Remarks of PAHA's New President Anna Muller at 76th Annual Meeting in Chicago, January 2019

Prof. Anna Muller, University of Michigan, Dearborn, was elected to lead the organization and took over the helm at the PAHA Board Meeting in Chicago, on January 6, 2019.  In her role as First Vice President she was the Chair of the Program Committee of the 76th Annual Meeting of PAHA, held in Chicago on January 3-6, 2019. Her remarks are reproduced below.


OPENING REMARKS AT THE 76TH ANNUAL MEETING 
OF PAHA IN CHICAGO (1/3/2019)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 76th annual Polish American Historical Association conference. This is a special one – the first one after our big 75th anniversary that we celebrated just five months ago, which was also in Chicago. So, here we are again – in beautiful and vibrant Chicago – a city that has a very special place in the heart of the Polish-American community. To many of us, Chicago feels like home – a place that resonates with important histories and memories for both Poles and Polish-Americans. So here we are again – making friends, thinking of new projects, drawing stimulating observations from history, and ultimately making history again. This is the first year of the next 75 years of PAHA’s life, hopefully as creative as the first 75 years. The theme for this year’s conference is “Loyalties.”

Yes, we mirror the AHA conference theme that defines loyalty as a form of human attachment that functions on multiple levels – social, political, group, and individual. I find this topic especially constructive for us – Polish American historians – because in our work, we continuously reflect on the intricacies and richness of individual and group identities, the various forms they take, the conflicts and negotiations they imply, and creative (and less creative) solutions the struggle around them provoke. I am convinced that personally and professionally, this theme has a special meaning for us and the ways we imagine or construct our own identities as well as the identities of the individuals or groups we study.
 
This year, like previous years, PAHA enjoys a significant interest from European scholars. We compiled in total 9 panels comprising twenty-nine presentations dealing with Polish and Polish-American history. Unfortunately, every year January is a challenging month to travel which means that some of the presenters had to cancel their participation, resulting in a few panels having only two presenters. However, I am pretty sure we can deal with the extra time by filling it with thought-provoking discussions.

So, let me wrap up by wishing us all interesting presentations, challenging questions, and stimulating discussions. I hope that by the end of Saturday we will feel personally and professionally enriched and satisfied. On Saturday night, we will close this year’s conference with an award’s banquet at the Chopin Theatre, a place that is very important for the local community and which I hope will welcome you with an exceptional and festive atmosphere appropriate for the end of two days of heavy work and the initiation of another calendar year of PAHA’s work.


CLOSING REMARKS AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY 
AT THE CHOPIN THEATRE IN CHICAGO (1/5/2019)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Serving as PAHA President is a great honor and responsibility. Many of you may not know me, as I am a relatively recent addition to PAHA. I will be very honest and say that when I was asked to become the first v-ce president over two years ago, it did not quite occur to me that the 1st v-ce president most likely at some point would have to become president. It was too late to back out when I realized what is in store for me.

For the last couple of years, I have been learning from you: from the effortless elegance and effectiveness of Grażyna Kozaczka, from Ania’s unbeatable enthusiasm and energy. I cannot name everybody here, but Ania Jaroszyńska- Kirchman, Mary Erdman, Pien Versteegh, Jim Pula, Neal Pease, and of course Maja Trochimczyk were models of unmatched dedication to the Polish-American community, the organization, and to former leaders. But in addition to learning to respect your individual efforts, for the last years of being close to you, my appreciation was growing for your skills of working together – negotiating, coming up with new projects, finding means and times to accomplish your goals.

I kept learning that PAHA is much more than an organization – it is a group of friends, an intellectual and emotional community that is driven by a mutual respect and devotion to the past, but also a sense of civic duty that links the past with the present. Becoming the president for PAHA for the next two years, I cannot promise the deep knowledge of the organization that Ania and Grażyna have (and I know most of you have as well).

From this point of view, it seems that as long as I don’t ruin everything, the organization will be fine. It is strong and more importantly it has some seriously committed members. But to be serious, I appreciate your trust, feel very honored, and I hope to continue the path that Ania initiated – by making sure that the organization maintains a strong position in academic organizations and responds to the challenges of the 21st century, while building bridges between generations and continuously reflecting on who we are, how we are changing and where we are going.


I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your trust. I am honored to be granted the responsibility of running the PAHA for the next two years. I would like to say thank you to the previous PAHA board for their service and commitment. At the same time, I would like to welcome new PAHA board as well as thank you for your willingness to serve our organization. Ahead of us is another busy year full of work on various projects that we have initiated within the last couple of years. I am very grateful for your willingness to serve the organization and I am sure together we can achieve a lot. Thank you.

Anna Muller
President of Polish American Historical Association

Members of PAHA Board during the meeting in Chicago, January 2019

L to R, standing: James Pula, Robert Synakowski, Dominic Pacyga, Bozena Nowicka McLees, Neal Pease, and Anna Jaroszynska Kirchmann. Seated L to R: Maja Trochimczyk, Anna Mazurkiewicz, Pien Versteegh, Anna Muller.