See you at PAHA Meeting in New Orleans!

New Orleans Skyline in 2011. Photo by Demetrio Mascarena, www.123rf.com

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We will see New Orleans' festive skyline very soon! PAHA Annual Meeting will take place at New Orleans Marriott Hotel on January 3 to 5, 2013. 

We hope you will join us for our celebration of Polish and Polish American history and culture. We will talk about Kazimierz Pulaski, Zbigniew Przezinski, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, Joe Biden, Marion Lush, Monika Krawczyk, New Orleans Polonia, immigration history, Poles in the Civil War, Polish Catholicism, Detroit, Polish nobility, letters to the editor, spies, and much more!

Christmas Lights on the corner of Royal and Dumaine Streets
 of the Latin Quarter. Photo by Colin Young, www.123rf.com 

PAHA ANNUAL MEETING 2013 PROGRAM

PAHA Annual Board Meeting

Thursday, January 3, 2013: 3:30 PM-5:30 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

 

Themes in Polish and Polish American Arts, Letters, and Sciences

Friday, January 4, 2013: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Pien Versteegh, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

Papers:
Constructing Femininity: The Monica Krawczyk Short Story Contests of the 1960s
Grazyna Kozaczka, Cazenovia College

Between Myth and Stereotype: Tackling the Story of Polish American Inventors and Their Contributions
Slawomir Lotysz, University of Zielona Gora

The Career and Lyrics of Marion Lush: Their Significance for Polonia
Thomas Napierkowski, University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Górecki in America: From Copernicus to Sorrowful Songs
Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press

Comment: The Audience

 

Casimir Pulaski: New Facts and Discoveries

Friday, January 4, 2013: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 10

Chair: Jack Pinkowski, Nova Southeastern University

Papers:
Forgotten Records of Casimir Pulaski's Birth and Death
Peter Obst, La Salle University

The Other Pulaskis: How They Changed Their Names to Become Impostors
Edward Pinkowski, Poles in America Foundation

Identifying Pulaski without DNA
Charles Merbs, Arizona State University

Comment: The Audience

 

Topics in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Polish American History

Friday, January 4, 2013: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press

Papers:
The Polish Museum of America: Twenty-First-Century Developments
Geraldine Balut Coleman, Polish Museum of America

The Chene Street History Project: Documenting a Lost Detroit Neighborhood
Karen Majewski, University of Michigan

Death Comes to Polonia: Mortality among Polish Immigrants in the Early Twentieth Century
John Radzilowski, University of Alaska Southeast

Comment: The Audience

 

Polish and Polish American History in the Cold War

Friday, January 4, 2013: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Brian McCook, Leeds Metropolitan University

Papers:
Joe Biden: Politics in the Polish American Community in Wilmington, Delaware
Thomas Duszak, State Library of Pennsylvania

"The Little UNO" at 769 First Avenue, New York, 1956–63
Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk

Spies from the Embassy: Polish Counter-intelligence Structures Responsible for Surveillance of American Diplomatic Posts, 1956–89
Patryk Pleskot, Institute of National Remembrance

The Strategic Mind of Zbigniew Brzezinski: How a Native Pole Used Afghanistan to Protect His Homeland
J. B. White, Louisiana State University

Comment: The Audience

 

Topics in Nineteenth-Century Polish and Polish American History

Saturday, January 5, 2013: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Papers:
The White Eagle with an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor: First Sergeant Peter Tolusciak
Annette Amerman, Marine Corps History Division

"Polish" Regiments in the U.S. Colored Troops during the American Civil War
Piotr Derengowski, University of Gdansk

Szlachcic As Model Gentleman: Poland, Partition, and the British Romantic Historical Novel
Adam Kozaczka, Syracuse University

A Portrait of New Orleans Polonia in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
James Pula, Purdue University North Central

Comment: The Audience

 

Polish Diaspora in America and Europe

Saturday, January 5, 2013: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Theodore Zawistowski, Pennsylvania State University

Papers:
Interethnic Relations in Letters to the Editor in the Polish Language Press, 1902–69
Anna D. Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University

The Politics of Memory and Exile within the Polish Diaspora in the United Kingdom, 1945–89
Brian McCook, Leeds Metropolitan University

Explore Your East European Roots: A Guide to Genealogical Research
Barbara Pulaski, Mount Ida College
Francis Wolenski, Boston University

The Polish Diaspora in the Wider World: Polish Settlements in Belgium and the Netherlands, 1920–30
Pien Versteegh, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

Comment: The Audience

 

Book Forum: Mikolaj Stanislaw Kunicki, Between the Brown and the Red

Saturday, January 5, 2013: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall, Studio 5

Chair: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Papers:
Between the Brown and the Red: Nationalism, Catholicism, and Communism in Twentieth-Century Poland
Mikolaj S. Kunicki, University of Notre Dame

Comment: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

PAHA Annual Awards Ceremony 

Saturday, January 5, 2013: Evening.  Bourbon House Restaurant

News from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Poland

11 December 2012 - Changes on the map of Polish diplomatic and consular posts around the world.

For Polish diplomatic and consular posts to better respond to changing needs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs decided to close the Consulates General in Lille and Malmö, and move the seats of two other Consulates General – from Los Angeles to San Francisco and from Vancouver to Edmonton. The MFA also plans to open diplomatic missions in new locations, especially in Asia.

The Consulate seat was moved to San Francisco due to the city’s position as one of the leading American academic and business hubs, and a breeding ground for new technologies. The new location will help unlock the mission’s potential for promoting Poland and its economy. Meanwhile, Edmonton is Western Canada’s biggest centre of Polish diaspora, with important educational institutions and a thriving mining industry.

The decision to close the Consulates in Malmö and Lille by mid-2013 was based on economic considerations and the need to streamline the Polish diplomacy’s global presence. The sale of the Malmö Consulate property is expected to bring in approximately PLN 2.15 million, with PLN 1.5 million to be saved annually thanks to job cuts. In Lille, the savings are estimated at PLN 3.3 million and PLN 2.6 million respectively. Keeping properties and staff in these cities makes little economic sense given the small number of applications processed (e.g. in Malmö, one employee processes 6 non-passport applications a month).

In addition, the amended Passport Act signed by the President enables citizens to file passport applications in any consulate. The Consular Section of the Embassy in Stockholm will take over the functions of the Consulate in Malmö, while the Consular Section of the Embassy in Paris and the Consulate General in Lyon will be responsible for the tasks carried out by the Lille post.

The MFA will use the savings to bolster Polish diplomatic and consular presence in other regions, especially Asia. Over the last five years, the number of Embassies has been reduced from 101 to 91, while 9 Consulates Generals have been closed. At the same time, Poland has opened a number of new diplomatic and consular posts. They include: the Embassies in Podgorica and Astana; the Consulates General in Manchester, Reykjavik, Sevastopol, Vinnytsia and Donetsk; the Consular Agencies in Smolensk and Irbil; the Permanent Representation to UNESCO; and the Polish Institutes in Brussels, Madrid, Tokyo and New Delhi.

Posted by Marcin Bosacki
MFA Press Spokesman