Lady of the Bright Mount, Pope John Paul II, and frescoes with St. Stanislaus Kostka and Polish royalty and religious figures associated with strengthening Christianity in Poland.

President Grazyna Kozaczka thus summarized the visit of PAHA Board to Rochester:

"The 2016 Midyear Meeting of PAHA was held at the Skalny Welcome Center, St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY where PAHA received a very warm welcome from the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester (PHSR). I am very grateful for all the help and support PAHA received from Dr. Frederic Skalny, Jerry Rachfal and Kathy Urbanic of PHSR as well as from other board members. The three day meeting started on Saturday evening (May 21) with an interesting and well attended lecture by Jim Pula on Poland in WWII  and was followed by a lively reception hosted by PSHrR which provided an opportunity to explain the work of PAHA to the members of the Rochester Polish American community. The following two days of business meetings were very productive and exciting as among other topics we also discussed our plans to celebrate in 2018 two major milestones for PAHA: PAHA’s 75th Annual Meeting and the 70th anniversary of PAHA becoming an autonomous organization.”

Mid-Year Board Meeting in progress.

The two-day Board Meeting was held at the Skalny Welcome Center. The Polish Heritage Society was generous enough to offer not one but two receptions including a Polish banquet, filled with traditional dishes at the Polska Chata restaurant in Rochester.

Maja Trochimczyk, Robert Synakowski and Iwona Drag Korga

Maja Trochimczyk with John Bukowczyk and Jim Pula. Standing: Jerry Rachfal.

 The dining room was decorated with antique photographs documenting the history of Poles in Rochester, dating back to 1880s.

This history was also presented in a book edited by Kathy Urbanic and Jerry Rachfal, and donated to PAHA during the festivities. The gift was reciprocated by PAHA President who donated books to the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester/

Kathy Urbanic, Jerry Rachwal and President Kozaczka with their book. 

The excellent Polish dishes included golabki, placki, pierogi, makowiec and szarlotka, among other delicacies, for which all guests were quite grateful.

PAHA President with Treasurer James Pula and Polonian activist.

PAHA's 73rd Annual Meeting at the Hilton Downtown, Atlanta, Georgia, Jan 7-9, 2016

Szopka Krakowska inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2016!

The Year 2016 will be much happier for those who will start it by attending PAHA's 73rd Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The Meeting will take place on January 7-9, 2016, in association with the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, at the downtown Hilton in Atlanta, Georgia (255 Courtland Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30303; T. 404 659 2000). 

The attendance at the Meeting's sessions is free of charge. The registration fee for the Annual Awards Banquet is $50.00. Please register for the Conference and the Banquet on PAHA's website. 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016

PAHA Board Meeting
Thursday, January 7, 2016: 3:30 PM-5:30 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Executive Boardroom

________________________________________

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016 

Session 1. Polish Immigrant Adaptation and Cultural Transition
Friday, January 8, 2016: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209

Chair: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Papers:
Polish Miners in the Ruhr Area, 1920–30
PienVersteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences

The Eviction of the Kashube Fisherman of Jones Island, Milwaukee
Anne Gurnack, University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Kashubian pustô noc in America: Comparative Perspective of Death Rites, Poland and Canada
Aleksandra Kurowska-Susdorf, University of Gdańsk

Comment: The Audience

_______________________________________

  
Session 2. Polish Americans: Family, Home, Career
Friday, January 8, 2016: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209

Chair: Pien Versteegh, Avans University of Applied Sciences

Papers:
Biatek Family: A Case Study in Polish Immigration History
Barbara D. Pulaski, Mount Ida College
Francis S. Wolenski, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Defining Home: The Development of Polish-American Identity in Toledo, Ohio, 1905–25
Rachel Pawlowicz, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Three Second-Generation Polish American Women of Success and Their Stories
Joanna Wojdon, University of Wrocław

Comment: The Audience

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Session 3A. Foreigners’ View on the American Civil War
Friday, January 8, 2016: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209

Chair: Dominic A. Pacyga, Columbia College Chicago

Papers:
Polish Participation in the Antislavery Crusade
James Pula, Purdue University North Central

Writing German Lives during the American Civil War: The Letters of German Immigrant Soldiers
Daniel P. Kotzin, Medaille College

The Polish View on the American Conflict: The Civil War from the Perspective of Count Adam De Gurowski
Piotr Derengowski, University of Gdańsk

Comment:Christopher Blackburn, University of Louisiana at Monroe, The Audience

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Session 3B. Émigré Political Activism during the Cold War
Friday, January 8, 2016: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 210

Chair: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdańsk

Papers:
Central European Federalists in the United States during the Cold War Period
SławomiŁukasiewicz, Catholic University of Lublin and the Institute of National Remembrance

Between Neighbors, Between Immigrants: Poles and Ukrainians in the United States during the Cold War, A Few Reflections
Anna Fiń, Pedagogical University of Kraków

Serving the United States and Afghanistan: The Role of the Afghan Americans in the Cold War, 1978–92
John K. Baden, Case Western Reserve University

Comment: The Audience

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Session 4: Poetry Reading - Slicing the Bread by Maja Trochimczyk 
Friday, January 8, 2016: 5:00 PM-6:00 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209
Maja Trochimczyk reads from Slicing the Bread. Children’s Survival Manual in 25 Poems (2014)
Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016

Session 4. Polish Immigrant and Polish American Ethnic Women
Saturday, January 9, 2016: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209

Papers:
Warsaw, East London, and Detroit: Ravensbrück Camp Inmates Searching for a Home
Anna Muller, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Women, Immigration, and Ethnicity: A Review of Sociological Studies
Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University

Forbidden Desires: Women and Transgressive Sexuality in Polish American Fiction
GrażynaKozaczka, Cazenovia College
Comment: The Audience

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Honoring Victor Greene: Immigration and Ethnic History since the 1960s

Saturday, January 9, 2016: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209
Co-Sponsor(s): Immigration and Ethnic History Society

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

Comment: James R. Barrett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Ronald H. Bayor, Georgia Institute of Technology; Dominic A. Pacyga, Columbia College Chicago; James Pula, Purdue University North Central; Dorothee Schneider, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Session 5. The Reception of Polish Culture in the United States
Saturday, January 9, 2016: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
Hilton Atlanta, Room 209
Chair: Grażyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

Papers:
Digested: Tadeusz Różewicz and the Polish Americans
Maja Dziedzic, University of Gdańsk

Poland, Polish-Americans, and Georgia
John P. Dunn, Valdosta State University
Michał Mydłowski, University of Warsaw

Teaching Resources in the Maintenance and Development of Polish Language and Culture in the United States
Monika Wołoszyn-Domagała, University of ZielonaGóra

Comment: The Audience

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016

19:00- 21:00 AWARDS BANQUET

The Awards Reception will be held on Saturday, January 9, 2016, starting at 7 p.m., at the historic Mary Mac’s Tea Room (224 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308).

Mary Mac’s Tea Room opened in 1945, today it is the last of sixteen tea rooms that once dotted intown Atlanta in the 1940s.  After 65 years, Mary Mac's Tea Room is THE Atlanta culinary landmark, offering made-from-scratch true southern fare, like fried okra, Pot Likker, chicken pot pie, Gulf shrimp, fried green tomatoes, and the best sweet tea, served with genuine southern hospitality.

Announcing the Publication of Polish American Studies, Vol. 72, No. 1

The new issue of Polish American Studies (vol. 72, no. 1) is here!

In Memoriam section includes obituaries of Professor Victor R. Greene and Reverend Leonard F. Chrobot, who both contributed to the development of Polish American history as a discipline.

In the Editor's Note, Professor James S. Pula comments on his thirty years of editorship of Polish American Studies, as he steps down from this position.

In his article "Troubles with 'Mela': A Polish-American Reporter, the Secret Services of People's Poland, and the FBI," Pawel Zietara reveals the Communist authorities' attempts at infiltration of American Polonia in the 1950s and 60s. The article is based on the research in declassified records of Poland's intelligence and security structures.

Robert Szymczak in his article: "Cold War Airwaves: The Polish American Congress and the Justice for Poland Campaign" highlights the activities and impact of the popular radio program initiated by the Western Massachusetts Division of PAC in 1945 in order to present the plight of Poland and the region in the wake of the betrayal at Yalta.

Patricia B. Yocum in "Leaving Kozuchow, a Village in Bobrzechow Parish, Galicia," presents an analysis of Polish population who left the same area in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in order to extend our understanding of migration from rural Galicia.

Thomas J. Napierkowski in the article "The Khaki Boys Series: Images of Polish Americans, 1918-1920," discusses a collection of six novels aimed at adolescent audience and published in the United States following World War I. The novels perpetuated hurtful stereotypes of Polish Americans, which were then present in popular culture.

Two books reviewed in this issue of Polish American Studies deal with the goral culture in America and the intellectual contributions of Professor Piotr Wandycz.

Join the Polish American Historical Association and receive a subscription to Polish American Studies and PAHA Newsletter as part of your membership!

The Polish American Historical Association's interdisciplinary refereed scholarly journal (ISSN 0032-2806; eISSN 2330-0833) 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; and TOC Premier. The journal is also ranked by the Polish Ministry of Science and Education. 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 by examining its relationship to other ethnic experiences. 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.

ARTICLES: Manuscripts or inquiries should be submitted in Microsoft Word via e-mail attachment to the editor, Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, atanna.k@polishamericanstudies.org. Manuscripts are evaluated based on their originality; relevance to the mission of the journal; the clarity of the thesis, presentation and conclusions; and the depth of research based upon the nature of the sources cited. Contributors whose first language is not English should have their work reviewed for clarity prior to submission. The journal employs a "double-blind" review process with each submission being read by a minimum of two reviewers, and usually three. Comments of the reviewers are summarized by the editors and provided to the authors.

BOOKS FOR REVIEW: Books for review should be sent to Mary Patrice Erdmans (English language) or Anna Mazurkiewicz (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

Anna Mazurkiewicz Book Review Editor for Poland Polish American Studies University of Gdansk Faculty of History ul. Wita Stwosza 55 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland

EDITORS

• Editor: Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University,anna.k@polishamericanstudies.org
• Book Review Editor: Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve University,mary.e@polishamericanstudies.org
• Book Review Editor for Poland: Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk, Poland,anna.m@polishamericanstudies.org

EDITORIAL BOARD

• M. B. B. Biskupski, Central Connecticut State University
• Tobias Brinkmann, Pennsylvania State University
• John J. Bukowczyk, Wayne State University
• William J. Galush, Loyola University Chicago
• Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Columbia College Chicago
• Gabriela Pawlus Kasprzak, University of Toronto, Canada
• Grazyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College
• Karen Majewski, University of Michigan
• 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 Radzilowski, University of Alaska - Southeast
• Francis D. Raska, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
• Dariusz Stola, Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, Poland
• Adam Walaszek, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
• Joanna Wojdon, University of Wroclaw, Poland