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'Czech Americans' refer to citizens of the United States who were born in, or who descended from, the territory of the historic Czech lands, constituting the Kingdom of Bohemia (consisting of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia), or succession states, now known as the Czech Republic. In the 19th century, they were frequently called Bohemians. According to the 2000 US census, there are 1,262,527 Americans of full or partial Czech descent, in addition to 441,403 persons listing their ancestry as Czechoslovakian.

Contents

History

Population

Festivals

Cultural Organizations

Institutions, Museums, Halls

News & Media

Notable Czech Americans

References

External links

History

The first visitors from Bohemia (now Czech Lands) in the New World were an anonymous group of miners from Joachimsthal, (now Jáchymov), Bohemia who, prior to 1528, were sent to Little Naples (present Venezuela) to establish the silver mines in that country, while in the employ of the banking house of the Walser family. The first documented case of the entry of a Bohemian on the North American shores is that of Joachim Gans of Prague, who came to Roanoke, North Carolina in 1585 with an expedition of explorers, organized by Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 -1618) and commanded by Raleigh's cousin Sir Richard Grenville (1542 -1591). It is noteworthy that this expedition originated from Plymouth, England, thirty years before the Pilgrims set sails from the same port on their historic voyage to America.
Who was the first Bohemian permanent settler in America we cannot say with certainty. It is certain, however, that among the first settlers was Augustine Herman (1621-1686) from Prague. He was a surveyor and skilled draftsman, successful planter and developer of new lands, a shrewd and enterprising merchant, a bold politician and effective diplomat, fluent in several languages - clearly one of the most conspicuous and colorful personalities of the seventeenth century colonial America. After coming to New Amsterdam (present New York) he became one of the most influential people in the Dutch Province which led to his appointment to the Council of Nine to advise the New Amsterdam Governor Peter Stuyvesant. One of his greatest achievements was his celebrated map of Maryland and Virginia commissioned by Lord Baltimore on which he began working in earnest after removing to the English Province of Maryland. Lord Baltimore - Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore - was so pleased with the map that he rewarded Herman with a large estate, named by Herman "Bohemia Manor", and the hereditary title Lord.
There was another Bohemian living in New Amsterdam at that time, Frederick Philipse (1626 -1720), who became equally famous in his own right. He was a successful merchant who, eventually, became the wealthiest person in the entire Dutch Province. Philipse was originally from Bohemia, from an aristocratic Protestant family who had to leave their native land to save their lives, after the Thirty Years' War.
During the Counter-Reformation period, while the Czech Protestants in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia were undergoing their greatest persecution, the Czech Jesuits took the initiative of launching their extraordinary ambitious missionary world-wide effort among Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, and Ethiopians. The Bohemian Province of the Society of Jesus sent several hundreds of its members overseas, among whom 36 went to Mexico, 3 to Lower California (now a part of Mexico), 3 to New Granada (present Venezuela), 17 to Ecuador, 17 to Peru, 26 to Paraguay, 12 to Chile, etc. Half were clergymen and half were lay brethren, trained in some trade or craft. Bohemian Jesuits made a great impact in Latin America, economically, as well as culturally. While pursuing their missionary and cultural work, they had to live under incredible hardships, stress and inhumane conditions, in impenetrable jungles, under the most severe climatic conditions, often exposed to incurable diseases, not to mention frequent hunger and constant dangers by wild Indian tribes.
The first significant wave of Czech colonists to come to America was that of the Moravian Brethren who began arriving on the American shores in the first half of the 18th century. Moravian Brethren were the followers of the teachings of the Czech religious reformer and martyr Jan Hus (1370 -1415) and Bishop John Amos Comenius (1592-1670). They were true heirs of the ancient "Unitas fratrum" - Unity of the Brethren bohemicorum, who found a temporary refuge in Herrnhut ("Ochranov," in Czech language) in Lusatia under the patronage of Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf (1700 -1760). Because of the worsening political and religious situation in Saxony, the Moravian Brethren, as they began calling themselves, decided to emigrate to North America.
They started coming in 1735, when they first settled in Savannah, Georgia, and then in Pennsylvania, from which they spread to other states after the American Revolution, especially Ohio. They established a number of Moravian settlements, such as Bethlehem and Lititz in Pennsylvania and Salem in North Carolina. Moravians made great contributions to the growth and development of the US. Cultural contributions of Moravian Brethren from the Czechlands were distinctly notable in the realm of music. The trumpets and horns used by the Moravians in Georgia are the first evidence of Moravian instrumental music in America.
In 1776, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, more than two thousand Moravian Brethren lived in the colonies. The Moravian Brethren established a close relationship with President Thomas Jefferson, who designated special lands to the missionaries to civilize the Indians and promote Christianity.
The free uncultivated land in America encouraged immigration throughout the eighteenth century; most of the immigrants were farmers and settled in the Midwestern states. During the American Civil War, Czechs served in both the Confederate and Union army, but the majority fought for the Union. Immigration resumed and reached a peak in 1907, when 13,554 Czechs entered the eastern ports. Unlike previous immigration, new immigrants were predominantly Catholic. By 1910, the Czech population was 349,000, and by 1940 it was 1,764,000. The U.S. Bureau of the Census reported that nearly 800,000 Czechs were residing in the U.S. in 1970. Since this figure did not include Czechs who had been living in the U.S. for several generations, it is fair to assume that the actual number was much higher.

Population

The states with the largest Czech American populations are:

Texas	155,855
Illinois	123,708
Wisconsin	97,220
Minnesota	85,056
Nebraska	83,462
California	77,673
Ohio	61,640
Iowa	51,508
New York	44,942
Florida	42,890

The states with the top percentages of Czech Americans are:

Nebraska	4.9%
South Dakota	2.1%
North Dakota	2.0%
Wisconsin	1.8%
Iowa	1.8%
Minnesota	1.7%

Festivals

★ Baltimore, MD

★ Caldwell, TX

★ Clarkson, NE

★ Deming, NM

★ Elba, NE

★ Ennis, TX

★ Flatonia, TX

★ Hallettsville, TX

★ Hastings, NE

★ Hillsboro, WI

★ Lincoln, NE

★ Montgomery, MN

★ Phillips, WI

★ Protivin, IA

★ St. Louis, MO

★ Silver Lake, MN

★ Tabor, SD

★ Verdigre, NE

★ Victoria, TX

★ West, TX

★ Wilber, NE

★ Wilson, KS

★ Wilson Lake, KS

★ Yukon, OK

Cultural Organizations

★ American Czech-Slovak Cultural Club, North Miami, FL

★ American Sokol Organization, Brookfield, IL

★ Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society of Astoria, NY

★ Council of Higher Education, Chicago, IL

★ CSA Fraternal Life, Oak Brook, IL

★ Czech and Slovak Association, Boston, MA

★ Czech & Slovak Club of Greater Kansas City, MO

★ Czech & Slovak Heritage Association of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

★ Czech Heritage Preservation Society, Tabor, SD

★ Czech Heritage Society of Texas

★ Czech-Slovak American Club of Tucson, AZ

★ Czech Society of Oregon, Portland, OR

★ Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), Washington, DC

★ Friends of Via, Pittsburgh, PA

★ Louisiana Czech Heritage Association, Libuse, LA

★ Komensky Club, Lincoln, NE

★ Moravian Heritage Society, Tomball, TX

★ Nebraska Czechs, Lincoln, NE

★ Oklahoma Czechs, OK

★ SPJST, Temple, TX

★ United Moravian Societies, Chicago, IL

★ Western Fraternal Life Association (WFLA), Cedar Rapids, IA

Institutions, Museums, Halls

★ American Czech Educational Center, St. Louis, MO

★ American Czech-Slovak Cultural Club - North Miami, FL - Clubhouse

★ Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden, Astoria, NY

★ Bohemian National Hall, New York, NY

★ Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota, St., Paul, MN

★ Czech Center New York, NY

★ Czech Cultural Center of Greater Cleveland, OH

★ Czech Cultural Center Houston, TX

★ Czech Heritage & Cultural Center, La Grange, TX

★ Burleson Co. Czech Heritage Museum, Caldwell, TX

★ Czech-Slovak Culture & Business Center of Florida, Tarpon Springs, FL

★ CSA - Czechoslovak Heritage Museum, Oak Brook, IL

★ Louisiana Czech Museum. Libuse, LA

★ National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, IA

★ Prague Historical Museum, Prague, OK

★ SPJST Museum, Temple, TX

★ Yukon Czech Hall, Yukon, SD

News & Media

★ Kosmas - Czechoslovak and Central European Journal

★ SVU News

★ Czech-American Newspapers, Newsletters and other Serials

★ Czech-American TV

★ Czech-American Radio Stations

★ A Czech-American Blog

Notable Czech Americans

★ Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State

★ Richard Bassett, signer of the US constitution

★ George Blanda, one of the most successful football players

★ Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch, founders of H&R Block Co.

★ Louis D. Brandeis, Justice of the US Supreme Court

★ Thomas Cech, Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry

★ Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago

★ Eugene Cernan, Astronaut

★ Carl Cori, Nobel Prize laureate

★ Francis Dvornik, historian of Byzantine and Slavic history

★ Rudolf Firkusny, pianist of note

★ Abraham Flexner, reformer of American medical education

★ Simon Flexner, founder and first director of the Rockefeller Institute (now University)

★ Milos Forman, film director

★ Rudolf Friml, composer of operettas

★ George S. Halas, “Papa Bear”, player-coach of the Chicago Bears

★ John Havlicek, basketball player

★ John Heckewelder, Moravian missionary

★ Augustine Herman, creator of first accurate map of MD & VA

★ Ales Hrdlicka, founder of American physical anthropology

★ Karel Husa, Pullitzer Prize-winning composer

★ Jaromir Jagr, NHL star, currently Captain of the NY Rangers, won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penquins in the early 1990s.

★ Karl Jansky, discoverer of radio astronomy

★ Angelina Jolie, Oscar winning movie star,

★ Otto Kerner, Jr., Governor of Illinois

★ John Kerry, US Senator

★ Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Hollywood composer

★ Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald empire

★ Ivan Lendl, tennis player

★ Stanley Frank Musial, baseball player of international fame

★ Martina Navratilova, tennis player

★ John Neumann, first American male Saint

★ Jarmila Novotná, opera singer

★ Frederick Philipse, wealthiest person in New Amsterdam

★ Albin Polasek, sculptor

★ Edmund Jennings Randolph, Governor of VA, first Attorney-General of US, US Secretary of State

★ Mila Rechcigl, one of the founders and long-time President of SVU

★ Arnold Schoenberg, composer

★ Joseph Alois Schumpeter, economist of note at Harvard University

★ Rudolf Serkin, eminent pianist

★ Josef Skvorecky, writer

★ Sissy Spacek, movie star

★ George Szell, prominent conductor and composer of Cleveland Orchestra

★ Helen Taussig, medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University who alerted physicians of the dangers of thalidomide

★ Karl Wallenda, founder of the Flying Wallenda, with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

★ Casper Weinberger, Secretary of HEW, Secretary of Defense

★ Jaromír Weinberger, composer

★ Rene Wellek, founder of literary criticism and comparative literature

★ Franz Werfel, writer

★ Isaac Mayer Wise, Rabbi and founder of American reformed Judaism

★ David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary

References

★ Capek, Thomas, The Czechs (Bohemians) in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920. 293 p. Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1969.

★ Habenicht, Jan, History of Czechs in America. St. Paul, MN: Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 1996. 581 p.

★ Rechcigl Miloslav, Jr., Czechs and Slovaks in America. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs and New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 317 p.

★ The Czech Texans, The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures

External links

★ The Bohemians of the United States- Catholic Encyclopedia article

★ Notable Americans with Czech Roots

★ Bohemian and Moravian Pioneers in Colonial America

★ Augustine Herman Bohemiensis

★ Early Jewish Emigrants in America from the Czechlands

★ Gateway to America

★ Czech Americans in Sports

★ Czech Societies in the US

★ Czechs and Slovaks Worldwide and their Culture

★ Writings on Czech Americans

★ Czech American Biography

★ Kosmas - Czechoslovak and Central European Journal

★ Euroamericans.net: Czechs in America