CECHOSLOVAKS
THE CECH (BOHEMIAN)
COMMUNITY OF
NEW YORK
BY
THOMAS CAPEK
THE SLOVAKS IN AMERICA
BY
THOMAS CAPEK, Jr.
ASSISTED BY
REV. LUDEVIT A. ENGLER
REV. C. L. ORBACH
CLEMEN r IHRISKY
THE CECH (BOHEMIAN)
COMMUNITY 0^^
OF
NEW YORK
WITH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON
THE CECHOSLOVAKS IN THE
UNITED STATES
By THOMAS CAPEK
Author of "The Cechs (Bohemians) in America," etc.
Published by the Czechoslovak Section of America's Making, Inc.
NEW YORK. 1921
•1
> • • • «
• • • • •
• • • • »
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( • •• • a
• . • ••
CONTENTS
PART I
THE CECHS
Chapter Page
I. Old Country Ideology Transplanted to
the New 5
II. The Number, Distribution and Occupa-
tion of Cechoslovaks 12
III. Distribution According to States 14
IV. Distribution According to Cities 16
V. The Cech Community of New York 20
VI. Occupation 23
VII. Economic Strength 36
VIII. The Press 38
IX. Politics and First Political Demonstration. 43
X. The Halls 49
XI. The Churches 50
XII. The "Cech Library" 51
XIII. The Neighborhood Houses 52
XIV. Benevolent and Other Organizations 53
XV. The Artists^ Colony 56
XVI. The Language School 57
XVII. The Pioneers 58
PART II
THE SLOVAKS
Foreword
Chapter Page
I. Historical Background and Causes of
Emigration 80
II. Statistical 83
III. Occupation 85
IV. Fraternal Organizations and Churches. ..88
V. The Press ...91
VI. The Banks 93
3M165874
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PART I
THE CECHS
CHAPTER I
Old Country Ideology Transplanted to the
New
If we analyze the currents and cross currents of
the national life of the Cechs, we shall find that
every great movement in the mother country, has
produced repercussion among the nationals in
America, that it synchronized perfectly with like
responsive actions here. A brief survey of their
principal activities proves it.
Slovanska Lipa. A society styling itself the
Slovanskd Lipa (Slavic Linden) was organized in
Prague in 1848. Its program was national and
political — equal rights before the law for Cechs and
Germans, Slavic reciprocity, constitutional liberty.
The name and the purpose appealed to American
Cechs so strongly that in a dozen years every larger
settlement boasted of a Lipa. The by-laws of the
domestic Lipas provided for the fostering of the
mother tongue, founding of circulating libraries,
encouraging choral singing, theatricals, etc. The
American Lipas fully justified their existence. Later,
when the advantages of personal insurance became
more fully appreciated several of the Lipas became
charter members of the C. S. P. S. benevolent
organization.
The Sokols. The Sokols had their inception also
in Prague, in 1862. It is a mistake to think that
the system of physical training as practiced by
American Sokols is patterned after that of the
German Turners. Back of the Cech system, as
elaborated by Miroslav Tyr§ (1832-84), and Jindfich
Fiigner (1822-65) was an idea which aimed higher
than the mere training of the body. The Sokol was
required to be like the Samurai of old Japan —
courageous, faithful to duty, lover of his country.
From Bohemia the Sokol ideology spread to other
Slavic countries. How accurately Tyr§ and Fugner
had visualized the future significance of this body
was demonstrated in the war just ended. The
Sokols were at the bottom of every move directed
against the Hapsburg monarchy.
Choral singing and amateur theatricals. No
national group is more given to amateur acting —
producing plays in the national tongue — than the
Cechs. So much importance is attributed to these
theatricals that local historians are wont to register
not only the titles of plays acted in this or that
settlement, but likewise the names of the talent
impersonating the leading roles. Since the Civil
War, New York was never without a dramatic
society — at times it had as many as six. Priests,
editors, farmers, mechanics, business men, domestics
— immigrants and their American-born progeny —
all were eager to taste the exhilaration and the glory
of the footlights. Lately amateur impresarios are
compelled to lean more and more on volunteers
drawn from the ranks of the native born; in the
choral societies, it is no secret, Americans are
already in the majority. Amateur stage folk and
singers combined, have even invaded the field of light
opera. That the fondness for this sort of amusement
6
has been brought over from old Bohemia goes with-
out saying. Under the Austrian regime, which kept
a watchful eye over the doings of the Cechs, the
stage, the amateur stage and later, when actors had
been trained and Cech stock companies started out
on their itineraries from town to village, the profes-
sional stage, constituted a strong link in the chain
of national revival.
Opposition to theocracy. One-half — according
to some authorities more than one-half — of American
Cechs have given up their inherited faith. Some
joined other religious bodies, but the bulk of the
dissenters do not affiliate with any church. One
finds nothing quite like it among other immigrants,
certainly not among American Slavs. What is the
cause of this religious abstention? Here again, to
understand, we must turn back to the fatherland for
explanation, read the story of this war-scarred
country, study the national characteristics of the
people.
The old-time Cechs, historians tell us, were
given to religious meditation, clinging tenaciously
to their beliefs. For faith and country the Hussites
in the fifteenth century faced huge armies of cru-
saders sent to crush the "heretics." The Church
of Bohemian Brethren, from which the Moravians
in England and the United States claim descent,
sprung from a desire of its founders and followers to
lead purer lives in strict accord with the precepts of
the scriptures. The emigration from Bohemia after
1620, following the victory of the Hapsburgs over
the Protestants, was of a religious character. Tens
of thousands preferred banishment to the renuncia-
tion of their faith. The most merciless persecution
on the part of the civil and ecclesiastic authorities
during the era of the restoration of Catholicism
7
which extended from 1620 to 1781, when the Patent
of Tolerance was issued, could not wholly eradicate
the "hidden seed."
In past ages every village boasted of its
"pfsmdk," a wise man, who was versed in the
"pismo," meaning the Bible and who expounded its
lessons to the villagers. Prior to the Battle of
White Mountain (1620), the Cechs had been Prot-
estants. By 1914, ninety-six per cent, (according
to Austrian official figures) professed the Catholic
faith. That such a fundamental religious re-making
of a people could not be accompHshed without leaving
a mark on its character and without influencing the
direction of its thought, is self-evident.
At present Bohemia again finds herself in the
throes of a religious rebirth. A concerted movement
is on foot (it was inaugurated in October, 1918, when
Cechoslovakia rid herself of the Hapsburgs), which
can be expressed in three words: "Away from
Rome!" Already hundreds of thousands have
severed their connection with the old church and
have joined the Cechoslovak National Church.
The self-same propaganda, "Away from Rome!"
has been carried on in Cech America for more than
half a century. The result is as stated at the outset
of this paragraph.
Slavic solidarity. No one in particular propagated
here the thought of closer cultural relations with
other Slavs — Slovaks, Russians, Poles, Serbo-Cro-
ations — yet the idea of Slavic reciprocity, of close
comradeship, was popular from the start. Slavic
"congresses" had been called and societies had been
organized to foster and encourage Slavic fraterniza-
tion. The first body of men to volunteer from
Chicago for service during the Civil War received
the name Slavonian Rifle Company. In the sixties,
8
as stated elsewhere, settlement after settlement
"planted" its Slovanska Lipa society; other organi-
zations bore the names of Slavic Union, Slavic
Reciprocity, Slavic Alliance, etc. The first news-
paper was called "Slowan Amerikansky" (American
Slav). In the preface the publisher-editor (Frank
Korizek) addressed himself "to the beloved Slavic
nation," and he deplored the fact that that nation
"Hved so disunited in the New World." By "Slavic
nation" Korizek of course meant his countrymen,
the Cechs only, because no other Slavs (except a
handful of Poles), hved at that time (1861) in the
United States.
A farming element in Wisconsin became discon-
tented with conditions in America — aggravated as
these were by the bitterness of civil war — and a plan
was conceived to move American Cechs to the
province of Amur in Asiatic Russia. Two men were
chosen to go to Russia to work there to the end
"that a foundation might be laid for a new fatherland
in Slavic Russia."' Fortunately, this migration
never took place; one member of the committee of
investigation (Barta) returned to Wisconsin, dis-
gusted with the red tape methods of the Czar's
government. The other (Mracek) stayed in Russia
and died there.
During the Polish rebellion of 1863, the formula
of Slavic fraternization was given a practical try-
out — and was found wanting. In much the same
way as in Bohemia, the Cechs in America were
divided in their sympathies on the Russo-Polish
struggle. One faction, numerically the stronger,
sided with the Poles; there were those, however,
who loudly defended the course of the Russians.
'The Slavic," December, 1861.
9
The attitude of the Cechs, let it be said, pleased
neither the Russians nor the Poles.
The fraternization between New York Poles and
Cechs manifesting itself in invitations to and presence
at balls, picnics and meetings, came to an abrupt
end when the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia came to
America in 1871, and again in 1877. The Cechs of
New York and Chicago sent deputations **to greet
our brother Slav." This "act of perfidy" on the
part of the Cechs cut the Poles to the quick; never
after that did they invite the Cechs to their social
affairs nor asked them to take part in anything at
which the Russians were present. With Russians
left out, Slavic accord, was, of course, a nullity; with
Russians and Poles in, co-operation was out of the
question.
During the Russo-Japanese war, the Slavic
Alliance of New York made an effort to bring under
one roof the leading men and women of Slavic
blood. But because the Russians came in, it was
a sufficient reason for the Poles to stay out and they
did stay out.
Sixty years of fraternization with American
Slavs, sixty years of inspiring speeches at Slavic
banquets — what are the evidences of constructive
work ? Almost none. True, the Sokols have carried
the Sokol ideology in the ranks of some of the Slavs
. . . .Occasionally joint public protests had been ar-
ranged and held ... .As for instance, when the New
York Slavs met in Carnegie Hall, December 14, 1912,
to "protest against Austria-Hungary's unjustified in-
terference with the Balkan Slavs."
Ask a New York Cech in what part of the City
the Serbo-Croations live. He does not know. In-
quire of a Pole where the Cech quarter is located
10
and the chances are he will have to ask a police-
man to direct him to it. In Chicago, Poles and
Cechs professing the same faith bury their dead
in a common cemetery. In several instances these
two worship in the same churches. But the tie
that binds in this case is not racial kinship, but
religion.
11
CHAPTER II
The Number, Distribution and Occupation of
Cechoslovaks
As a country of origin Austria first appeared in
the United States official census in 1860; Bohemia
in 1870. The (13th) census of 1910 has ascertained
539,392 persons of Bohemian and Moravian stock.
Precisely how many American Slovaks there are
and where they live we shall learn for the first time
when the results of the 1920 census are made public.
The figures of the previous censuses were not de-
pendable for the reason that census gatherers in
many instances classified the Slovaks as Hungarians.
Private estimates by Slovak publicists and the
official Washington returns varied greatly; private
estimates, as a general rule, being invariably much
higher. Even the Cechs contended in the past that
the census man has treated them unfairly; that at
each decennial count he caused thousands of their
compatriots to disappear in the column set aside for
Austrians.
As a Cechoslovak state, Pennsylvania leads in
1920 all, with a population of 67,577. One can easily
guess how much of this total is purely Slovak and
how much the share of the Cechs. According to the
census of 1910, the Cechs in Pennsylvania ag-
gregated 13,945. Of this, 3,453 lived in Pittsburgh
(largely in Allegheny), and 1,652 in Philadelphia.
Next after Pennsylvania comes Illinois, with
66,463. Obviously, this is Chicago and its suburbs,
for outside of the city not many are known to reside.
12
Chicago is the metropolis of the Cechs and has been
such since 1870. It is one of the three leading cities
with strong Cech and Slovak centres. New York and
Cleveland are the other two.
New Jersey's 16,194 is more than two-thirds
Slovak.
On the other hand, Iowa's 9,148, Kansas' 3,466,
Minnesota's 12,538, Nebraska's 15,817, Texas' 12,809,
Wisconsin's 19,785 (except Milwaukee, which is
mixed, Cech and Slovak), continue to be preponder-
antly Cech. When the census is published in its
entirety we shall be able to appraise more accurately
the numerical strength of the Cechoslovak stock,
both foreign and native born.
13
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CHAPTER IV
Distribution According to Cities
Austrians in selected cities
1860^
Males Females
St. Louis 1,367 1,173
New York 942 749
Chicago 486 441
Philadelphia 208 123
Cincinnati 196 146
New Orleans 167 32
Baltimore 68 44
Boston. 27 16
Bohemians {and Moravians) in selected cities
1870^
Chicago 6,277
St. Louis 2,652
New York 1,487
Milwaukee 1,435
Cleveland 786
Baltimore 766
Detroit 537
Allegheny 324
Newark 184
Cincinnati 123
Philadelphia 101
Population of the U. S. in 1860, compiled from the original
returns of the Ei§;hth U. S. census under the direction of the Secre-
tary of the Interior, Washington, 1864.
*Ninth U. S. census, June 1, 1870. From the Foreign Born
population of Fifty Principal Cities according to Place of Birth
among the Principal Foreign Countries. Table XX. As a country
of origin Bohemia first appears in this census.
IG
Bohemians {and Moravians) in selected cities
1880^
Chicago 11,887
New York 8,093
Cleveland 5,433
St. Louis 2,456
Milwaukee 1,537
Baltimore 1,129
St. Paul 701
Bohemians {and Moravians) in selected cities
1890^
Chicago 41,014
Cleveland 17,502
New York 11,868
St. Louis 4,400
Omaha 3,866
Milwaukee 2,493
St. Paul 2,218
Baltimore 2,130
Bohemians {and Moravians) in selected cities
1900'
Chicago 72,862
Cleveland 28,385
New York 26,809
St. Louis 5,503
Cedar Rapids 4,646
Baltimore 4,522
Omaha 3,997
iTenth U. S._ census, June 1, 1880. Table XIII, showing the
nativities of foreign-born population.
^Eleventh U. S. census, June 1, 1890. Table XXXVII.
White persons having both parents born in specified countries or of
mixed foreign parentage. >?». ■
^Twelfth U. S. census, June 1, 1900. White persons having
both parents born in specified countries or of mixed foreign parentage.
17
Milwaukee 3,483
St. Paul 3,002
South Omaha 2,187
Allegheny 1,565
Detroit 1,312
Racine 1,078
La Crosse 1,062
Bohemian {and Moravian stock) in selected cities
\9W
Chicago 110,736
New York 40,988
Cleveland 39,296
St. Louis 10,282
Baltimore 7,750
Milwaukee 6,370
Omaha 5,414
St. Paul 4,140
Pittsburgh 3,453
Detroit 2,641
Cechoslovaks in selected cities
1920^
Chicago 50,392
Cleveland 23,007
New York 26,292
Milwaukee 4,497
Omaha 4,305
Minneapolis 1,828
St. Paul 1,797
^Thirteenth U. S. census, June 1, 1910. Leading mother
tongues of the foreign white stock of selected cities. Native white
stock of foreign or mixed parentage.
^Preliminary Press Announcements as shown by the returns of
the Fourteenth (1920) U. S. Census. Distribution of the foreign-
born white population by country of birth.
18
Comparing it to the Irish and the German,
Cechoslovak immigration is comparatively recent.
The tide of the Cechs set in after 1848. That of the
Slovaks several decades later. At the time the Cech
infiltration began, land in Wisconsin, Iowa, Neb-
raska, Minnesota and the other states in the Mid-
west could be had for the asking. This determined
the character of their occupation; they became
farmers. When the Slovaks started pouring in —
after 1890 — the land in the corn and wheat producing
belt was already prohibitive in price. On the other
side, the steel mill, the coal mine, the coke field,
the machine shop, the refinery in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, beckoned to work-
men to come. Skilled and unskilled, all could get a
job. The wages offered were fair; measured by old-
country standards, fabulous. If land-ownership as-
sured independence to the farmer in a distant future,
the wage-earner in the mill and the mine could
console himself with the thought that his labor
yielded him a prompt return, not tomorrow, but
today. This actuality again determined the choice
of the occupation of the Slovaks.
We will not search for the Cechoslovaks in the
ranks of the great merchants, employers of labor on
a large scale, men of inherited wealth. Among these
we will not find them. Humble men from the
ordinary walks of life they are — farmers, mechanics,
shop-keepers, wage-earners.
19
CHAPTER V
The Cech Community of New York
The principal settlement is located between
Second Avenue and the East River from Sixty-fifth
to Seventy-eighth streets. Within this area lives a
mixture of races: On the extreme north the Germans;
several blocks, (Seventy-fifth between First and
Second Avenues) are peopled by Italians; numerous
Hungarian restaurants attest the presence of a large
body of Magyars; the negroes obtained a foothold
on both sides of Seventy-third Street between
Second and Third Avenues; along Avenue A is a
scattering of Greeks. At all points the Slovaks mix
with the Cechs. The Jews (in this instance Magyar
Jews), predominate as shop-keepers. However, it
is the Cech who gives this quarter of the city an
atmosphere all its own.
A small group has maintained itself since the
Civil War in the Morrisania section of the Bronx
(Bohemianized Marazin). There are a few scattered
families in Brooklyn. The Dutch Kills enclave of
Queens Borough is quite strong economically (most
of the residents owning neat cottages), and active
socially. Other more or less known points of con-
centration in the State of New York are Winfield,
Corona, College Point, Flushing Heights, Whitestone,
Islip, East Islip, Bay Shore, Sayville, Highland
Falls, Rockland Lake, Tarrytown, Poughkeepsie,
Buffalo, Schenectady, Binghamton, Yonkers,
Gloversville, Elmira, Richmond Borough.
20
At the time the author arrived in New York
(1879), his countrymen were massed between
Houston Street on the south, Eighth Street on the
north (Tompkins Square, their favorite rendezvous,
they called the White Garden from the whiteness of
the asphalt), and Avenue A on the west. None
lived on the East River front, and but a few were
bold enough to penetrate the unknown regions west
of Avenue A, "where strangers lived." In the blocks
between Third and Fifth Streets the concentration
was the densest. Avenue B was called the Cech
Boulevard. Individual families lived in Grand
(which in the eighties was a business artery of no
mean importance), in Broome, Delancey, Rivington,
Stanton, Essex, Clinton, Norfolk, Pitt. Within a
stone's throw from Avenue B were the stores of
Cech bakers, butchers, grocers, and saloon keepers.
On the northwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth
Street the daily "Delnicke Listy" had its business
office. At 533 East Fifth Street stood the Narodni
Budova (National Hall), where the community's
dances, theatricals, concerts and meetings of all
kinds were held. The National Hall was an old-time
five-story tenement built on an Astor leasehold. In
1882, a number of organizations bought out the
place and altered it to suit their needs. The ground
floor in the rear of the saloon was provided with a
primitive stage and dance hall; the second floor was
fitted out as a library and lodge rooms. The upper
floors were rented for tenement purposes. On the
Liliputian stage, amateurs acted the queens and kings
of old Bohemia. From it many a hot invective was
hurled at the Hapsburgs; many an appealing ditty
sung reminding the audience of the oppressed
fatherland.
21
Between the end of the eighties and the first
years of the nineties the community, except isolated
families, migrated uptown to where its present
quarters are.
What was the reason of the exodus ? More
sanitary tenements uptown, and nearness to the
cigar shops, in which they worked. The break-up
of the downtown habitat was not a matter of months.
The migration persisted for a period of years until
the Fifth Street center was emptied of the last Cech.
In the nineties Cech lodges and clubs officially
approved of the community's new site uptown, im-
printing upon it a seal of permanency, by building
halls, club houses and churches there.
The Czechoslovak Consulate General forms an
integral part of the community. Dr. Borivoj
Prusik, who is at the head of it, is a scholar of
recognized merit in his mother country.
The Foreign Language Information Service has
a Czechoslovak Section of which S^rka B. Hrbkova,
writer, lecturer and teacher, is the manager.
CHAPTER VI
Occupation
Cigar makers. For more than sixty years cigar
making has been and still is, a distinctive occupation.
Precisely when and under what circumstances the
tobacco industry has obtained the upper hand among
New York Cechs is an unstudied chapter which will
need attention. Indications are, however, that the
trade is old — as old as the immigration itself. Al-
ready in 1858, Wenceslaus Krechtler was the owner
of a cigar store at 157 Canal Street, and in the rear
of it he worked up the weed. Frank Korbel, Thomas
Jurinek and Frank R. Mracek, pioneer settlers (see
their biographies in the chapter on Pioneers), were
cigar makers about the same time, even earlier. A
story is current — it sounds plausible — that a repre-
sentative of Kerbs & Spiess was sent to Sedlec, near
Kutna Hora, where the former Austrian Government
operated a tobacco factory, to enlist trained workers
for his firm in New York. The wages offered were
so tempting that many employees, men and women,
took the American agent at his word and emigrated.
According to another report, cigar makers from
Sedlec began to flock to New York in consequence
of glowing accounts sent thither by a band of Sedlec
men who had settled in Morrisania. One of these
men was Vincent Vanicek; others were John Dvofdk,
Joseph StSpanek, John Drahordd, Adolph Mucha
and Anna Cerny (who became Vanicek's wife).
During and after the Civil War every incoming ship
brought fresh contingents of workers. Under the
tutorship of the Sedlec men butchers, blacksmiths,
bakers, miners, peasants, college students, agricul-
tural laborers and domestics learned to strip tobacco,
break bunches and roll them.
Editor L. J. Palda estimated that in 1868, when
he landed, 95% of his countrymen were engaged in
the tobacco industry.^ "Every newcomer," re-
lates Palda in his Reminiscences, '*no matter what
his trade or vocation in the old country, ended by
becoming a cigar maker, because cigar making paid
better than any other line of work." An expert
textile worker from Europe, Palda himself learned
to make cigars in New York.
Between 1880-95 when the industry attained its
high water mark the Cechs worked for the following
firms:
Herman Benz, 151 Avenue A.
Bondy & Lederer, 110 Attorney Street.
Isidor Jacobi, 126 First Avenue.
Kerbs & Bro., 232 E. 36th Street.
Kerbs & Spiess, 1020 Second Avenue and East
54th Street.
Emanuel W. Mendel, 243 Third Street and
15>2 Bowery.
Adolph Moonelis, 143 Avenue D.
Bernhard Newmark, 318 E. 75th Street.
Abraham and Isaac Rosenthal, 624 E. 16th and
351 E. 73rd Street.
Emil Seidenberg, 360 Second Avenue.
Joseph S. Seidenberg, 66 Reade Street.
Leopold Schwarzkopf & Co., 309 E. 46th and
1329 Avenue A.
M. Silverthau & Co., 340 E. 36th Street.
^Mr. Vincent W. Woytisek, Deputy County Clerk, an old
resident of New York, asserts that Palda's average is too high, 75%
being nearer the mark.
1!4
M. Stachelberg & Co., 154 So. 5th Avenue.
Straiton & Storm, 204 E. 27th Street, 203 E.
33rd Street and 457 First Avenue.
Morris Prochaska, 102 Attorney Street.
Wertheim & Schiffer, 1020 Second Avenue.
Sixty-odd years of cigar making and not one]
Cech manufacturer has risen from the ranks of\
workers! Thousands of privates, not one employer!
of labor! A co-operative shop which Cech workmen I
organized in 1874 went into the receiver's hands J
after a short-lived and stormy existence.
The author asked Mr. Joseph Stepanek, said to
be the oldest living cigar maker in the city, to set
down in writing his reminiscences. He arrived as a
lad of twelve direct from the factory at Sedlec. As
he is now in his eighty-fifth year, he has been rolling
"smokers" seventy-three years. The observations
of this venerable workman, the author felt, would
be exceedingly illuminative. Mr. Stepanek wrote
a modest narrative in which he told of having wit-
nessed the memorable trial by jury at Kutna Hora
in 1851, of Charles Havlicek, the tribune of the
Cech people. In 1865, he walked with 50 other
New York Cechs in the funeral cortege of Abraham
Lincoln. He described what keen joy he derived as
a member of a New York amateur singing club (he
sang tenor); concerning his experiences as a cigar
maker he had not a word to say. "That phase of
my life," he explained, "was a song without a
melody."
Palda's 95% of cigar makers in 1866, does not
obtain in 1920. The American born children of
cigar makers will not learn and follow the trade of
their parents. They find that the office, the store,
the mechanic's bench offer greater possibilities of
promotion than a cigar shop does.
25
How many are still attached to the tobacco
industry ? No. 141 of the Cigar Makers* Interna-
tional Union of America has 952 Cech members (men
and women), 621 of whom pay 60 cents per week in
dues, 289 40 cents, 42 30 cents. Union No. 90 has
also some Cechs. Workers not belonging to any
union are said to number 2,500. Outside of Greater
New York there are not more than 100 cigar makers.
This makes a total of 3,552 organized and unor-
ganized workers.^
Pearl button makers. Excellent showing has
been made in that other distinctively Cech industry,
the pearl button manufacture. Though neither as
old as cigar making — it was introduced here by
workmen from 2irovnice, in Bohemia, after the
passage in Congress of McKinley's protective tariff —
nor as voluminous (it gives employment to not more
than 1,500 or 1,600 operatives), pearl button making
has contrived to school not only factory hands but
factory bosses as well.
The number of Cech manufacturers is 67, located
as follows: Connecticut (West Willington, Stafford-
ville, Higganum), 6; New Jersey (North Bergen,
Secaucus, Little Ferry, Cliffside, Guttenberg, New
Durham), 20; Illinois (Chicago), 1. Of the 40 plants
in Greater New York, 19 are situated in Manhattan,
12 in Winfield, 7 in Astoria, 1 in Maspeth, 1 in Islip.
These 67 concerns represent an investment of
from $1,500,000 to $1,750,000: 12 manufac-
turers have invested $25,000 and over; 15 manu-
facturers have invested $10,000 to $20,000; 15
manufacturers have invested $5,000 to $10,000;
25 manufacturers have invested $1,500 to $5,000.
Several of the smaller manufacturers dojjnot employ
^Statement by Joseph Wodicka, Secretary of No. 141 of the
Cigar Makers' International Union of America.
any outside help, relying solely upon members of
their own families for labor.
The number of operatives is 1,550. In normal
times this figure would be considerably higher.
**The volume of business as based on statistics for
1920 is between $3,000,000 and |3,500,000, and it
represents,'' says Mr. W. E. Schwanda, "slightly
less than one-half of the total value of ocean pearl
buttons produced in the United States."^
Metal workers. In the several branches of the
metal industry, not less than 500.^
The needle trade. Of journeymen tailors there
are 300. Merchant tailors are surprisingly few,
which proves that the Cech is a better workman
than a business man. Ladies' tailors appear to be
more enterprising, for they outnumber by far men's
custom tailors. Apprenticed to their art in European
fashion centers — Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Prague —
ladies' tailors are in demand by all the leading
houses and command high wages.
Dressmakers, 200.^
Musicians, 50.^^
Bakers. Boss bakers, 15 in Manhattan, 5 in
Queens.^ The journeymen bakers' union has 220
members; non-union workers 30, together 250.
Butchers and bologna makers. Workmen and
bosses, not in excess of 75.^
^For this information on pearl button manufacture the author
is under special obligation to Mr. W. E. Schwanda of B. Schwanda
& Sons, Ocean Pearl Button Manufacturers of New York, and to
Mr, Christy, Secretary of the Ocean Pearl Button Industry Asso-
ciation.
^Statement by Joseph Modr.
^Statement by J. Kubik.
^Statement by bandmasket Frank Turek.
^Statement by Joseph Huml.
^Statement by Adolph Konas.
27
Grocers, 40; formerly between 50-60/
Druggists, 12 and as many registered clerks.'
Carpenters, etc. A journeyman cabinet maker,
who knows all the leading shops in the city, estimates
the number of carpenters (union and non-union),
cabinet makers, joiners and mill hands at 500.'
Piano makers. In times of prosperity these were
700 strong. This included cabinet makers, polishers
in warerooms and tuners. Owing to the grave
crisis in the piano industry hundreds were laid off or
discharged, so that to-day's total is comparatively
small, according to one computation not more than
150.*
Furriers. Firms like Revillon Fr^res and C. G.
Gunther's Sons have had them in their employ for
many years. The cutting of furs was a favorite
vocation from the first. Lassak and Konvalinka
employed Cech furriers as far back as the fifties.
There are in the neighborhood of 10 fur dealers and
200 operatives; Slovaks included, the number of
operatives may reach 500.*
Marble and stone cutters. Nine firms are partly
or wholly in control of Cechoslovaks. **As to the
other question, how many marble workers are em-
ployed in Greater New York, I wish to state that
the information received from the unions indicated
that there are about 250 marble cutters, setters and
helpers and 130 polishers and bed rubbers.'
'Statement by Joseph Label and Joseph Huml.
^Statement by Charles Krepela, Ph.D.
•Statement by Charles Knakal.
^Statement by Jakub Wodrazka, for 42 years in the employ of
Estey Piano Co.
"Statements by Joseph Kubik and Joseph Srsen, the latter of
S. and v., Inc.
"Statement by B. W. Sidlo, of Voska, Foelsch & Sidlo.
28
Building trades — bricklayers, carpenters, plas-
terers— which flourish in Chicago and Cleveland,
where every one builds or owns his cottage, are in-
consequential. Cechs may be builders and con-
tractors in Chicago and elsewhere, but in New York
they are not.
Saloon keepers — not only preceded the bakers,
the butchers and the grocers, but, before the dry
laws put most of them out of business — outnumbered
them. This is quite understandable. The baker and
the butcher had to have preliminary training; like-
wise a small capital to start with. The saloon man
required neither. The brewer set him up in business
on credit. To draw beer from the spigot and to
serve drinks needed no skill. Anyone could get the
knack of it in a few days. If he was content to live
from the patronage of his co-nationals he could get
along without the knowledge of English. Singularly
enough, but few saloon keepers have made money
in the liquor traffic, though hundreds have tried it.
On the other hand, many a baker, butcher or grocer
was able to retire with a sufficiency.
Old New Yorkers recall Albert Karel, who before
the Civil War kept a "lokM" at 426 Broome Street.
The military deserter Tuma, nicknamed Columbus,
boasted in a letter to a Prague paper in 1850, that
he was the proprietor of a **casino" in this city.
August Hubacek, whose resort was located at
.533 East 5th Street, which was subsequently pur-
chased by Cech societies for a National Hall, was
the uncrowned king of saloon men. Other liquor
dealers whose names and the places they kept
acquired local prominence were Anton Cerny, Peter
St'astny (in 1878, St'astny had a place at 320 E. 5th
Street, and later uptown on Avenue A), J. Synacek
(618 E. 5th Street), Safarik & Cerovsky, etc. The
29
last two (brothers-in-law), operated in 1882, a
country brewery at Maspeth, L. I., but they lost it
owing to lack of capital and general incompetence.
Before the war, saloon keepers in Greater New
York numbered not less than 100. Restrictive laws
cut this total to 30/
Business men other than saloon keepers increased
slowly. Francis Brodsky could not locate one
Cech merchant when he returned to New York in
1854 from a whaling expedition. Some had not the
capital, others lacked skill, or were ignorant of
English. The teaching of the theorists that property
is theft (according to Proudhon), and the propaganda
carried on most intensively in the radical press be-
tween 1885-95 against the middleman in business
swerved many a waverer from pursuing a business
career or investing his money in real estate.
The advertising page of the "Newyorkske Listy"
in 1878, will give us an idea of the extent and variety
of business:
F. Vyborny & Son, steamship tickets, forwarding
and exchange, 25 Avenue A.
Franta Such](^, baker, corner Avenue B and
Fourth Street.
F. Brodsky, steamship tickets, forwarding and
foreign exchange, 26 Avenue C.
K. Sladky, photographer, 349 Bowery, near
Third Street.
Joseph Krikava, wine shop, 50 Avenue B.
Adolph HaSek, bookbinder, 161 East Fourth
Street.
Karel Machovsk^, undertaker, 209 East Third
Street.
Karel Svoboda, druggist, 136 Stanton Street.
^Statement by William Vesely.
30
J. V. Linke, hardware, 236 East Fourth Street.
Karel Hlavdc, tobacco, 180 East Third Street.
Frances Tichy, modiste, 169 East Second Street.
The firm of Joseph Oktavec (formerly Laffargue
& Oktavec) manufactures pianos. Their pianos are
exported to Australia.
Holub-Dusha Co. are inventors and builders of
machines generally used in the pearl button trade.
The machines are exported to Japan and to Zirov-
nice, in Bohemia. The 2irovnice workers, it will be
remembered, introduced pearl button manufacture in
this country.
Waldes & Co., Inc., in Queens Borough are makers
of a superior snap fastener, known the world over as
the "Kohinoor."
Francis Keil & Son have an excellent reputation
in the trade as lock makers and manufacturers of
hardware. Many Cech mechanics are employed in
their shops.
The Manda Floral Co. (landscape architects) j
and W. A. Manda, Inc., of South Orange, N. J.,
were founded by a Cech florist.
There are, besides, drygoods merchants, florists,
undertakers, jewelers, watchmakers, stationers.
Every shop and factory in New York, manufac-
turing clocks, watches, musical instruments, art
objects, gloves (there is a strong settlement of
Cechs in the centre of the glove industry, at Glovers-
ville), sewing machines, furniture, carriages and
automobiles, jewelry, machinery, employs Cech
mechanics. Several years ago Tiffany's watch and
clock department was in charge of a clock specialist
(Lindauer), who helped many a fellow countryman
to a remunerative job with that firm. Hoe & Co.,
manufacturers of printing presses have had on their
31
pay roll mechanics of Cech nationality since in 1850.
The percentage of unskilled labor in New York
is small. Probably less than 3%. Unlike other
Slavic groups, Cechs do not seek employment in
basic industries; nor are they found among seasonal
and mobile labor.
One class of workers must not be overlooked —
the domestics, whose qualities as housekeepers are
duly appreciated in numerous New York households.
Physicians. In the "New Yorsk^ Listy" in 1877,
Clement Cibulka advertised his office at 309 E.
Fourth Street, "across the street from the Cech
Church." The practitioners before Cibulka were:
M. Schoen, "examining surgeon of the First Benevo-
lent Society," and J. E. Popper. Josef de S. Le-
wandowski, a Pole by birth, but on the doorplate a
"Cech physician," used to have an extensive clientele.
Francis A. Brodsk^, son of Francis Brodsk;^^, the
steamship agent, began at 59 St. Marks Place about
1885. He died a young man in Wisconsin. Ed-
ward J. SchevCik, who started downtown as a druggist
and later settled uptown, had a large following as a
druggist and physician. For a time Ale§ HrdliCka,
the noted anthropologist, practiced here. Godfrey
R. Pisek, whose sudden death a few months ago
shocked the community, had been a consultant in
children's diseases. Doctors who had practiced
within the last two decades were: Rosenbluth,
Breitenfeld, Friedler, Strdnsk^, Moritz, Lacina,
Radda, Mor^vek.
At present the professiqn is represented by:
J. F. BiCdk, Francis J. Brodil, W. W. Hala (Queens),
Leopold Hahn, Lilly JedliCka (Queens), Vaclav F.
Kouba, Anna KubiSta, H. R. Kutil, J. C. Luhan,
Helen Paul (Queens), Julius J. Paider, Lillian V.
32
Paider, L. J. PlaSek, O. R. Pozdgna (Queens),
Alois Renner, Riha (Queens), D. J. Rfl^iCka,
Oscar J. Riizi(^ka (Kings), Josef Saxl, Francis W.
Sovdk, Charles Sowa, I. Stein, Joseph Tenop^r,
Otakar Tenopyr, Charles Vejvoda.
Lawyers. Before the Cechs began buying real
estate, prospects were not bright for lawyers. The
first lawyer to be admitted to the bar was Frank
Pisek. John W. Konvalinka, presumably the son of
John Konvalinka, the furrier of 36 Maiden Lane,
practiced before Pisek's time, but he was Cech only
on his father's side. So was John E. Brodsky, son
of a pioneer of that name. Brodsky was a member
of the New York Assembly and between the eighties
and nineties an influential Tammany politician on
the East Side. Charles Kolowrat conducted an office
in 1881 at 115 Nassau Street. Count Kolowrat, a
member of an aristocratic family of that name lived
about that time in Brooklyn. The author remembers
reading an interview in the "New York Herald" in
which Count Kolowrat made the admission that he
had fled to the United States on account of a duel he
had fought with another aristocrat at home. One
of the Kolowrats married into the Oxnard family of
sugar kings.
The attorneys in Greater New York are: Thomas
Capek (not practicing), Francis Dgdek, Frank
Dlouhy, F. L. Hackenburg, Albert Hlavag, Jr.,
Joseph Hlavdc^, John Hovorka, Jerome Krbe^ek,
Frank Motl, Jr. (Queeris), Victor F. Nekarda,
Julius J. Paider (practicing medicine), Frank Pisek,
Charles Recht, Charles B. Schwanda (Queens),
V. W. Woyti§ek.
Teachers. The names of school teachers,
who had been licensed to teach in Greater New
York, living and dead, active and inactive, are:
33
Marie Anis (n6e Franc), Emily Austera (n^e
Hdjek), Olga BartoSek, Sophie BartoSek, Mary
Bej§ovec (Kings), Anna Benesh, Emma Benesh,
Mathilda Benesh, Emil Beyer (deceased), An-
toinette Bohat^, May Bouda, K. Cern^, Marie
Damm (n^e NgmeCek, New Jersey), Marie Dlabola
(n6e Straka), A. Dolan (n^e Volenec), Frances
Dolezal (Queens), Charles Duch^Cek, Olga A.
Dudek, Elisa Enos (n6e Fiala), J. Fabrikant (n^e
Chudoba), Olga Filipec, (n6e Wdvra, Queens),
Juliette Israel (n^e Here), Emily E. Hansa (n6e
Pulpit, Richmond), Anna Ha§ek (n6e W4vra), ....
Hladik, Mildred Hrbek, E. Hubl, Emily Hunt (n^e
Poldk), .... Jon4§ (n6e Chudoba), Rose Jurka,
Bertha K^rnik (n6e Cuchal), Josephine Kiidkal,
Edith Kobildk (n6e Schwimbersk^), Mildred KoSaf
(n^e Forst), Cecilia Koukol (n6e Pisek), Caroline
Kozlik, Anna Kov4?ik (nee Luther), John Krdl,
Anna C. Krtil, Anna Krbec^ek (n6e Cuchal), Alice
P. Kruli§ (Queens), Augusta Kupec, .... Lucas,
Marie Lier, Rose Linhart (n6e Cisaf, Belgium),
Frances Linke, Harriet Linke, .... Louda, Betty
Luhan, Antoinette Martyny, Josephine Minarik,
Mary Minarik, Rose Minarik, Mary E. Novy, An-
toinette Ouda, .... PanuSka, Bertha PanuSka (n^e
Beyer), George Paui^ek, Emma Peck (n^e Koch-
mann). Bertha Petrdsek, Anna Pribyl (n^e Barto-
§ek), Henry Puletz, Martin Puletz, Rudolph Charles
Pokorn^, Rose Rankovich (n6e VofiSek), Emma
Samek, Joseph SindelAr, .... Sklenka, Olga Slavik
(n^e Hauser, New Jersey), William Slavik (New
Jersey), Stanley Stadler (died as soldier in France,
taught Latin in Stuyvesant H. S.), Clara Tesar,
Frances H. Uher, .... UmdCen^, Olga J. Vejvoda,
Mary Vocl (n6e HlavdJ^ek), Anton VoriSek (deceased,
lecturer in chemistry in Columbia), Bertha Wald-
84
man (n^e Kodet), Charles Wirth, Ottilie Wirth (nee
Krepela), Josephine Wolf (nee Cepek). Mrs. Cecilie
Koukol is dean of teachers of Cech nationality.
Her husband, Mr. A. B. Koukol, lectures in the
Slavonic Department of Columbia University.
Dentists. The late Emil Vejvoda was the
pioneer dentist.
Dentists authorized to practice are:
Wm. Bglsky, A. B. Jurka (Queens), Charles
Jurka, Edith Jurka (nee Schevcik), Arthur J.
Krbecek, Charles Hattauer, Chas. R. Motak, Frank
Nemecek, Josephine E. Luhan, Robert Mantler,
Frank I. Rubricius, Thomas Prach, Charles Urban,
Henry Urban, Homer Ursini, Wm. Wagner (Queens).
35
CHAPTER VII
Economic Strength
A conservative estimate by an observant resident,
who is himself a real estate holder* places the
number of flats and tenements in the upper east side
district (comprised in the old Nineteenth Ward),
owned by private individuals and corporations at
400. Computing the equities at J10,000 apiece,
which is not an excessive average, considering the
increased valuation by the city, we get a total of
$4,000,000 invested. This, however, takes into
account Manhattan and Bronx only. In Queens
Borough, particularly in the Astoria part of it there
are hundreds of cottage owners and speculators in
a small way in unimproved realty.
Some of the corporations owning real estate are:
American Bohemian Realty Co., American Sla-
vonian Realty Co., Anchor Bohemian Real Estate
Association, Bohemian-Moravian Real Estate As-
sociation, Bohemian Real Estate Association Bee,
Bohemian Catholic Benevolent Society, Borivoj
Realty Co., Freeport Land and Improvement Co.,
Jan Hus Real Estate Association, Jan 2i2ka Real
Estate Association, Land and Mortgage Co. Bo-
hemia, Olive Realty Co., Progress Construction
Co., H. C. D. Realty Corporation, Slavic Realty
Corporation, Reliable Building Co., Star Bohemian
Real Estate Association, Veslub Realty Co., Zvano-
vec Real Estate Co., Steinway Avenue Theatre, Inc.
The Reliable Building Company (Michael Piln^-
^Mr. Vaclav Nemecek, Director of the Bank of Europe.
36
2ek, president), built in Long Island City 30 apart-
ments, dwellings, and a moving picture theatre at
a cost of 11,000,000.
The downtown banks which take care of their
savings are the Dry Dock, Bowery (these two enjoy
the patronage of old settlers). Emigrant, U. S. Sav-
ings, Central (the old German Savings), Citizens
Savings.
The Bank of Europe, the chief business deposi-
tary of the Cechoslovaks had deposits in June, 1921,
in excess of j^6,500,000.
37
CHAPTER VIII
The Press
New York's first newspaper was called the "Lu-
cerna" (Lantern). It was written by hand and but
one issue was published.
Lev J. Palda narrates how the "Lucerna"
originated. It was during the Franco-Prussian war.
The sympathies of the American Cechs were all on
the side of the French, and far more keenly than the
settlers in the Midwest the New Yorkers felt the
need of a paper in which they could give vent to
their feelings on the issues involved in the war. "A
mass meeting," relates Palda, "was held in Cooper
Union on, I think, November 19, 1870, under the
auspices of the International Workmen's Union of
New York, to protest against the further prosecution
of the war by Germany. The Cech societies of New
York expressed willingness to help with money and
to take part in the demonstration; the meeting, not-
withstanding threats of violence by those siding
with Germany, was a big success. The attendance of
the Cechs alone was estimated at 500. Speeches were
made in English, German, Cech and French. I came
from Chicago as the invited speaker of the New
York societies. It was agreed between Jandus^
and myself that I should not return to Chicago, but
should in partnership with him, open a book and
stationery store in New York and publish a news-
paper. . . .Of the paper only one number came out;
^William Jandus, living in Cleveland, was at that time a resident
of New York.
we had not means enough to publish any more. I
provided the text, Jandus (who was a fine penman)
wrote it by hand. ..."
The next paper was a weekly, "The New Yorsk6
(then spelled Newyorkske) Listy." The Slovanska
Lipa Society was nominally the publisher, Jan
Rajndl (Reindl), a teacher of music and a tenor of
considerable distinction, editor. The paper did
poorly — with 500 subscribers and a handful of beg-
garly-paid advertisements it could not do otherwise.
In 1876, John Vratislav Capek, an experienced
journalist, bought out the "Newyorksk6 Listy," and
in May, 1877, made a daily out of it. The budget
of the paper had just begun to balance, when a strike
of cigar makers broke out. This meant unemploy-
ment of the majority of the subscribers of the paper,
and, should the strike last long, its certain bank-
ruptcy. At a critical moment, when all seemed
lost, Capek found a purchaser for the property in
Frank Skarda, publisher in Cleveland of the "Dgl-
nicke Listy" (Workmen's News). Skarda removed
his paper to New York. With him came L. J. Palda,
his editor.
Between 1877 and 1883, the "Dglnicke Listy''
had a monopoly in the newspaper field. The "New-
yorkske Listy," it should be added, was discontinued
by the terms of the purchase.
After the eighties commenced the exodus from
Austria-Hungary of social democrats and radicals.
One of these exiles, Leo Kochmann, settled in New
York. Skarda put Kochmann on the staff of his
paper. Other comrades with ideas just as radical as
Kochmann's, or even more extreme, began coming in
from Bohemia. In the summer of 1882 the type-
setters of the "Delnicke Listy" struck for higher
wages and when Skarda — honorable, but arbitrary
39
and headstrong — gave his men to understand that
there was nothing to arbitrate, they set out to pub-
lish a paper of their own. Skarda was a capitalist,
therefore, down with him! Led by Kochmann, the
strikers addressed a ringing appeal to the public
claiming that a workmen's paper, read by workmen,
should be owned by workmen. In October of that
year the paper of the striking printers made its ap-
pearance under the heading "DSlnik Americky" —
American Workman.
The "Dglnick6 Listy" did not long survive the
strike. Utterly ruined, broken down in health,
§karda left New York and repairing to La Grange,
Texas, he died there in "proud poverty."
After some years, the "Dilnik Americk^" con-
cluded that the name, "New Yorksk^ Listy" was one
worthy to be preserved and so, discarding its own, it
assumed that of the "New Yorksk^ Listy."
Other newspapers with a reputation or a well
defined policy were:
"The Patriot." It combated the rising tide of
radicalism and internationalism which refugee so-
cialists advocated. Coming out in August, 1883,
it suspended in January, 1884. The publishers were:
John V. Capek, Thomas Capek, Frank Barto§ek.
The "Proletdf" (Proletarian), a weekly, organ of
the left wing of social democrats, was established in
May, 1884, by Leo Kochmann and F. J. Hlav^Cek.
This journal was the spokesman of radicals who
opposed the program of moderate socialists, grouped
around the "Dglnlk Americky." In 1886, the
"Prolet^f" discontinued publication and Kochmann
and his followers launched the "Hlas Lidu" (Voice
of the People). The "Hlas Lidu" was made the
heir of the policies of the "Proletdf ." Leo Kochmann
remained at the head of it from the day it came out,
40
July, 1886, till 1918, when he retired, owing to a
nervous breakdown.
The "Voln6 Listy," a weekly, from the outset
proclaimed itself the organ of the anarchists.
Founded in 1890, it suspended in the first months
of the war.
The "Delnicke Listy" (third of the name), was
the outgrowth of a quarrel between Leo Kochmann
and F. J. Hlavdcek. Set up by the latter and his
associates in November, 1893, as an opposition to
the "Hlas Lidu," it catered to a small, though
extremely noisy group of readers. When the
"Dglnick6 Listy" lost Hlav45ek (who removed to
Chicago), it lost its principal asset. Eventually
this filibustering sheet removed to Cleveland, where
it went down in 1889.
The "Cesk^ SvSt" (Cech World), was an illus-
trated weekly backed by the New York Tract So-
ciety and ably edited by the Rev. J. W. DobidS.
The paper existed only two years (1905-7).
The "Vgk Rozumu" (Age of Reason), appearing
here some ten years ago, was the organ of the Free-
thought Federation. It*s home office is now in
Chicago.
The "CechoslovAk," a weekly, survived barely a
year (1919-20), yet disciplined readers will long
remember it as one of the best managed journals
published in New York. Its editor, Joseph Mach,
is on the staff of the Cechoslovak Press Bureau
in Washington.
For the last 35 years, the New York reading
public has had two dailies, the "New Yorske Listy"
and the "Hlas Lidu;" since July, 1921, it has but
one. The "Hlas Lidu" suspended voluntarily. The
editors of the "New Yorske Listy," the paper which
41
remains, are: J. J. Nov^, Karel Leitner, Joseph
KroboSt.
The "Obrana*' (Defense), a weekly, is the organ
of the social democratic party. Editor, J. J. Kdrnik.
The parish of the Church of Our Lady of Per-
petual Help publishes the "Tydenni Zpr^vy (Weekly
Tidings).
The parish of the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
publishes a monthly, the "Radost" (Joy).
42
CHAPTER IX
Politics and First Political Demonstration
A memorable event in the history of the com-
munity occurred September 9, 1864, when the flag of
the Cech-Slavic Benevolent Society was unfurled
in the City Hall Park, in the presence of the Mayor
(George Updyke), and a number of the military.
On this great day, Cech and Polish societies marched
to the City Hall Park. There a review and a recep-
tion took place; bands played martial and patriotic
airs; the Mayor responded to the speaker of the day;
soldiers fired a salute in honor of the flag; R. J.
Jaworowski, editor of a Polish newspaper delivered
an address on behalf of the Cech and Polish residents
of New York.
So awed, and at the same time, so proud was the
community that the historian of the day in a letter
to a St. Louis paper declared "that for the first time
in the history of this country the Cechs had been
recognized as a distinct nation, and that from that
great day on Americans will regard them as such." ^
We reprint verbatim the account of the celebra-
tion as it appeared in the "New York Herald" of
September 12, 1864. Jaworowski^s address was, no
doubt, magniloquent and temperamental. But,
could one expect anything else from a Polish patriot ?
A year before his people had revolted against Rus-
sian tyranny, and the revolution had been ruthlessly
crushed. Blood — tyranny — revolution — liberty —
iSt. Louis "Pozor," September 30, 1864. Frank Brodsky is
named in the letter as president of the society; Josef Krikava as
godfather of the flag and J. Merunka as flag bearer.
43
martyrdom — were his themes. In the United States,
we were passing through the turmoil of a civil war.
Jaworowski's was the first voice that had been
raised in this country on behalf of the downtrodden
Cechs, and for that reason his speech and the inci-
dents under which it had been made deserves to be
preserved:
"The Union of Poles and Bohemians. Procession
of Slavonic families through the City. Inauguration
of the Bohemian flag. Address to and response of
the Mayor.
"A large company, composed of the two Slavonic
families, celebrated on Friday last, in an imposing
manner the inauguration of the Bohemian flag and
of the Slavonic Union. At 11 o'clock a.m., the
procession arrived in front of the City Hall and was
there received by the Mayor. Mr. R. J. Jaworowski,
on behalf of the Slavonian brothers, addressed that
gentleman as follows:
"Mr. Mayor: It is with feeling of deep satisfaction
that I come here in the name of Slavonian brothers,
Bohemians, and my fellow countrymen Poles, to
present to you, sir, the tribute of our respect and our
consideration. Here you have before you two flags
of two oppressed nations, both of Slavonic origin,
both victims of aggression of their neighbors, both
after rivers of blood spilled in their defense by their
faithful sons, to-day without a country or a father-
land, come to this land of the brave and the free,
asking protection and the privileges of liberty
for their expatriated and persecuted sons. The flag
on the right, the first that ever presented its graceful
folds to the breeze on this continent, is the one we
inaugurate to-day. The nation which it represents,
brave and intelligent, for centuries past enjoyed its
independence and self-government, advancing with
44
a rapid step in the path of progress and civilization
until 1620, when, at the Battle of Biala Gora, it
fell a victim to the superior forces of the Hapsburgs,
which keep till to-day an oppressive yoke over them.
Two hundred and fifty years ago they lost their
liberty, their name and their independence, but they
did not lose their nationality, nor will they ever lose
their hope or faith in the final victory of justice, if
there be justice on earth. This nation, full of
brotherly feelings towards their fellow Slavonian
brothers in other countries, first propagated the
principle of Slavonic Union, which is at present
known under the technical term of Panslavism.
The Czar of Moscow, the very representative of
despotism and oppression, found this idea serving his
purpose for aggressive policy, and placed himself
at the head of the Slavonic Union in prospect. But
the claws of a wolf have soon been discovered under
the sheepskin cover, and the very same originators
of this great idea turned their faces away with scorn,
for it was not under the Mongolian despotism that
they ever hoped for this union. It was on the solid
basis of liberty for themselves, liberty for all Slavonic
families, nay, liberty for the whole world. The other
flag, drooping, mourning to the ground, is the flag of
Sobieski, Copernicus, Kosciusko and Pulaski, who,
alas, too soon for humanity shed his blood and paid
with his life the victory of your own independence.
This flag is the flag of our martyred Poland. A century
approaches since it was torn to pieces and its brave
sons scattered in all climes and countries. Glorious
in its history of the past, bloody and painful of the
present, but brilliant in the future. Our tyrants
and our oppressors have vanquished us, deprived us
of the very shadow of national liberty, banished our
fathers, our mothers, our sisters to Siberia, crucified
45
our heroes, but never, never can they reach our
hearts, to extinguish there the sacred fire — the love
of liberty and the love of our country. From every
drop of blood will spring up an avenger, from every
bone a new hero, and finally liberty must triumph
over despotism, and Poland shall be free. We love
our Slavonian brothers; we pity those who serve as
tools in the hands of our oppressors; we pardon them
all their cruelties, but we make alliance with those,
who, like our sons, aspire to freedom; and this very
day we unite into one Slavonic family to attain the
same object — that is, to throw the heavy yoke of
oppression and to enjoy liberty in our native lands.
Before, however, this blessed day comes, before these
flags are victoriously planted on the walls of Prague
and Warsaw, sir, our purpose and intentions are to
serve as peaceful and useful citizens of this republic,
where we ask the protection and the privileges of
enjoying liberty, denied to us in our native lands.
We ask for protection, for we have already had oc-
casion to deplore the rendition of one of our country-
men who, believing in the Stars and Stripes, left the
hateful and oppressive yoke of Russia, joined your
army, fought your battles, and on the demand of
that Power was returned by the government of the
United States, and long before now has expiated the
crime of having loved liberty. We ask now, on the
day of the inauguration of this flag and on the day
of the homogeneous union of all Slavonic families,
with full confidence of endorsement of one hundred
thousand members, faithful to these two flags and
scattered over this continent, hospitality and pro-
tection until Hberty and the calls of our countries
summon us back to our homes and our firesides,
when we will unanimously exlaim: 'Hurrah for
liberty; hurrah for the United States.' "
46
Repeated cheers followed this address and the
speaker proposed — which was loudly responded to —
three cheers for the Mayor, three for the United
States, three for Poland and three for liberty all
over the world.
The Mayor responded in a few words, remarking
that the noble example of the union of two Slavonic
nations may be followed by the union of two flags
now battling on American soil. That the protection
of liberty must be granted to all who came to these
shores. He hoped that the suffering of Poland and
Bohemia would soon be finished, and that those
glorious flags, which represented liberty, would be
placed, side by side, with those of the United States.
The procession then proceeded to Union Square,
and at the foot of Washington monument, Mr.
Jaworowski addressed the procession in the following
words :
"Friends and brothers. — On this day of our union
we come to pay our tribute to the memory of the
'Father of his Country.' (Turning himself to the
statue). Oh, thou great man, whose departed spirit
enjoys the presence of the Creator, we Slavonians
come and bow our heads to thy memory. May thy
example left to the world, inspire the hearts of thy
successors with true love of liberty and humanity.
Teach them, in the secret of their hearts, to under-
stand, that the cause of liberty everywhere among
nations is that of loving liberty and hating despotism.
With this understanding we may expect that liberty
will triumph all over the world and despotism will
find ruin. Peace to thy ashes. Eternal glory to thy
memory."
The procession then proceeded through several of
our principal streets, after which it dispersed.
So much for the story in the **New York Herald."
47
One, only one incident, marred the supreme joy
of all. A Mrs. Frances Klein, who manufactured
the flag placed the colors wrong. Notwithstanding
this unfortunate blunder the flag continued to be the
object of unbounded admiration.
What of the achievements in ward and assembly
politics ? This is a brief and unedifying chapter.
One alderman (Joseph Krulish, 1906-7), and two
assemblymen (M. J. MachdCek, 1905-6 and F. L.
Hackenburg, 1920) — that is the end of the chapter.
The late John E. Brodsk^ a Tammany politician
(member of assembly) was of Cech descent on his
father's side.
"The Cechs have never had the right kind of a
pull with the district leaders'' — this is the way a wise
New York citizen explains the ill-success in the
political arena of his countrymen.
48
CHAPTER X
The Halls
The Ndrodni Budova (National Hall), at 335-37
East 73rd Street is the property of a number of
benevolent organizations. Erected in 1896, it cost
to date $250,986, including the moving picture
house facing 74th Street. The mortgage is $118,000.
The same year (1896), The Gymnastic Association
Sokol built at 424-26 East 71st Street a club house and
gymnasium valued at $125,000. Mortgage, $12,000.
The Cech American Workingmen's Sokol put up
several years later at an expenditure of $225,000, a
combination club house and apartment in East
72nd Street in the block between Avenue A and the
East River. Mortgage, $70,000.
The Sociahst Party in 1919 came into possession
of the former Delaware Club at 320 East 71st Street.
The price is $22,000.
The Astoria Community has since 1911 a
"Domov" (Home) valued at $45,000.
Before the old Ndrodni Budova in Fifth Street
had been acquired, societies held their more elaborate
functions in German-owned halls such as the New
York Turn Hall, 66 E. 4th Street; Harmonic Rooms,
141 Essex Street; Germania Assembly Rooms, 291
Bowery; Concordia Assembly Rooms, 30 Avenue A;
Germania, 46 Avenue A; Assembly Rooms, 263
Bowery. Twenty or thirty years ago the Central
Opera House, 207 E. 67th Street was occasionally
hired for concerts or amateur theatricals. For several
seasons the Sokols made use of the Grand Central
Palace, their own club houses not being spacious
enough to accommodate the crowds on such red
letter days as the annual masquerade balls, etc.
49
CHAPTER XI
The Churches
The Catholics attend the Church of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, 323 E. 61st Street, and the St. John
the Martyr's, 254 E. 72nd Street. The congregations
in both churches are mixed (Cech-Irish).
They first organized in the basement of the Ger-
man St. Nikolaus Kirche in 1874.'
On December 12, 1875, the Rev. W. Quinn, then
vicar-general, consecrated for their use a small
church which they had built (or rather which they
had adapted from a frame dwelling), in East 4th
Street, between Avenues C and D. This church they
named after the Slavic apostles, Cyril and Method.
Since 1886, the Redemptorists have had exclusive
charge of Catholic work among them.
Father Anton Krdsny is thought to have been
the pioneer priest in New York. Responding to a
call from Cleveland, he removed to that city in 1857.
The Protestants worship in the Jan Hus (Pres-
byterian) Church, 349 East 74th Street. This is the
recognized centre of evangelical endeavor in the east.
For a time the Bohemian Brethren conducted serv-
ices in Morrisania (Bronx); however, this work was
given up. Instead, a chapel was opened recently in
Long Island City.
The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church on
73rd Street has a strong following of Cechs. One-
half of the children attending the Sunday school are
said to be of Cech parentage.
The mother church of the Catholics was estab-
lished in St. Louis in 1854; that of the Protestants
at Ely, la., fifteen years later.
'Andenken an das Goldene Jubilaum der Grundung der St.
Nikolaus Kirche. New York 1833-1883.
50
CHAPTER XII
The "Cech Library"
as the Webster Branch of the Public Library on
Avenue A, between 77th and 78th Streets is most
widely known, had on its shelves 1,500 books when it
was thrown open to the public October 24, 1906.
At present it has 15,000 volumes, which makes it
the largest library of Cech books in the land. The
godfather of the library is Edwin W. Gaillard,
former Hbrarian of the Webster Branch. A dis-
tinguished visitor from abroad said the library was
"the brightest spot in the Cech quarter." Under
the watchful eye of the head Hbrarian, Miss Zaidee
Griffin, this "pride of the community" has grown in
popularity and size from year to year.
In the art rooms of the Public Library (Fifth
Avenue and Forty-Second Street) are old Cech
Bibles and a painting by the renowned Cech artist,
Vdclav Bro2ik, "Rudolph II in the Laboratory of
his Alchemist." The Metropolitan Museum of
Arts owns Brozik*s "Grandmother*s Namesday" and
"Columbus before the Court of Ferdinand and
Isabella." The subject of the last named canvas
was reproduced on stamps issued by the Government
during the Chicago World's Fair.
51
CHAPTER XIII
The Neighborhood Houses
in close touch with the community are: The
Lenox Hill, Seventy-Sixth Street Settlement and
Jan Hus Neighborhood House. The last named
adjoins on the west the Jan Hus Presbyterian
Church.
CHAPTER XIV
Benevolent and Other Organizations
Fraternal organizations paying sick and death
benefit are an American institution. The immigrant
knew nothing of this kind of insurance on the other
side. The standard policy calls for a $1,000 insur-
ance. In the past, "all being brothers and sisters,"
all paid Hke dues; this inequitable and obsolete
system gave way later to dues graded according to
age. The total membership of brotherhoods and
sisterhoods in the United States is 125,000; in this
figure, however, are not included Cech lodges of
Odd Fellows, Foresters, Masons, Woodmen of the
World, Elks.
The strongest and oldest (founded in 1854) or-
ganization is the Cech-Slavic Benevolent Society,
known by the initial letters CSPS. (24,000 members).
The Western Cech Fraternal Union has 21,500 mem-
bers. Union of Cech women 23,000, Sisterhood Benev-
olent Union 12,000, Central Union of Women in
the U. S., 9,600, Cech Roman Catholic First Central
Union in the U. S. 5,250, etc. Meetings are con-
ducted and records kept in the national tongue; but
there are lodges composed of younger members who
use English exclusively, being no longer able to
transact business in the language of their fathers.
The parent organization in New York was the
Cech Society (the precise name is in doubt). Es-
tablished in 1850, its primary object was "to give
advice and succor to incoming fellow-countrymen."
The Cech Society existed but a short time. The
63
next society in New York to take root was the
Slovanskd Lipa of 1861. Like the other Lipas, the
New York Lipa had been essentially a social and
educational club. Among the things it did was to
open the first language school in New York; found a
circulating library; publish a newspaper (the "New
Yorkske Listy"). A faction of dissatisfied members
broke away from the Lipa, and on March 4, 1863,
organized the Cech-Slavic Sick Benevolent Society.
This latter was the forerunner in New York of the
many brotherhoods and sisterhoods which insure
members against sickness and death.
The CSPS. Grand Lodge exercises jurisdiction in
New York State over 19 subordinate lodges (in
Greater New York, Rockland Lake, Bohemia, Islip,
Schenectady, Gloversville), with a membership of
2,500 men and 1,000 women.
The CSBPJ. lodges have 500 members in Greater
New York.
The JCD. (Union of Cech Women) has 3,214
members in New York State.
The membership of the lOOF. is 500.
The four courts of Foresters (in New York)
number 1,368.
The Cech Roman Catholic First Central Union
in the U. S. has enrolled 450 members in 4 lodges.
The Central Union of Catholic Women in the
U. S., Ill members in 3 chapters.
The CSPDS. (Cech Slavic Benevolent Sister-
hood) numbers 2,300 members.
The JDV. (The Union of the Daughters of the
Land) 85 members.
A picturesque body are the Sokols — popularly
known as Blue Sokols and Red Sokols from the color
of the uniforms worn by them. Each club. Blue and
Red, owns its gymnastic hall and each maintains
54
affiliated clubs of singers and amateur stage folk.
The Blues (the Gymnastic Association Sokol), se-
niors, juniors and Little Sokols — these receive regular
class instruction the same way as the grown-ups —
number in Greater New York 2,035. The family of
the Reds (their official name is Cech American
Workingmen's Sokol) has 1,118 members. The
proudest day of the Blues was May 31, 1916, when
84 members marched out of the hall to Fort Slocum
to volunteer their services to the Government. Not
one of the 84 was rejected by surgeons for physical
disability.
Then, of course, there are labor unions, sporting
clubs, sharp shooters, political, social and church
organizations. The Lidumil Society distributes
each year a modest purse to hospitals located nearest
to the community.
55
CHAPTER XV
The Artists* Colony
Painters and illustrators: A. V. Fdbry (Slovak),
Harrison Fisher (Cech on his father's side), Rose
Kracikova, Joseph Lenhard, Jan Matulka, Rudolph
Mencel, Joseph Mrdzek (peasant art), Emanuel V.
Nddhern^ (for years on the art staff of the New
York "Herald"), Rudolph Ra^i^ka (etcher), J. C.
§indel4r.
Sculptors: J.Mario Korbel, Rose Kracikova,
Joseph M. Kratina.
Musicians: Anica Fdbry (Slovak, soprano), Marie
Dvorak (piano), Rudolf Friml (pianist and com-
poser), Joseph J. Kovdrfk (viola), Marie Mikovd
(piano), John J. Mokrej§ (pianist and composer),
Marie Novotny (piano), Karel Leitner (pianist),
Milan Lusk (violinist), Francis Pangrdc (tenor),
Anna Fuka-Pangrdc (organist and composer), Emil
J. Poldk (piano accompanist), Teresa Prochdzka
(mezzo-soprano), Rudolf Pru§a (pianist), Alois Reiser
(violoncello and orchestra director), Wenzel A.
Raboch (organist), Ludvik Schwab (pianist), Josef
Strdnsk^ (director of the Philharmonic), Frank
Trnka (violinist), Ladislav Urban (pianist and
composer), Bedrich VASka (violoncello), Karel
Vohnout (violinist), Margaret Volav^ (piano),
Ludmila Vojd2ek-Wetch6 (piano). The New York
Quartet consists of Otokar Cadek, first violin,
Jaroslav SiSkovsk^, second violin, Ludvfk Schwab,
piano, Bedrich VA§ka, viola.
Blanche Yurka, actress; Otokar Bartik, ballet
master and teacher of dancing.
56
CHAPTER XVI
The Language School
The liberal organizations maintain the so-called
Cech Free School, where instruction is given to chil-
dren in the language of the parents. Classes are held
after Public School hours, Saturdays and Sundays.
Instruction is non-sectarian. There are six classes
and the number of children attending the school
is 600.
57
CHAPTER XYU
The Pioneers
The first arrivals to New York were soldiers who
had run away in 1847 from the Mainz Fort in Ger-
many, garrisoned jointly with Prussians and Aus-
trians. Political refugees, who had taken an active
part in the revolutionary movement of 1848-49,
came next. After 1850, immigration became general.
The within register of the pioneers who made
New York their home in the ten years between
1847-57 was compiled by the author from reminis-
cences of old settlers, private letters and unpublished
manuscripts. The author does not claim that the
register is complete; or, that the life stories of the
argonauts, given in brief, are in all particulars ac-
curate. The persons concerned are dead and gone,
even the surnames of many of them have been for-
gotten. Their children who perhaps could supply
the missing particulars are scattered throughout the
length and breadth of the country or live out of
touch with the nationals of their foreign-born fathers
and grandfathers.
The outstanding occupations of the first settlers,
the reader will notice, were those of cabinet making,
tailoring, jewelry, watch making. Many are put
down as being saloon keepers; it is safe to assume,
though, that not one of the men so designated was
a trained inn keeper from home. Music was a com-
mon vocation. This will not surprise one who knows
the inherited bent of the people for music. It is
impossible to state how many were professionals and
58
how many were amateurs who resorted to music as
a side-line, because of the extra revenue it yielded.
That cigar making is an old trade, as old as the
immigration itself (as was made clear in another
chapter), is proved by the fact that Korbel, Mrdcek
and Jurdnek were engaged in it years before the
Sedlec men had been heard from.
By reason of their superior education and be-
cause, too, of personal sacrifices for their country's
freedom, five or six of the pioneers were looked up
to as leaders. Joseph Kfikava, Vojta Naprstek,
Thomas Juranek, Frank Korbel, Emanuel Denk,
one of the younger Hubaceks and F. R. Mricek
were the men who stood head and shoulders above
others.
The first members of the Slovanska Lipa (or-
ganized, as set forth elsewhere, 1861), were all old
settlers though the year of their arrival is not
recorded. The members whose names one finds in
the minutes of that society were: Franta Bem (see
reference to him in the "Cechs (Bohemians) in
America," Frank Bilek, John Drahorad, William
Jandus, Joseph Janecek, B. Corner, Vincent Havlin,
Eman Hermes, John Herold, Leo Hlawatsch, Anton
Hribek, Frank Kafka, Anton Kohler, Theo. Kucha,
Vaclav Linke (according to last accounts lives in
Brooklyn), Anton Merunka, Eman Netolicky, Joseph
Novak, Joseph Novotny.
Frank Barto§, jeweler, arrived 1850. Went
west gold prospecting; did not return.
Joseph Bazant.
Benedikt, baker, lived in Bohemia Village.
Franta Bleha (Blecha), cabinet maket. Member
Slovanska Lipa. Wife made artificial flowers. City
Directory 1852-53 registers him 105 Eldridge Street.
59
Joseph BoroviCka. Palda mentions him as hav-
ing a well-stocked library of good books.
Anton Brabenec, jeweler, one term president of
Slovansk^ Lipa. His wife Anna practiced midwifery.
John Brodsk;^, of Beroun, stave maker, arrived
1849. Worked 1852 at 106 Norfolk Street, lived
214 5th Street. Married a German. John E.
Brodsk^ and Frederick B., lawyers, were his sons.
Franta Brodsk^, rope maker from Beroun,
(John's younger brother), arrived 1851, died 1920,
Mt. Vernon. After Civil War established steam-
ship ticket office, 26 Avenue C. Son a physician.
President and co-founder Cech-Slavic Ben. Soc,
and of Bohemian Building Association No. 1.
Prominent in lodge activities. Sold office to his
nephews, Frank Brodsk^ Jr. and Frank A. Sovdk,
who in turn sold it to Bank Bohemia in Prague.
Sailed on the same steamer with Joseph RehaCek, of
Roudnice, and Nikodem Tdbor and Stajger
of Doma2lice.
Dr. Philip Bruckmann, born in Pilsen, had Bo-
hemain clientele in the fifties. In 1848-49 lived at
184 Essex Street. Marie Repa (Mrd^ek) who lived
in the doctor's house said that already in 1852
Dr. B. was classed as an old settler. The whole
family spoke English well.
Ka§par Bubele, carver, City Directory, 1858,
registers him from 297 Houston Street.
Thomas Buch^Cek, tailor. Descendants owned
a popular roadhouse at Sayville.
Bunzman, jeweler, amateur singer and
musician. Arrived in 1850. Friend of Anthony
Fiala.
Charles Burgthal, called by patrons "Colonel,"
hotel and saloon keeper, 14 City Hall Place, a gather-
ing place of pioneers. His wife was a Cech.
60
J. Cejka. Left for Chicago.
Joseph Celinsky (Cilinsky), jeweler, vice-presi-
dent Cech Society, supposed writer of letter to
"Prazsky Vecernf Listy," April 10, 1849. Arrived
before Niprstek.
Franc V. Cerveny, was sent to America in 1848
to create a market here for the musical instruments
manufactured by the Cerven^ family. Sailed with
Naprstek, whose intimate friend he was. Treasurer
of Cech Society, promoter of "Flug Blatter." City
Directory 1851-52, registers him as maker of musical
instruments at 16 John Street. Taught music at
61 Eldridge Street. Left New York 1858 or 1859
for Milwaukee, where he died February 6, 1907,
aged 81. Married a Hubacek.
Joseph Cizek, (City Directory 1856), shoemaker,
shop 211 Grand, house 221 Stanton Street. Or-
ganizer with his brothers of social activities; member
Cech Society.
John Cizek, tailor, (City Directory 1855 Cezik,
lived 58 Sheriff Street), active in lodge life. Member
Cech Society, member Slovanska Lipa; at one time
its librarian. With two other brothers arrived with
Niprstek.
Franta Cizek, cabinet maker, member Cech
Society. Brother of Joseph and John.
Franta Chrastil, librarian Slovanski Lipa, suc-
ceeding Werther, who entered army.
Anton Chwatal of Hostomice, arrived 1848, one of
the founders Cech Society, journeyman miller,
musician. City Directory 1856, registers him from
82 Delancey Street.
Emanuel Denk, from Pilsen, removed to St.
Louis. Died in Missouri shortly after Civil War.
Borecky describes him as the "best educated Cech
in St. Louis." Arrived 1847.
61
Domordzek, potter, came 1849 or 1850.
Josef Dont, born at KoSetice, in the Cdslav dis-
trict, 1828. Gardener from home, he learned house
painting in Kohout's shop. Member Cech Society.
Arrived 1847 on same vessel with E. Denk and V.
Pohl. After 18 years left New York, sojourned in
Terre Haute, Chicago, West Point (Neb.), settled
permanently in Santa Rosa, Cal., where he died 1906.
John Duchoslav, cabinet maker from Domazlice.
Went to Manitowoc, Wis., later removed to Chicago,
where he died in 1870.
Jakub Du§enes (Duchenes), born 1836, Prague,
arrived 1857, served in Sickels' Excelsior Brigade;
at Gettysburg lost a leg. Died in Soldier's Home.
(Almanac Amerikdn 1890).
Joseph Dvofdk, settled in 1859, Bohemia Village.
Dydlam, cabinet maker.
Anthony Fiala, according to N. Y. *'Sun,"
January 27, 1897, died 648 Fulton Street, Brooklyn,
59. Served in Civil War; Lieutenant Cavalry.
Father of the polar traveler of that name. Jeweler
by trade, arrived 1850 with VlCek, his uncle. Ex-
plorer Anthony Fiala was born in Jersey City Heights
in a cottage owned by F. Brodsk^. His mother was
Anna Kohout, sister of Mrs. Brodsk;^; she died when
the boy was 15 months old. After his mother's
death young Fiala was brought up by the daughter
of Franta Kohout (toy maker). Up to his eighth
year he knew no other language but Cech. (State-
ment Mrs. Brodsk;^).
Joseph Fi§er, from Turnov, baker, arrived 1849
or 1852, went to Chicago; became a grocer, then a
saloon keeper.
Matthew Fi§er, resident of Bohemia Village.
John Fir^ (Firtsch) from Strakonice, arrived
with parents, 1850. Made cigars. Brother Ferdi-
62
nard was a police officer. Member Slovanska Lipa.
Left for Traverse City, Mich.
Grellert, American, married Anna, the
widow of Joseph Cizek, n6e Erben.
Hacek, pianist.
Karel Hak, shoemaker. City Directory, 1858,
registers him from 86 Sheriff Street.
Kaspar Hedvabny was about 18-20 years old
when he settled in New York. Worked for more
than 30 years as machinist for Hoe & Co. Elected
president Slovanskd Lipa, March 14, 1861. Died
1891.
Alois (or Louis) Hlasivec, from Prague, journey-
man brewer, co-founder Cech Society, member
Slovanska Lipa, owned a saloon in Ludlow Street,
in which Cech societies used to hold meetings.
Followed Korbel to California.
Hocker, baker.
Hoffman, butcher.
Houska, farmer, Bohemia Village.
Anton Hranitzky, furrier, Greenwich Street,
City Directory, 1858.
Hubacek brothers, supposedly natives of Chot^-
bor, (spelled also Hubatchek, Hubaczek) were the
best known family in Cech New York. Andrew ar-
rived November, 1848, and was vice-president of the
Cech Society. City Directory, 1852-53 registers
Andrew H. as engraver, 86 East Broadway. In
1878, he went to San Francisco, to join his son
Joseph,^ established as jeweler in that city. Due
to unfortunate investments he lost all and died in a
poorhouse in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, 1901.
Joseph H. Hubatcheck, cap maker, lived 73 First
^Joseph Hubacek in 1874 visited Chicago and told a newspaper
reporter about a trip he undertook in 1857 to San Francisco via
Panama. The "Slavic," March 18, 1874.
63
Avenue, City Directory, 1850-51. The oldest of the
brothers (John ?) was a sexton in a Methodist
Church. Removed to Rochester, where he is said
to have introduced a prune tree, imported from
Bohemia. Descendants live in Rochester. August
H. was the owner of a widely known saloon in Fifth
Street, which Cech societies purchased, converting
it into a National Hall. No male descendants are
known to reside in New York.
Hvgzda, alias Stern, used to have a cabinet
maker's shop in East 4th Street.
Jaeger, tailor and musician of Kutnd
Hora, arrived 1852. His son, John Nepomuk J.
(baptismal name Charles) was a concert violinist,
before he entered a seminary. He rose to be Abbot
of the St. Prokop Abbey, Lisle, 111. The Rev.
Jaeger removed to Chicago in 1865. City Directory,
1849-50, mentions John Jaeger, tailor, 58 Avenue C.
Frank A. Jannicky, piano maker, lived 239 East
9th Street. City Directory, 1858-59.
Joseph JedliSka, born 1833, in Kutnd Hora.
Arrived 1852. Roomed in Eldridge Street, with
HubdCek, Cerven^ and Bleha. Boarded at Kost-
liv^'s with J. Fi§er, baker, and with Kan^k and
Kohout. In 1857 moved to Bohemia Village. Mem-
bers of his family own a plumber shop at Sayville.
Jedli^ka prepared a careful list of pioneers who
lived in New York prior to his arrival. (Almanac
Amerikdn, 1896).
Jirsa.
Thomas Jurdnek, "apostate priest," as he de-
scribed himself, arrived 1849. Worked as cigar
maker. Settled in Wisconsin, where he died (in
Cooperstown) March 5, 1890. (Jurdnek's life story
is set forth in detail in the "Cechs in America.")
64
Kaderdbek, worked on a farm in New
Jersey.
Frank Kdlal, established a residence in Chicago.
John Kafi4k, baker, Joseph JedliCka's friend.
Vdclav (William) KaSpar, native of Holice, ar-
rived November 3, 1853. Worked as laborer in
brickyard at Haverstraw, then as baker. Served in
Civil War; wounded at the battle of Port Hudson.
Removing to Chicago he became grocer, agent,
notary, and finally partner in the banking house of
Kaspar & Karel. Is president of the Kaspar State
Bank, the largest Cech controlled institution in the
country. Kaspar knew in New York shoemaker
Wild, Kacerovsky^ and Bezdek. War ended, he went
west, to Chicago.
Albert Karel, proprietor of a saloon, 426 Broome
Street, City Directory, 1858-59.
Peter Kohlbeck, German-Bohemian from Neu-
markt, in the Domazlice district, arrived 1850.
Proprietor of photograph gallery at 229 Bowery.
First Bohemian photographer; Joseph Krikava
learned the art from him.
Franta Kohout of Novd KdynS, ran away from
the Mainz Fort either in 1847 or 1848. House
painter and toy maker. Active in lodge circles.
Died in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Joseph Kohout, (Franta's younger brother),
shoemaker. One daughter married Franta Brodsky,
the other Joseph Bazant. A son, Joseph, worked
for the Mosler Safe Co.
Joseph Kolar, reckoned as an old settler of
Chicago. •
John H. Konvalinka, member of the firm Kon-
valinka & Konvalinka, furriers in Maiden Lane, was
born in Bohemia, died 208 Park Place, Brooklyn,
June, 1896, aged 75 years. (Obituary, N. Y. "Sun,"
June 5, 1896). Arrived 1849 and first worked at
his trade in Division Street. Employed Cech
furriers. The firm still exists. Descendants live
in Brooklyn and New York.
Frank Korbel, born Bechyn, 1830, died Prague,
1919. As an undergraduate of the Technical School
in Prague, took part in political activities. Crossed
the frontier disguised as a woman. Came to New
York, 1849. Learned to make cigars; one of the
promoters of the cigar trade in N. Y. About 1862
went to San Francisco. There he manufactured
cigar boxes, acquired large redwood timber interests
in Humboldt County, vineyards in Sonoma. Pub-
lished the San Francisco "Wasp." Had the reputa-
tion of being the richest Cech in country. For a
time served as Austro-Hungarian Consul. Retiring
from business, he removed to Prague, where he died
in 1919. Died childless and relatives are contesting
(at the time of writing) his will. The other New York
Korbels are said not to be related.
Ernest Korbel, blacksmith, 17 Rivington Street,
City Directory, 1852-53.
Henry Korbel, tailor, 98 Pitt Street, City Direc-
tory, 1852-53.
Thomas Korbel, cabinet maker, 265 E. 3rd
Street, City Directory, 1852-53.
Kosek, musician, arrived 1848. Boarded
at one time with the Cerveny family.
Kotr^, native of Pelhrimov, performer on
the zither. Arrived before F. Brodsk^.
John Koula, born 1827, Mnichovice, near Prague.
Co-founder in 1854, with his cousin John, Joseph
Cviger, John Vdvra, John Kratochvil, Mat. Kumbd-
66
lek and Frank Vanek of Bohemia.^ Cabinet maker
and musician. After three years removed to Boston,
being the first Cech immigrant in that city. (Al-
manac Amerikdn, 1903).
John Koula, stave maker, from Prestice, cousin
of the founder of Bohemia Village. Went west with
Hubacek. Arrived 1854.
Kovanda, Bohemia Village.
Anton Krasny, Catholic priest, was incarcerated
in a military prison from 1849 to 1857. Arrived in
New York the year he received his pardon (1857).
Removed to Cleveland. In New York Krasny
performed the marriage ceremony of his friend and
fellow-prisoner from Prague, F. R. Mracek.
John Kratochvil of Ondrejov, arrived toward the
end of 1854. Co-founder of Bohemia.
Wenceslaus Krechtler, cigar store proprietor,
157 Canal Street, City Directory, 1858.
Joseph Kfikava, (relatives spell it Krikawa),
born March 25, 1821, at Ouboc, near Nova Kdyne,
student Prague Polytechnic. Participated in the
revolution of 1848. Arrived 1849. Member Cech
Society. Worked as a laborer on a farm; proprietor
ambrotypes, 57 Avenue B; learned ambrotyping in
Kohlbeck's studio; on the advice of his friend Korbel
opened a wine shop at 50 Avenue B. His place was
patronized by the best people in town, who called
the patriarchal looking proprietor "Grandfather."
Died May 19, 1888, unmarried. His younger brother
Karel, had been a renowned singer in Germany
(Helden tenor); Martin, still another brother, a
saloon and boarding house keeper.
^Bohemia in Suffolk County, New York, has a number of
namesakes: Bohemia, Tom Green, Tex.; Bohemia, Tehama, Cal.;
Bohemia, Escambia, Fla.; Bohemia, Plaquemines, Fla.; Bohemia,
Lane, Ore.; Bohemia, Pike, Pa.
67
John Kubin (Gubin), jeweler, 357 Houston
Street. Arrived November, 1848. Fellow passenger
of Andrew HubaCek.
Kuc^era, furrier, native of PreStice, employed
for some time by Lassak.
Kri§tof J. Kuchar, bookkeeper, 27 Bowery.
City Directory, 1851-52.
Kulda, shoemaker, arrived about 1852.
Rudolf Kysela, shoemaker, native of Humpolec,
arrived 1850. In 1852 went to St. Louis, opening a
saloon there. Farmed for a time, in 1866 returned
to New York. Died 1888. Zealous amateur actor;
his two daughters in their time were stars of the
amateur stage. The elder married Joseph Jan^c^ek, a
typesetter on the "Dglnicke Listy," later notary
and steamship agent, who settled in Humboldt
County, Cal. The younger (born in Buffalo), mar-
ried Mr. Weinfurth, a New York club steward.
Her second husband was Major Zdruba (of the
Austrian Army) in Pilsen. Kysela's brother, a
Justice of the Peace in Cleveland (lately deceased),
had also been a stage enthusiast.
Francis W. Lassak (Vlas^k), furrier, started at
376 Broome Street; later owned a shop at 19 John
Street. City Directory registers him as early as
1837. Did not associate with his countrymen in a
social way. Wealthiest New York Cech in his time.
John Laukota, piano maker, 5 Mercer Street,
City Directory, 1851-52.
Vdcslav LeStina, deserter from the Mainz Fort,
arrived either 1847 or 1848. One of the founders of
the Slovansk^ Lfpa.
J. Link (Linke or Linka), member of Cech
Society. According to HubdCek joined the settle-
ment in St. Louis.
Frank Livora, shoemaker.
Jan Lucek, uncle of Marie MrdCek, arrived with
the Repa family in 1853.
Max Maretzek, an impresario of note in his
day, who in 1858 introduced Adelina Patti, was born
in Brno, Moravia. Mrs. Mrd^ek met him a number
of times in Dr. Bruckman's house. The author has
had correspondence with Maretzek. Immigrated
in 1848.
Anthony Mattjescheck (MatSjSek), tailor, 66
Avenue A, City Directory, 1856.
William Mattjescheck (Matejc^ek), tailor. Avenue
A, City Directory, 1856.
Fred Mathuscheck, paino maker, 34 Third
Avenue, City Directory, 1856. The Mathushek
Piano takes its name after him.
Mecholup, plumber and tinsmith in Grand
Street. Joseph Jedli^ka of Sayville worked for him
upon his arrival. (Almanac Amerikdn, 1896).
Melichar, teacher of piano. Vdclav Pohl
mentions him as having been in New York before
him.
Franta Rostislav Mrd^ek, born 1828, in Nena-
konice, Moravia, arrived in the spring of 1854,
went to St. Louis, 1861, to edit "Ndrodnf Noviny'*
there. Died Odessa, Russia, February 3, 1896.
Attended Prague Technical School. For political
agitation sentenced to 20 years to Kufstein prison.
Served almost 5 years; amnestied, came to New
York. With J. Birta Letovsk^ traveled to Russia,
to found there a New Bohemia. The plan mis-
carried. In New York, where he learned to make
cigars, he married Marie Repa, a highly intelligent
girl. Served as volunteer in Civil War, enlisting at
St. Louis.
Marie Mrdcek, nee Repa, born 1840, in Hora2-
dovice of excellent family, believed to be still living
69
in Odessa. Married to Frank Mr^^ek in New York,
1857, by Father Krdsn^. Witnesses to marriage were
Frank Korbel and Anthony Fiala, father of the
arctic traveler. Received a widow*s pension from
the U. S. Government. Knew personally every
pioneer of note in her time.
Vojta Ndprstek, law student, arrived in De-
cember, 1848, as political refugee, remaining in New
York two years. Organizer and librarian of the
Cech Society, editor of "Flug Blatter" in Milwaukee,
sponsor of first Cech newspaper in U. S. Returned
to the old country after eight years. Founder with
his wife in Prague of the Naprstek Industrial Mu-
seum. Died in Prague, 1894.
Nejedl^, of Velvavy, watch maker, lived
in Clinton Street. Arrived 1850. Nicknamed the
Old Honest.
John Nohavec, a settler of Bohemia Village.
Mat^j Nohavec, a settler of Bohemia Village.
William Nowak, shoemaker, 94 Forsyth Street.
Fred Nowatschek, tailor, 68 Norfolk Street.
— '- — Osoba, weaver, military deserter from
Mainz, arrived 1847 or 1848. Kept a saloon at
327 E. 5th Street; at other time cigar store in Pitt
Street.
Joseph Vozdb (Woz^b, Oz^b), arrived 1853-54.
Kept White Lion Inn, 133 Essex Street.
John Pechan, tailor, first treasurer Slovanskd
Lfpa, brother-in-law, Joseph Jedlii^ka of Sayville.
John Plocek, Korbel's intimate. Member Cech
Society. Removing to Chicago, he furthered
Ndprstek's plan for Cech paper.
Vdclav Pohl, arrived 1849, first president Cech
Society. Remained in New York till 1852. Changed
occupations and residences; expert cabinet maker
from home, he was milkman, grocer, saloon keeper,
70
etc. Wherever he went took prominent part in
racial and social activities. Married a Hubdcek.
Knew Korbel from Prague. Shipped on same vessel
with Dont. Born 1817 at Plasy, died Kewaunee,
Wis., 1893.
Vojta Pohl, tailor, Vaclav's brother, manufac-
tured in Portland, Ore., patent medicines. Died
1889.
Anton Pokorny, Major Eighth, and Lieut.-Col.
Seventh N. Y. Inf. Relationship to his namesakes
not ascertained.
Anton Pokorny, cap maker, 213 Avenue B.
Gabriel Pokorn^, turner, 70 Willett Street.
Louis Pokorny, fruits, 6 Dey Street.
Michael Pokorny, shoemaker, 186 Laurens Street.
Frank P?ibramsk^, tailor from Horazdovice.
About 1854 appeared in Chicago, where he died.
John Prochazka, importer, 9 Bowery, City
Directory, 1855-56. There are several of this
name; a furrier, cigar maker, watch maker.
Emanuel Prucha, led the opposition in the
Slovanska Lipa and organized the Cecho-Slavic
Ben. Society May 4, 1863.
Joseph Rehd2ek, merchant's clerk of Roudnice,
member Slovanskd Lipa, volunteer Civil War.
Fellow passenger with Brodsky. Arrived 1851.
Married Kohlbeck's daughter.
Frank Repa. .Arrived with family in 1853. One
son died at sea. Two sons, Vaclav and Thomas,
were killed in Civil War; youngest son died at sea.
Daughter Marie married F. R. MrdCek.
John Rosa, tailor, citizen of Bohemia Village.
Sadek, of Kutna Hora, cabinet maker, co-
founder Cech Society. Manufacturer of shutters
in East 14th Street, between Avenue A and B. In
71
his shop Vodwdrka of New London learned that
trade. Lived in New York before Brodsk;^.
Mary Schadek, millinery, 494 Eighth Avenue.
City Directory, 1853-54. Marie MrdCek clerked in
her establishment.
Schlesinger, butcher from Doma2lice,
popularly known as "tdta" (father).
Franta Schwimbersk^ (Svimbersk^), cabinet
maker, arrived 1 850-5 L Two sons and daughters
immigrated shortly after.
Joseph Sedl4k (also SedldCek), organ player,
teacher of music, from Doma2lice, member Cech
Society, removed to Portland. According to one
report went back to Bohemia, dying there.
Joseph Schipek (Sipek), cabinet maker, became
prominent in St. Louis, as lodge organizer. Vod-
wdrka mentions another Sipek, Frank, "who, when
he saved sufficient money removed to Kossuth town,
Wis., buying a farm there."
F. Sklfba, member Cech Society, first member
to die.
John Smid (Smith, Schmidt) from Strakonice,
arrived 1 850-5 L His wife kept a boarding house in
Essex Street. Brodsk^, FiSer, JedliCka, boarded
there. Co-founder of Cech Society. Organized a
strike of fellow-countrymen working in Brooklyn
brickyards. Removed to Michigan (Traverse
City ?), where he is said to have done well.
Vojta Spdlen^, lived for a time in Bohemia Vil-
lage.
Joseph §tfpek, cabinet maker, mother was a
miller's widow from Kourim. Daughter Lena mar-
ried Karel J. Zdrdhal. Brother Frank was in the
same trade.
Suda, member Cech Society.
Joseph Sv^rdk, amateur actor.
72
Nikodem Tdbor, co-founder Cech Society. Fel-
low passenger with Brodsky. Arrived 1851.
Tancer, tailor.
Tolar, tailor from Horazdovice, removed in
1857 to St. Louis. His oldest daughter married one
of the Cizek brothers.
Wenzel Tvrdy (descendants spell it Twidy),
tailor or furrier of Roudnice, arrived 1847 or 1848.
City Directory, 1851-52 registers him from 91 Wil-
let Street. His son, born the same year he im-
migrated, was "the first American baby of Cech
parents.'* Descendants live in Westchester County*
Tuma (Touzimsk^ ?), jocularly called
"Cech Columbus," an allusion to his early landing,
wrote to a Prague paper he was the proprietor of a
casino in New York. Deserted from the Mainz Fort,
1847. Learned to roll cigars. Disappeared from
public notice.
Wenzel Turba, druggist, 22 Avenue C. City
Directory, 1856-57.
Tuzar, liquor dealer, non-commissioned
officer in the Austrian Army.
Joseph Urban, maker musical instruments from
Krdlove Hradec, musician, arrived 1850 ( ?). Kor-
beFs friend, went 1860 to California. Died there.
John Vdvra (Wdvra), born 1819 in Kourim dis-
trict, John Kratochvil and John Koula, from Ond?e-
jov, arrived in 1854, were co-founders of Bohemia,
L. L' (Almanac Amerikdn, 1896).
^Writing to the author from Traverse City, Mich., Mrs. Mary
Rutner, says: "I wonder if it would interest you to know that among
the immigrants who came on the same transport with John Vdvra,
John Koula and John Kratochvil, were Frank Kratochvil (cousin of
John), Joseph, Anton and John VVilhelm (see him), Anton Svoboda,
Joseph Sholda, Frank Pohoral, Kyselka, Lada, Novotny, Vdclav
Bartdk and Joseph Knizek. They with their families settled either
in Traverse City or on farms near here; their grandchildren are
doctors, school teachers, music teachers, merchants. Mrs. Mary
73
Charles Vinick^, brewer from Kladruby, born
1803, settled in N. Y. 1853. Had six children. Caro-
line (born (1840), Johanna (1842), Emanuel (1846),
John (1848), Stanislav (1853). The oldest son was a
"map maker downtown,'* singer, the moving spirit
of the Slovanskd Lipa. Frank Vinicky in his youth
a well-known Sokol, was born in New York, 1857
and married the daughter of Tiffany's foreman,
Lindauer.
Wishek (Vi§ek), musician.
Vl2ek, goldsmith, uncle of Anthony Fiala.
Arrived 1850; believed to have returned to the old
country.
Joseph F. Vodw^rka. Window shutter maker, is
living in New London, Conn. Arrived September,
1852. Born at Zdmrsky, 1832. First Lieut. Co. C,
1st Reg. Missouri Vol. R. C. (more than half were
Cechs).
Weininger, cabinet maker, arrived about
1854.
Rudolph Wenzlik, furrier, 3 Vandewater Street,
City Directory, 1854-55.
Frederick Werther, by birth a Slovak, enthusias-
tic lodge worker, first librarian and charter member
Slovanskd Lipa, Civil War veteran. At the time
he volunteered he sold his saloon to Hub^^ek; upon
returning he re-opened in Rivington Street. Having
gone west, all trace of him was lost.
John Wild and Anton Wild, members Slovanskd
Lipa.
Knizek Buck, daughter of Joseph Knizek, became a writer of no
mean ability. After her death her poems were published entitled
"Songs of the Northland," and, as far as I am aware, Mrs. Buck is
the only Cech who has a volume of poems written in English, to her
credit. Mrs. Mathilda Bartdk McManus (daughter of Vdclav
Bartdk) teaches music in a normal school. Emanuel Wilhelm
(Anton's son) is our present postmaster. Frank Kyselka, now in
Montana, is superintendent of a government Indian School."
74
Wilhelm, pro tern. secY? Slovanski Lipa,
1861. Settled in Traverse City, Mich.
John Zajicek, first secretary Slovanska Lipa,
newspaper correspondent, veteran Civil War, saloon
keeper.
John Zitek, at one time president of Slovanski
Lipa. Living in Mt. Vernon, N. Y.
Karel J. Zdrahal, saddler, leather strap maker,
arrived about 1851. Died in San Francisco.
75
THE
SLOVAKS IN AMERICA
By THOMAS CAPEK, Jr., A.M,
THE REV. LUDEVIT A. ENGLER
REV. C. L. ORBACH
CLEMENT IHRISKY
Assisting
Published by the Czechoslovak Section of America's Making, Inc.
NEW YORK, 1921
PART II
THE SLOVAKS
FOREWORD
In this part the authors shall aim to give an
account of the life of the Slovaks with particular
reference to their various contributions to America
and to diffuse a sympathetic understanding of them,
submerged as they are more or less by circumstances.
Unfortunately, the bibliography necessary for a
work of this sort is very meagre. The authors have
made use of various government publications for
their statistics and have filled in the gaps by their
knowledge and experience acquired while living
among the Slovaks. No use has been made of the
new Census of 1920. At the time of the writing
only incomplete preliminary announcements have
been published. Furthermore, the Cechs and the
Slovaks (quite rightly) are tabulated as one by the
enumerators, making a distinction difficult.
If we of Cech and Slovak blood but of American
birth or citizenship are true to the best that is in us,
we cannot fail but have a certain feeling of sympathy
and interest in the accounts of our fathers who have
come to this country hoping for betterment, and
have found it.
It is to the memory of those pioneers, in recogni-
tion of the trials they have been through, that this
story of their contribution to American life is
dedicated.
79
CHAPTER I
Historical Background and Causes of
Emigration
The Slovaks, a branch of the Slav family, num-
bering over 2,000,000 people, have a past which is
veiled with obscurity. It is supposed that they
migrated to their country at the base of the Car-
pathian Mountains toward the end of the 5th
century. In 863 they embraced Christianity —
the first of the Slavs to do so — from the hands of the
apostles Cyril and Method. What is known in
history as the Great Moravian Kingdom had its
capital in the town of Nitra nestled beneath the
Tatra Mountains, for it was Slovakia which then
formed the nucleus of this powerful kingdom. Two
centuries later, when Moravia passed under Magyar
rule and merged into the Hungarian Crown, the
political existence of the Slovaks disappeared.
From that time on they struggle to preserve their
national consciousness, while on the other hand,
the Hungarian Government attempted to Magyarize
its various races. In the fall of the House of Haps-
burg the Slovaks and their blood-brothers, the
Cechs, consummate their triumph.
So nearly related are the Slovaks to the Cechs
that they may be said to be one people. Geographi-
cally, they are contiguous; the history of their
oppression is similar. There may be difference of
opinion on the closeness ot their respective languages.
Here, as often is the case, arguments have been
influenced by religious and political considerations.
It cannot be denied, however, that they both under-
stand and read the other's language with equal
facility. The Slovak tongue itself may be divided
into three dialects. Safarik, the authority on Slavic
antiquities distinguishes pure Slovak, from that
tinged with Polish or Moravian expressions. Dur-'
ing the past half century, there has been a movement
to develop Slovak as a distinct language and liter-
ature.
The Slovaks are found in what was formerly
known as the Hungarian uplands, south of the
Carpathians. It is a mountainous country, little
exploited, and offering boundless possibilities as to
natural resources. For their livelihood, the peasants
depend mainly on farming and herding, out of which,
as a rule, they seldom eke out more than a mere
existence. For a long time the little town of Tur-
ciansky Sv. Martin was the cultural center of the
national movement. It was there that the leading
journal was published and literature and art col-
lected in a National Museum. Independence
achieved, the interest of the Slovaks is now centered
in the commercial town of Bratislava (Pressburg)
with its population of 70,000 advantageously situated
on the north bank of the Danube some 34 miles
southeast of Vienna.
What brought the Slovak to America ?
Hungary has always been a country of large
landed estates. The peasant very often too poor to
possess a farm of his own, had to work that of his
Magyar overlord. The rewards of a farm laborer
were meagre, the idle winters long, and opportunities
for betterment small. America became his hope;
here he could better his material condition, found a
home, and earn a decent living for his family.
Although the majority of the emigrants left their
81
country on account of adverse economic reasons,
there is still another cause to be considered. The
dominant race, the Magyars, have always exercised
a narrow and belligerent race pride. This took active
form in Magyarization. Our Slovak had a more or
less conscious sense of feeling that he was being
regarded as an inferior, and this made even his own
country unattractive to him. In America he would
be welcomed as one coming to strengthen and build
up.
82
CHAPTER II
Statistical
The year 1873 gives us the first record of any-
considerable number (1,300) of Slovaks coming to
America. The peak of their immigration was in
1905, when 52,368 were admitted. By 1914, it fell
off to 25,819. The war, of course, caused an in-
terruption until it was again revived in 1920, when
3,824 came to our shores. During the period of
12 years, 1899-1910, immigration records show that
377,527 were admitted. One must be on guard in
comparing these figures with those of the Census of
1910. The discrepancy arises out of the fact that
the immigrants were migratory. In the Eastern
States, their destination, they entered our basic
industries:
Pennsylvania 195,632
New York 48,310
New Jersey 35,725
Ohio 30,785
Illinois 26,351
Generally, the men left their villages first and
when they had acquired enough money in America,
they returned for their families. The majority of
them gave their occupation as "laborers.'* They
did the heavy work fundamental to our industrial
life. They faced unflinchingly the hot blasts of the
coke furnace and the dark depths of the mines.
The census of 1910 has ascertained 284,444
Slovaks and their American born children in this
country. Of this total, 166,474 were foreign born,
83
and 117,970 of foreign or mixed parentage. Private
estimates have put the figures higher than the
official count. The Census authorities themselves
admit that "enumerators acted contrary to in-
structions in tabulating the groups described as
'Slav/ 'Slavic/ and 'Slavonian.' Among them
there are no doubt many who should have been
reported as Slovak or Slovenian." The states having
the greatest number in 1910 were:
Pennsylvania 141,657
Ohio 33,102
New Jersey 23,505
New York 22,847
Illinois 20,915
Connecticut 10,146
Unlike many of our foreign groups, they have
not concentrated in the large cities as may be seen
from the following table taken from the Census of
1910:
Chicago 13,093
Cleveland 12,977
New York 10,504
Bridgeport 6,188
Pittsburgh 5,096
One rather expects to find them living near the
place of their occupation, in the towns of the coal
regions of Pennsylvania, and along the Monongahela
River, where the steel mills are located.
84
CHAPTER III
Occupation
Every nationality in this country shows prefer-
ence for certain occupations which for that reason
are looked upon as the distinctive callings of certain
racial groups. In New York City, the Italians are
barbers, fruit peddlers and cobblers, the Cechs
make cigars and pearl buttons, the Jews go in the
needle trade, the Greeks are florists, the Danes in
the Middle West engage in dairying and agriculture.
What, if any, is the distinctive occupation of the
Slovaks ^ Large bodies of them work in the coal
mines (anthracite and bituminous), in the iron and
steel mills and in various manufacturing industries,
mainly in Pennsylvania, in the oil refineries of New
Jersey (Elizabethport, Bayonne, Perth Amboy), in
the shoe factories and tanneries and textile mills of
Massachusetts. No metallurgical industry in Cleve-
land, Pittsburgh, Bridgeport and Gary, is without
its quota of Slovak labor, skilled and unskilled. Of
the workers in the iron and steel industry investigated
by the U. S. Immigration Commission in 1909,
some 10% were Slovaks.
The trade the Slovaks favor most, with which
they are thoroughly familiar from home and in which
they have achieved the best results both as workmen
and employers, is wire and tin manufacture. From
this to tinsmithing and plumbing is the next step.
In New York they operate about thirty shops where
they turn out wire and tin household utensils, guards
for windows, office partitions, chandeliers, etc.
85
Before 1880, English-speaking people made up
the bulk of the workers in the Pennsylvania coal
mines. But with startling suddenness came the
Slav invasion of the coal fields and the consequent
withdrawal of the Irish and English miners. The
Slovaks formed a considerable percentage of these
newcomers; hardship is not new to them, and it will
be conceded that they aided generously in the un-
precedented development of various industries which
took place during the following two decades.
In their motherland they were farmers, in their
adopted land they entered the mills or the mines.
What is the cause of this change of occupation ?
Perhaps the most important reason is that they came
comparatively, poor and could not buy land for farm-
ing. Their first object was to make enough money
to enable them to bring their families to America.
Before a farm will yield a good return takes several
seasons. Rather the work in the mills with fairly
good wages assured. We must remember that the
immigration is one of recent date, and by the time
the bulk had settled here and saved a little capital,
land prices had increased so as to make purchase
prohibitive. There are consequently no large settle-
ments of farmers such as we find among the Cechs,
but this does not mean that Slovaks do not engage
in agriculture. The Middle West is the home of
many prosperous land tillers of Slovak birth or
descent. Of the Eastern States, Connecticut. Two
interesting agricultural communities were estab-
lished by them. The first is at Slovaktown, Arkansas.
A Pittsburgh colonization company influenced a
number of families to leave the mining districts of
Pennsylvania for the healthier work of farming —
and a fair success has been made of the community.
More important is the colony located near Peters-
86
burg, Virginia. This began under similar circum-
stances to that of Slovaktown. Other Slavs have
come into the district but the Slovak predominates.
The principal products raised by the latter com-
munity are peanuts and tobacco.
Notwithstanding the fact that they have had
too many bitter and costly experiences in the past
with private bankers and business promoters and
speculators, the Slovaks are highly enterprising.
Believing in co-operative effort, their nationals
have established factories (a plant or two for the
manufacture of rubber goods being among them),
and some of these are said to be doing well.
Several banks in Slovakia were able lately to re-
finance themselves through capital stock subscribed
by American Slovaks. American capital it was
(Michael Bosak, of Scranton, Pa., and associates),
that laid solid foundations to the American Slovak
Bank at Bratislava (Pressburg), one of the biggest
financial institutions in Slovakia.
87
CHAPTER IV
Fraternal Organizations and Churches
Their social life is much the same as that of the
Cechs. They have their Sokol, singing and amateur
theatrical societies. The membership in fraternal
organizations which pay sick and death benefits,
200,000, is astonishingly large. But one should bear
in mind that the work in the mines and the mills is
hazardous, the toll of death and bodily injury in
them, heavy. And these benevolent societies take
the place of life insurance companies. The death
benefits they pay — $500, or $1,000 — is often the sole
reliance and support of the wife or the children of
the insured.
The First Catholic Slovak Union
(I. Katolick^SlovenskdJednota). 49,680 members
The National Slovak Society (Nd-
rodny Slovensky Spolok) 39,118 members
The Catholic Slovak Women Union
(Katolickd Slovenskd lenskk
Jednota) 28,264 members
The Gymnastic Slovak Union Sokol
(TSlocviCnd Slovensky Jednota
Sokol) 14,381 members
The Roman and Greek Catholic
Gymnastic Slovak Union Sokol
(Rimsko a Grecko Katolickd
Slovenskd Jednota Sokol) 19,450 members
The Slovak Evangelical Union
(Evangelickd Slovenskd Jednota) 7,821 members
The Slovak Evangelical Women
Union (SlovenskA Evangelickd
itnskk Jednota) 3,328 members
The 2ivena (The National Slovak
Women Union) 8,300 members
The Pennsylvania Roman and Greek
Catholic Slovak Union (Penn-
sylvansk4 Rimsko a Grecko Ka-
tolicki Slovenskd Jednota) 21,612 members
The Pennsylvania Roman and Greek
Catholic Slovak Women Union
(Pennsylvanskd Rimsko a Grecko
Katolicka 2enskd Jednota) 12,771 members
The Independent National Slovak
Society (Neodvisly Narodny Slo-
vensky Spolok) 1,186 members
The First Slovak Wreath of the Free
Eagle in the U. S. of A. (I. Slo-
vensk^ Venec Slobodn^ho Orla
V S. S. A.) 6,330 members
Total membership 212,241.
The National Slovak Society of the U. S. of A.,
is the most influential, though not the strongest of
the fraternal bodies. Organized in 1890, it has
39,118 members in 562 assemblies. Its past
record is very honorable. Besides giving many
volunteers to the Army, it invested a substantial
sum in Liberty Bonds ($460,000), and furthered war
activities. Its contribution to the Czechoslovak
movement for independence was no less generous.
The Gymnastic Slovak Union Sokol dates to
1894. The membership is 14,381. The Sokols are
a potent factor for the uplift of the immigrant, in-
asmuch as they aim to make a better citizen of him
not only physically, but also culturally. The best
equipped Sokol halls are at Bridgeport, Conn., New
89
Kensington, Homestead and Ford City, all in Penn-
sylvania. Besides gymnastics, much attention is
given to choral singing and to dramatics. Most of the
Slovak fighting men in American and Czechoslovak
Armies were recruited from the Sokol organizations.
Established in 1911, by the Rev. Stephen Furdek
the First Catholic Slovak Union is numerically the
strongest organization. It publishes a paper ("Jed-
nota"), of which 33,000 copies are printed. The
orphan asylum at Middletown, Pa., is one of the
institutions founded and supported by it.
The Slovak Evangelical Union was established
1893. It has 7,821 members in 199 assemblies dis-
tributed, according to States, as follows: Pennsyl-
vania, 97; Ohio, 31; Illinois, 11; New York, 14; New
Jersey, 8; Connecticut, 5; Michigan, 5; Indiana, 5;
Missouri, 4; Montana, 3; Minnesota, 3; Wisconsin,
3; Iowa, 3; West Virginia, 2; Washington, 2; Massa-
chusetts, 1; California, 1; Canada, 1. The Young
Folks* Slovak Evangelical Union has 3,309 members.
The Slovak Evangelical Women's Union has
3,328 members in 76 assemblies.
The Roman Catholics have 176 churches. Dis-
tribution according to states is as follows: Penn-
sylvania, 103; Ohio, 16; New Jersey, 11; Illinois,
10; New York, 9; Wisconsin, 5; Connecticut, 4;
Indiana, 4; and 2 each in Minnesota, Montana,
Missouri and Massachusetts, 1 each in Maine,
Michigan, Kansas, West Virginia, Colorado and
Alabama.
The Protestants of the Augsburg Confession
have 16 in Pennsylvania; Ohio, 11; Illinois, 8; Con-
necticut, 8; New York, 7; Wisconsin, 7; New Jersey,
3; Missouri, 3; Virginia, 3; Iowa, 2; Indiana, 2; Min-
nesota, 2; and Texas, Michigan and Massachusetts
1 in each. Other Protestant churches number 30.
90
CHAPTER V
The Press
That culturally the American Slovak stands on a
higher plane than his brother at home is, we believe,
generally admitted. American environment, better
economic conditions, are mainly responsible for
bringing about this happy result. As an educator,
the newspaper has aided greatly.
Dailies
New Yorsky Dennik (The New York Daily),
New York.
Dennik Slovaka v Amerike (The Slovak in
America Daily), New York.
Denny Hlas (The Daily Voice), Cleveland.
Ndrodny Dennik (The National Daily), Pitts-
burgh.
Weeklies and Fraternal Organs
Narodne Noviny (The National Slovak News),
Pittsburgh.
Slovenska Mlade2 (The Slovak Youth), Pitts-
burgh.
Nove Slovensko (The New Slovakia), Pittsburgh.
Slovensky Hlasnik (The Slovak Herald), Pitts-
burgh.
Obrana (The Defense), Scranton.
Youngstownske Slovenske Noviny (The Youngs-
town Slovak News), Youngs town.
Jednota (The Union), Middletown, Pa.
2enska Jednota (The Women's Union), Middle-
to v\n, Pa.
91
Bratstvo (The Brotherhood), Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Slovensk^ Sokol (The Slovak Sokol), Perth
Amboy, N. J.
Katolick^ Sokol (The Catholic Sokol), Passaic,
Nov6 Casy (The New Times), Chicago.
Studentsk6 Listy (The Students' Gazette), Lisle,
111.
Amerik^nsko Slovensk^ Noviny (The American
Slovak News), Pittsburgh.
Slovensk^ Pokrok (The Slovak Progress), New
York.
Priatel Dietek (The Young Folks' Friend), Pas-
saic, N. J.
Telegram, Bridgeport, Conn.
Rovnost Ludu (The Equality of the People),
Chicago.
92
CHAPTER VI
The Banks
Nine years ago the first bank was established.
Today the Slovaks control nine strong and prosper-
ous money institutions, seven of which do business in
Pennsylvania. Foremost among Slovak bankers is
Michael Bos4k of Scranton, who is a heavy stock-
holder in several of them.
Surplus and
Or- Paid up Undivided
ganized Capital Profits Deposits
Bosak State Bank, Scranton,
Pa 1915 $200,000 $332,183 $4,416,517
Slavonic Deposit Bank,
Wilkes-Barre, Pa 1912 100,000 143,640 2,202,482
Slovak State Bank, Union-
town, Pa 1918 100,000 35,877 600,723
American Bank and Trust
Co., Hazelton, Pa 200,000 139,053 2,500,000
The American State Bank,
Pittsburgh, Pa 1921 200,000 52,147 342,000
The First National Bank,
Olyphant, Pa 250,000 246,090 1,700,000
Reading Liberty Bank, Read-
ing, Pa 1919 100,000 20,317 839,291
Papanek-Kovac Bank,
Chicago, 111 1920
American Trust and Savings
Bank, Whiting, Ind 1920 50,000 4,000 150,000
93
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