Congratulations and Best Wishes! From the Polish American Historical Association

The anniversary year 2018 is winding down. PAHA celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a special conference held in Chicago at Loyola University Chicago in September, whereas all Polish communities celebrated Poland's 100th Anniversary of Regained Independence across the U.S. through October and November.  The number and type of anniversary celebrations was staggering, with conferences, festivals, conferences, commissions of new works, recitals, film screenings, religious celebrations, theatrical premieres, school performances, receptions, and more.

While Poland was independent for just 50 of the past 100 years, the fact that the country was resurrected at all was a major miracle deserving our gratitude and pride. Congratulations and best wishes to all event organizers, attendees, speakers, dancers, musicians, actors, and chefs!  It was a major effort of every Polish American community to celebrate the rebirth of their Old Country! Thank you very much!

Educational Display of fighters for Polish Independence, Polish Center, Yorba Linda, CA 

One of the most notable celebrations was the worldwide tour of Polish Tallship, Dar Mlodziezy, that is in San Francisco on Dec 19 - 22 and will arrive in Los Angeles on Dec 25 to Dec 27, going down to San Diego afterwards. In Los Angeles area the tallship will be in the harbor of San Pedro.

Its worldwide tour is partly funded by Polish National Foundation and organized in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute of Poland, and the Foreign Ministry of Poland (and the local Consulates of the Republic of Poland along the route of the tallship).  The crew includes hundreds of teens and young adults, some of whom will be able to come offshore and visit the places that they stopped in. The local residents will be able to visit the tallship and see its magic.

https://www.facebook.com/RejsNiepodleglosci/

 

The Dar Mlodziezy in San Francisco.

Meanwhile PAHA is returning to Chicago, for its 76th Annual Meeting held at Hilton Downtown, in association with the American Historical Association. The Awards Banquet will be at the Chopin Theatre on Saturday January 5, 2019.  We selected this location partly to highlight the Chopin Theatre's 100th anniversary this year. For the program or registration information visit the website

http://polishamericanstudies.org/text/19/registration.html

http://polishamericanstudies.org/text/18/program.html

https://pahanews.blogspot.com/2018/09/program-of-pahas-76th-annual-meeting-in.html

CHOPIN THEATRE CELEBRATES ITS 100th ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR!

The Chopin Theatre in Chicago celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. According to information provided by the Dyrkacz family, the theatre opened March 11, 1918 and was designed by architects Worthmann & Steinbach. It originally had 546 seats and was operated by Victor Bardonski.  It was first opened as a motion picture theatre. In 1923, the site was renamed the Harding Theatre and the seating capacity was expanded to 987. By 1931 it was called the Chopin Theatre again. At some point it was also called the Pix.

The Chopin Theatre has always been very supportive of the ideas of PAHA: in 1980s it created & published 10,000 copies of “The Story Map of Poland” and distributed it to Polish schools and other organizations.  In 1990, the Chopin Theatre saved from demolition four buildings on the Polish Triangle. After a decades-long fight with the Daley Administration, the activists associated with the Chopin Theatre won the restoration of the name “Polish Triangle” to the intersection of Milwaukee, Ashland and Division streets.  The Chopin Theatre is located across the Polish Triangle in Chicago and since 1990 it has been owned and managed by the Dyrkacz Family.  It is a multi-cultural arts center with three stages presenting over 500 theatrical, literary, film and music events annually.  Visit: www.ChopinTheatre.com.

PRESIDENT ANNA MAZURKIEWICZ BECOMES FULBRIGHT AMBASSADOR

JADWIGA BARANSKA RECEIVES THE 2018 MODJESKA PRIZE

Congratulations to the legendary actress Jadwiga Baranska for graciously receiving the Helena Mojeska Prize from the Helena Modjeska Art an Culture Club in Los Angeles. Established in 2010, the Modjeska Prize honors the most eminent Polish actors and commemorates the patron of the Modjeska Club, actress Helena Modrzejewska (Modjeska, 1840-1909). Previous Modjeska Prize recipients include Jan Nowicki, Barbara Krafftówna and Anna Dymna. More information is on the Modjeska Club blog. https://modjeskaclub.blogspot.com/2018/12/jadwiga-baranska-receives-2018-modjeska.html

We wish all our readers and visitors Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and the happiest and healthiest New Year 2019!