World's Fair Memorial of the Czechoslovak
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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Gift of Samuel Kruty 32.5-2^7 cop-3 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/worldsfairmemoriOOczec World's Fair Memorial of the Czechoslovak Group Památník eskoslovenského Výboru Svtové Výstavy v Chicagu 1 933 Památník eskoslovenského Výboru Svtovj Výstavy v Chicagu 1933 — 2 — Worls Fair MEMORIAL of the CZECHOSLOVAK GROUP (Czechs and Slooa^s) INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION CHICAGO, 1933 Incorporated CHICAGO, 1933 — 3 Copyright, 1933, by Czechoslovak Group. Published by Czechoslovak Group (Czechs and Slovaks) International Exposition, Chicago, 1933, Incorporated. (eskoslovenský Výbor) Printed by the National Printing & Publishing Company Chicago. 111. Osnovu Památníku vypracoval Tiskový \ ýbor Redakci poídil Dr. Jar. E. S. Vojan a (slovenskou ást) Michal Lauík Umlecká obálka od estmíra J. Svobody. 4 — — - ,- '37 Thomas Garrigue Masaryk President of the Czechoslovak Republic 5 — A GREAT nation has paused for a while to take stock of r^/^l its achievements. At "A Century of Progress," Chicago's second World's Fair, all America is looking into its im- mediate past, and is evaluating the fundamentals of its makeup in the onward way towards progress. In a steady stream three generations of Czechs and Slovaks have been adding their drops of blood to this growing body, the American nation, taking root in the soil of the new country of their choice. Adventurous and active, they have made rich and vivid the history of America's pioneering days in the agricultural West, and have contributed lasting pages to the annals of the development of America's mills, mines, railroads and business establishments. They have built settlements and cities, and have shaped the destinies of great sections of the country. Today their history is retold and written. Listen ^PUSTILI jsme svou starou eskou vlast bez zášti, bez roz- & trpení. Šli jsme za slibem nového života, ale v srdci svém nesli jsme si milou vzpomínku na svou domovinu a lásku pro všecko, co vzešlo z jejího lna. Odnášeli jsme si s sebou jeden zvlášt drahý poklad a velikou útchu, - - svj rodný jazyk. Pijali jsme záštitu své nové americké vlasti a zasvtili jsme jí všecko, ím nás vybavila naše eská povaha a náš eský pvod, - obtovali jsme jí sebe i bytí svých budoucích pokolení. Tak vrstá eská vtev americká do mohutného kmene nov se tvo- ícího národa, a pímsek eské krve pomáhá urovali hodnotu tohoto lidu. Znamená to snad tragedii zániku? Nikoliv! Ta barva eské krve se již vymazali nedá a proto, co jsme dali Americe eského, to zde zstane a stane se pojítkem mezi es- kým národem ve staré vlasti a národem našich píštích ame- rických generací. Svým dlem, svým vnukm zde necháváme vzkazy, o sob i svém eském pvodu, vzkazy, z nichž budou erpati úctu a zalí- beni i pro jazyk, který jsme jim nemohli trvale zachovati. 7 — C~\ f^ADlŠLA veVavýznamná i túžobne oakávaná doba Sve- r/\[ r) tovej výstavy Storoia pokroku. Civilizované národy ^-^ zem sústrednily tu pod záštitou amerického orla jed- notlivé veleiastky svojej kultúrnej a industriálnej vysplosti, ktorú vidie a obdivovat' prichádza celý svt. Nádherné nádvorie nášho velmesta Chicaga, obleené do sviatoného rúcha, vita miliony návštevníkov na pobeží jazera Michigan. V celom pre- divnom pokroku Spojených Štátov Severnej Ameriky brali Slo- váci zdárný podicl. Zanechajúc milá otinu tam za morom, našli tu v Amerike svoj druhý domov a svojou píkladnou usilov- nosou v dielach, v baniach, na železniciach a v spoloenskom obcianskom živote vydobili si v našom drahom americkom národe nehynúce zásluhy. Práca amerických Slovákov bola i je zváša drobná, mraveníci, ktorá svojím tichým ale stálým napredova- ním kladie, buduje a upevuje ten silný základ solidarity, ktorý iní Spojené Státy najprednejšou a najlepšou krajinou zemegule. Poda o tomto pokroku amerických Slovákov iastoný obraz, je cieVom tohoto Památníku, na skvly obsah ktorého dovolujeme si týmto upozornit' laskavého itatel. Súasne kojíme sa náde- jou, že tento obraz ulkvic itatelovi v památi a dopomže mu, aby pomáhal širi eská a slovenská kulturu v Amerike do nedo- hliadnej budúcnosti ESKOSLOVENSKY VÝBOR. Anton J. ermák Mayor of Chicago 1931-1933 9 — Anton 3(. (íprtttak By R. A. GINSBURG » TODAY, when Time has begun to heal the wounds of remorse, and rational judgment replaces sentiment and emotions, we can begin to evaluate the personality of Anton J. Cermak, the first Slav mayor of the City of Chicago. As a foreign flower trans- planted upon the fertile soil of American opportunities he applied his natural talents, his perseverance and tenacity, his capacity for leadership, and above all his ability to make and to keep friends, and through these personal attributes he rose to the heights from which he was removed by the capricious whim of Fate. But the rise of Anton J. Cermak is more than the story of personal success, for it carries with it the rise in importance of the group from which he descended and to which he remained faithful to the very end. Prior to his rise in political power, the Czechoslovaks of Chicago played a very backward role in the City politics and—with few exceptions—held only minor offices in the city administration. But with a truly prophetic vision Anton J. Cermak realized the growing strength of the "foreign" vote, and brought this important clement to the attention of the political leaders. Anton J. Cermak never forgot his humble beginnings and re- mained firmly rooted in the nationalistic group from which he arose. Whether this adherence to his Slav origin was guided by a lofty ideal of national tradition, or whether it was only a well chosen political expedient, is a subject of future speculation, but the fact remains that, as he grew in power the entire group followed him, as if attracted by a magnet that slowly raised the political con- sciousness of the group. It must be admitted that the Czechoslo- vaks of Chicago produced other great men before and contempo- raneously with Anton J. Cermak, but for some reason or other the influence of these men upon the lives of the people was limited, their appeal was too local, while the personality of Anton J. Cer- mak, magnified and glorified by his spectacular rise in power, permeated the very lives and thoughts of the Czechs and Slovaks of Chicago. That the influence of Anton J. Cermak was of more than local or accidental importance may best be realized from the enthusiasm which greeted him in the summer of 1932 during his tour of Eur- ope. Wherever he went, extending a personal, hearty invitation to eagerly listening Europeans to come to Chicago's Century of Prog- — 11 — ress, he was received with promises of co-operation. Anton J. Cermak with a thoroughness and vibrant energy so typical of his life, wanted so much to make good as the World's Fair Mayor, he wanted so much through his personal efforts to remove the stigma of slurs that clung injuriously to the name of Chicago. He worked for the re-estahlishment of the city's tottering credit, he worked for the repression of lawlessness, he worked to make the city a safe and a pleasant place to visit and to live in. With inspired vision he looked forward to the opening day of the Century of Progress Exposition, beaming, no doubt with justifi- able pride at the thought of the son of a foreign miner, who had risen to the enviable position of Chicago's World Fair Mayor. He planned and he dreamed, he toiled and he hoped, and when the goal was almost within reach, when the plaudits of the world were to be his reward, he fell, a warrior upon the battlefield of life, and his tragic fall resounded around the world, a mournful echo that tolled the passing of a martyr. A RECENT TRIBUTE. Hon. Edward J. Kelly, Mayor of Chicago, in his inaugural statement, April ij, 1933 " Under any circumstances your selection would be a great honor, but it is much more so now that it means filling the place of one of the greatest mayors this city has ever had, whose memory will live in the hearts and minds of the people of this city and of this nation as long as memory itself will last, and by whose example his successor will be judged. "Cermak has made the position of mayor greater than it was before he occupied it. He set a standard of public service in these trying times that few will be able to reach. My only comfort lies in the fact that he has prepared the way and that by following his example and adopting his policies we shall, in a measure, at least, be able to carry on the great work that he has started. "During the occupancy of the great office to which you have elected me, the policies of Anton f. Cermak will continually guide our course. It is not necessary at this time to make any statement of new policies. Whatever Mayor Cermak stood for, I stand for!" — 12 — THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND THE UNITED STATES By DR. JOSEF MATOUŠEK Czechoslovak Minister of Commerce :: THE central location of the Czechoslovak Republic in the heart of Europe favorably affects its commercial relations with foreign countries. All the five Central European states border directly upon our republic, and we are comparatively little distant from the other European states. The lack of a direct outlet to the sea is, of course, a great disadvantage for our foreign commerce, which is dependent on the agency of other countries. As a result our national economy is deprived of no inconsiderable gains; for, with our highly developed industrial position, there is a marked intensity of interest in exports to countries beyond the sea which in recent years has grown steadily, in keeping with the decline of consumption of our goods in the impoverished states neighhoring on the Czechoslovak Republic.