CZECH-LAtiGOAGE

v By Mila Saskova-Pierce'

The first Czech emigration started prove their economic status and support Czech. But, in the multi-national during the Thirty Years War (1618-48) families. The first Nebraska Czech Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, identifi­ after the Catholic Habsburgs defeated villages and towns were settled by cation of nationality according to terri­ the army of the predominantly Protes­ people who learned of the settlements tory of residence was not always tant Czech Estates in 1620 at the battle and available land through friends and possible because many Czechs resided of the White Mountain (fig. 2). The relatives or from newspaper advertise­ outside of the Czech crownlands; and Habsburgs' execution of the rebellion's ments or American railway land agents conversely, in the same lands lived leaders and their confiscation of the (figs. 24,92).2 other nationalities, notably a German property of Protestant nobles prompted Czech immigrants were highly minority in northern Bohemia and a Protestant exodus from the Czech literate, in the upper ninetieth percen­ Moravia. Consequently, use of the lands to the Netherlands, England, tile.3 Very quickly they turned to self Czech language became for all Czechs Scandinavia, several Protestant German help and founded Czech-language the strongest symbol of their national states, and later to the English colonies periodicals through which they dis­ identity.5 in North America. seminated information about the new Even in the Czech lands, where The victorious Catholic Counter­ country and its many opportunities, Czechs constituted more than two­ Reformation, supported by the including-very necessary for settle­ thirds of the population, the Czech Habsburgs, largely identified the Czech ment in Nebraska-dryland farming, language had an inferior position to language with what Catholics consid­ with which Czechs were not familiar German in governmental administra­ ered to be a heretical religious literature (fig. 90).4 As soon as Czech farmers tion. Higher educational opportunities written in Czech by Hussites and Prot­ experienced a rising level of economic were mostly in German as well. Under estants (fig. 34). By suppressing Czech well-being and believed that their these conditions of cultural inequality, as a language of political administra­ immediate dream of economic prosper­ Czech intellectuals perceived the culti­ tion and Protestant religious expression ity was in sight, they turned their eyes vation of the Czech language through during the seventeenth and eighteenth to the cultural realm. educational, fraternal, and civic organi­ centuries ' "period of darkness" (Doba Czechs brought to the United States zations to be a fundamental condition temna), the Habsburgs laid the founda­ political opinions as well as cultural for the survival of their nation.6 tion for the Czechs' subsequent perse­ interests from the Austro-Hungarian Czech immigrants adapted to their cution complex and protective Empire, in which an authoritarian new American situation some of the relationship toward their language. imperial government proved increas­ strategies they had used in their Throughout this "darkness" and the ingly unable to maintain its great power struggle for national autonomy against subsequent period of National Revival status or to moderate domestic nation­ the politically dominant German and (Narodni obrozeni) (1780-1848), ality and class conflicts. American Hungarian nationalities in the Austro­ Czechs identified preservation of their Czechs, like the Czechs in Austria­ Hungarian Empire. The settlers estab­ national consciousness with mainte­ Hungary, perceived the maintenance of lished many Czech-language nance of the Czech language. the Czech language to be a guarantee organizations and periodicals. It is Nebraska's first Czechs began to that the Czech nation would survive as estimated that in 1900 about 150,000 arrive in the 1860s, with the majority a distinct entity. Knowledge of Czech Czechs subscribed to one Czech news­ arriving during the last quarter of the language and culture became the best paper or another. According to the nineteenth century. Czechs came to indicator of membership in a national 1900 census, there were 156,891 Nebraska because there was cheap land Czech community. A person was Czechs in the United States.? How­ available, which allowed them to im- deemed to belong to the Czech nation ever, this census much underestimated because of the following criteria: she or the number of Czechs because it classi­ Dr. Mila Saskowi-Pierce is assistant pro­ he was born in the Czech lands to fied many of them as Austrians in fessor of modern languages and literature parents of Czech origin who spoke accordance with a policy of identifying at the University ofNebraska-Lincoln. Czech and who could read and write in immigrants by country of origin.8 Yet

209 Fig.8S. University ofNebraska chapter of the KomenskY Club, 1911; Club co-founder Sarka Hrbkova isfront row, second from right. (Courtesy Czech Heritage Collection, University ofNebraska-Lincoln, Archives & Special Collections; NSHS C998.I-567) even these numbers indicate that the America enhanced their social contacts readership of Czech periodicals must and sense of solidarity. As a group, have been considerable. they were committed to carrying·on a Everyday use of the Czech language meaningful Czech life, that is, cultivat­ played several functions in the lives of ing their Czech heritage and identifying the first generation of settlers in the with the Czech nation while working to United States. It facilitated the trans­ integrate themselves successfully into mission of knowledge among Czechs the economy and politics of the United about new American conditions, since States. They consciously became few understood English well (fig. 22). producers and consumers of Czech Czech-American newspapers dissemi­ culture and considered themselves an nated information concerning the new overseas part of a Czech cultural world milieu, farming practices, health, and centered in Bohemia and Moravia. much other impOI;tant information that Their need to adapt to their new Ameri­ newly-arrived settlers needed to be­ can environment, while maintaining come successful citizens. Of course Czech culture as an enjoyable part of these periodicals were also read for their lives, conditioned their develop­ entertainment. The Czech language ment of private Czech schools and Fig.86. Jan Amos KomenskY (Comenius), further provided Czech immigrants organizations as well as their interpre­ portayed on the Kollar Hall proscenium curtain, DuBois, Nebraska. (P. Michael with a sense of cultural continuity and tation of their American experiences Whye, NSHS C998.l -494) fostered the preservation of their Old through writing Czech-language litera­ World heritage. Knowledge of the ture and history. Their efforts to build Czech-Americans in Nebraska orga­ language gave these immigrants intra­ a Czech scholarly community also took nized their social life either around group identification and greater oppor­ an interesting path, which will be churches or within numerous fraternal tunities for mutual support. 9 treated elsewhere. Their publication of benevolent associations, which offered The Czech immigrants who settled hundreds of Czech-language newspa­ life insurance and space in their meet­ in the Great Plains states constituted a pers and periodicals also testifies to ing halls for stage productions, lan­ functioning society. There were few their desire to communicate with one guage classes, and other amusements or significant social disparities among another over great distances within educational activities. II There were these settlers, and their sharing of the Nebraska and across the United forty-two Western Fraternal Associa­ difficulties in making a new home in States. 10 tion lodges in Nebraska. 12 The Sokol

210 Sa~ova·Pierce . Czech.Language Maintenance

gymnastic associations also built halls Czechs; and in general to do everything history subjects in the Czech language. with stages for theatrical productions which can lead to a greater honor of the These and other attempts by Czech­ Czech people.14 and other cultural activities perceived Americans to advertise the achieve­ as necessary to the cultural health of Articles published in Komenskj, the ments of their ethnic community were Czech communities (fig. 7). periodical of this association of mainly responses to those English­ Education ranked high on the agenda Komensky clubs, expressed su~h goals speaking Americans who had long of Czech settlers both for self-improve­ as (1) disseminate news concerning the looked with misgivings or open hostil­ ment and the preparation of their chil­ intellectual achievements of Czech­ ity and prejudice on that community's dren for success in an English-speaking Americans, (2) spread culture to the efforts to preserve its language and Old world. As a result of free and universal wider masses of Czech-Americans, World culture. 16 primary and secondary English­ including the farming communities of Other Czech organizations also language education, the second Czech­ American generation became bilingual, and more comfortable with English as a language of higher culture. Some members of this generation used En­ glish exclusively, although many oth­ ers, unwilling to lose their uniqueness and cease to belong to Czech culture, maintained or created opportunities to improve their knowledge and use of the Czech language. At the same time, they felt 'that they must look to the future welfare of their children by helping them integrate into American society. Czech-Americans addressed these educational concerns and objectives by founding in 1907 at the University of Nebraska the first Komensky Club, which was named after Jan Amos Komensky, the world-renowned seven­ teenth-century Czech philosopher and educator (figs. 85, 86). Before 1918 Fig.87. Young women members ofSokolice South Omaha with their instructor in the twenty-nine additional Komensky 1890s. (Courtesy Sokol South Omaha and Czechoslovak Museum; NSHS C998 ,1 -631) - Clubs were founded in Nebraska and other states, which adopted programs the Midwest, (3) collect money for strove to promote the unity and cultural similar to those of the club at the financial support of needy Czech life of Czech-Nebraskans. The teach­ university. 13 youngsters who exhibited the potential ing of the Czech language and other The function of the Association of to study at universities or higher subjects in Czech constituted an impor­ Educational Komensky Clubs was schools, and (4) keep the ties between tant part of their activities. For ex­ to help clubs in their educational work the Czech lands and the Czech commu­ ample the Sokol gymnastic organiza­ towards (cultural) elevation and cultiva­ nities in the United States alive and tions offered instruction in the Czech tion as well as unification of American intellectually fertile through intellectual language for children, and so did some Czechs; to help cultivate the Czech and literary works produced on both rural schools and churches (fig. 87).1 7 language and Czech music; perfecting of knowledge of Czech hi story and litera­ continents, introduction of contempo­ During the twentieth century, Czech­ ture; to promote higher education for rary literature published in the Czech Americans ' knowledge of the Czech Czech youth; the general improvement lands and its translation into English, language decreased with each passing and upgrading of social conditions and organization of public perfor­ generation. In 1977 the University of among Czech people in the moral as well as in the spiritual aspects; to inform mances of arts by Czech authors. 15 Nebraska-Lincoln decided, for lack of Americans about the achievements of The publication also offered American funds, to offer its Czech classes only

211 Nebraska History· FalllWinter 1993

has continued to function ever since. IS It has been estimated that only about 500 Czechs came to Nebraska out of the third and fourth Czech emigrations from Czechoslovakia-following, respectively, the Communist coup of 1948 and the Soviet invasion of 1968. Several among these emigrants, how­ ever, have played a catalytic role in the maintenance of Czech language and culture in Nebraska, primarily because teachers of Czech were recruited from among them. Dr. Vladimir Kucera, who came after 1948, and Vera Stromsikova, who came in 1977, repre­ sent two examples of how much indi­ viduals can accomplish. Dr. Kucera taught the Czech language through the extension division of the University of Nebraska, edited and published a series of booklets on Nebraska Czech life, and helped to organize Czech festivals (fig. 88). Another emigrant from 1948 is Joseph Svoboda, former archivist of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who in 1968 founded the Czech Heri­ tage Collection of the university ar­ chives. This collection, which contains extensive publications and manuscripts on the culture and history of Czechs in North America, is one of the five larg­ est of its kind in the United States and Canada (fig. 89).19 In 1992 residents of Czech commu­ nities in Nebraska exhibited various levels of knowledge of Czech. In Hastings, for example, there are at least two native speakers of Czech, both Fig.88. Dr. Vladimir Kucera , teacher, author, and enthusiastic promoter o/Czech born in Czechoslovakia and married to language and culture, at a/estival in Wilber, Nebraska. (NSHS K90-16) Czech-American soldiers who had helped liberate Czechoslovakia in every second year, thus spurring public imaginative and varied programs, to 1945. They know of no one in town protest and renewed interest in Czech­ growing student enrollments in Czech, with whom they can converse freely in language instruction. The university in and to the attractive personalities of the Czech. As a rule, they use English for 1980 reinstated annual Czech classes, Czech instructors, Vera Stromslkova communication. In Clarkson, Seward, in part as a result of lobbying by Ne­ and Bruce Kochis. However, during and Wilber, one can still hear Czech braska Czech organizations and their the next ten years, enrollments once spoken daily in local inns and stores umbrella association, Nebraska Czechs again declined and the activities of the (sometimes with discbmfort) by people Incorporated. Participation at the Komensky Club ceased temporarily in their sixties or older. In all commu­ university in Komensky Club cultural after the departure of the two instruc­ nities identified as Czech settlements, activities also increased, thanks to more tors. In 1990 the club was revived and the youngest generation (three to

212 Sa~ova-Pierce - Czech-Language Maintenance twenty-five years of age) has no func­ of this generation who are fluent speak­ Czech ancestry. In Wilber, "the Czech tional knowledge of Czech. ers, most can neither read nor write the capital of Nebraska," there have been In 1975 eight of forty-two Western language. no classes in Czech since Mrs. Irma Fraternal Life Association (ZCBJ) The fourth and fifth generations of Ourecky retired more than a decade lodges conducted meetings in Czech.20 American Czechs, with minor excep­ ago (fig. 93).23 In 1993 not one of this organization's tions, do not know any Czech. They Four Nebraska post-secondary edu­ lodges in Nebraska still conducts meet­ have grown up in front of English­ cational institutions have recently ings or keeps minutes in Czech. 21 language television, often for more taught the Czech language to adults: Association members who are profi­ than forty hours a week. They choose the University of Nebraska at Omaha, cient in Czech believe that the contin­ Metro Technical Community College ued use of the language would in Omaha, Southeast Community constitute a barrier for younger genera­ College in Lincoln, and the University tions and thus accelerate a decline in of Nebraska-Lincoln. But only UNL membership. has ever offered Czech regularly as an The first generation of Czech immi­ integral part of the undergraduate grants cultivated the Czech language curriculum. The other three institutions with a certain pride. This seems to be a have employed part-time instructors, specific trait of Czech and Slovak either through continuing education immigrants-speakers of Czech or programs or with grants from federal Slovak are proud of their ability to use agencies; consequently at none of them their mother tongue and to pass their can students be sure from year to year knowledge of it on to their children.22 whether or not Czech will be offered.24 The second (first American-born) The University of Nebraska-Lincoln generation, especially in Nebraska, was has provided Czech-language instruc­ very proficient in Czech. These Czech­ tion continuously since 1907, with the Americans strove consciously to main­ exception of the years 1919-23. How­ tain the purity of their language. This ever, the university board of regents, generation organized Czech classes in upon the recommendation of the chan­ elementary and high schools and sup­ cellor, declded in June 1993 to elimi­ ported the Czech-language classes nate funding for the Czech-language taught by people such as the poet Jef­ program and offer Czech in the future frey Hrbek and the social historian only as an extension course. Sarka Hrbkovii at the University of When the program was terminated, Nebraska. Still-living members of this Fig.89. Joseph G. Svoboda, University of the university had the largest Czech­ Nebraska-Lincoln archivist, who estab­ generation are often involved in one or language enrollment of any college or lished the extensive Czech Heritage more Czech organizations and in the Collection there. (Courtesy Joseph G. university in the United States. Typi­ promotion of Czech festivals and other Svoboda) cally, fifteen students enrolled in the ethnic activities (fig. 91). first semester of Czech and ten in the Members of the third generation of not to avail themselves of opportunities second semester; usually the third Nebraska Czechs were born during or to become even passive listeners to semester had five to eight students. immediately after the 1920s, and their Czech, preferring the company of Each fifth-semester course typically relationship to the ancestral language English-speaking friends or of televi­ had four or five students who planned was colored by having experienced sion to that of Czech-speaking older to study or travel in the Czech Repub­ American hostility toward the "new friends or relatives at family gatherings. lic. These statistics fairly accurately immigration" and most foreign influ­ Czech-language instruction is no reflect the average enrollment in ences that characterized the period longer available in any Nebraska public Czech-language courses at the univer­ from World War I through the 1930s. elementary or secondary school, even sity over the past twenty years. All Some members of this generation do those in the state's many predominantly other college and university Czech not know any Czech beyond a few Czech towns like Abie, Clarkson, programs in the United States outside familiar expressions, and they use it Dwight, Milligan, Prague, and Verdi­ of Nebraska typically have five to infrequently. Among the few Czechs gre, where citizens are proud of their fifteen students in their undergraduate

213 Nebraska History· FaUlWinter 1993

and graduate programs combined. Czech-language classes offered privately under the sponsorship of Nebraska Czech organizations like Sokol South Omaha or the Omaha Czech Cultural Club nicely comple­ ment but are not intended as substitutes for the more intensive and demanding courses taught for college or university credit. This private instruction caters well to beginning students and those who wish to brush up on Czech learned at home or abroad. In any given year, all private classes together'enroll ap­ proximately thirty-five students in Omaha alone. Those few beginners who decided to learn Czech thoroughly often later did so at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln or another institution of higher learning. A questionnaire distributed by the author in 1991-93 to thirty-six students enrolled in the Czech-language pro­ gram at the University of Nebraska­ Lincoln reveals a composite portrait of the average student. He or she be­ longed to the fourth, fifth, or sixth generation (the immigrant generation being the first). Only two students during the past five years were of the second generation. Eleven percent of the students were not of Czech origin at all and studied Czech as a second language. In the students' extended families, only the third generation with one exception (the fourth or fifth) could still speak any Czech. Only the first and second generations were or are able to read Czech. Thirty percent of extended family members who could speak Czech preferred to use it less than daily, sometimes only when at­ tending Czech festivals. Every family Fig.90. One reason for peasant emigration was social and economic opportunity. The fruits of this opportunity are shown in the artwork by August Petrtyl for a cover of the member who spoke Czech occasionally Hospodar agricultural journal. The journal provided valuable advice to immigrant used it when talking to relatives or farmers. (NSHS Museum 638P-ll, C998.1-608) friends of their own generation but never when speaking to their grand­ children. Even when grandchildren were able to learn Czech at college, their grandparents often would not

214 Sa~ova-Pierce - Czech-Language Maintenance speak to them in Czech. The grand­ parents felt that the variety of Czech they knew was "incorrect. "25 This attitude remains an obstacle to the intergenerational transmission of the knowledge of Czech as a native lan­ guage. It recognizes the considerable differences between the literary Czech taught in American universities and the somewhat Anglicized Czech informally passed along from one Czech-American generation to another. Ninety-two percent of all students interviewed thought that very few high school students would take Czech in the unlikely event any high school would offer it. The reasons why University of Nebraska-Lincoln students enrolled in Czech-language classes were the fol­ lowing, in order of importance: (1) to study or work in the Czech Republic Fig.91. The Dwight (Nebraska) Czech Dancers performing at their hometown festival in 1991. (D. Murphy)

(eighty-three percent); (2) to talk to relatives (forty-five percent); and (3) to fulfill language requirements (fifty-five percent). Some students gave more than one re~son. The establishment and cultivation of an inexpensive ex­ change program was mentioned as the best way to maintain or stimulate Czech-language enrollment. Just as the citizens of ethnically Czech towns in Nebraska still identify themselves as Czech, the author found from her survey that university students of Czech origin consider themselves to be Czech. From this evidence and the numbers cited above, one may con­ clude that knowledge of Czech has ceased to be the main indicator of membership in the Czech-American ethnic group. Ancestry is now the determining factor, as Nebraska Czechs continue to organize and patronize ethnic festivals and belong to ethnic associations. In their eyes, an inability to speak and read Czech does not dis­ Fig.92. Many Czech peasants wrapped their few belongings in featherbeds for the qualify anyone of Czech ancestry from voyage to America. Others, especially later, used simple trunks, such as this one owned by Ignac and Marie Sebesta. (NSHS Museum 11055-1237, C998.1 -609) participating in these associations.

215 Nebraska History· FaUlWinter 1993

ancestry alone is perceived as sufficient to qualify one for membership in the Czech ethnic group or in any Czech­ American organization. Czech ethnicity, however, is alive and well in Nebraska. With the restora­ tion of political democracy and a mar­ ket economy to the Czech Republic, many Nebraskans of Czech ancestry are now eager to reestablish or reaffirm connections with their ancestral homeland.

Notes

I The author thanks Professors Jana Bischofova and Bruce Garver and former UNL Archivist Joseph Svoboda for their comments on the substance and style of earlier drafts of this article.

2 Studies of Czech immigrants in Nebraska include Vladimir Kucera and Alfred Novacek, eds., Czechs and Nebraska (Ord, Nebraska: Quiz Graphic Arts Inc., 1967); and Ruzena Rosicka, Dejiny Cechil v Nebrasce (The History of Czechs in Nebraska) (Omaha: Czech Historical Club of Nebraska, 1928).

3 Tomas Capek, The Cechs (Bohemians) in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920). The question of Czech literacy and education ·is discussed at greater length in Joseph Svoboda's article, "Czech-Americans: A Love of Liberty," in this issue of Nebraska History.

4 On the American Czech-language press see Tomas Capek, Padesat let ceskeho tisku v Americe (Fifty Years of the Czech Press in America) (New York: Bank of Europe, 1911), and V. N. Duben, Czech and Slovak Periodical Press Outside Czechoslovakia (Washington, D.C.: SVU, 1962).

5 A large minority of Czechs lived in Fig.93. Irma Ourecky o/Wilber, Nebraska, shown in costume with her husband Lumir Vienna and small minorities of Czechs lived in the late 1960s. She received the Henry Fonda Nebraskan Award/or her work in elsewhere in the western half of the Austro­ preserving Czech-American history and culture. (NSHS K90-105) Hungarian Monarchy. For a thorough discus­ sion of the relationship of the Czechs to this monarchy (1867-1918), see Bruce Garver, Czech as a native tongue (i.e., learned Nebraskans of Czech origin seem The Young Czech Party, 1874-1901, and the from parents) is disappearing in Ne­ likely to continue to consider them­ Emergence ofa Multi-Party System (New braska. The youngest Czech-Americans selves to be Czech-Americans, even in Haven: Yale University Press, 1978). of the third generation are in their the absence of their having any knowl­ 6 On nationality conflict and the use of sixties. Twenty years from now, there edge of the Czech language. The low Czech language in the Czech crown lands, will be very few native speakers of enrollment of college and university see Garver, Young Czech- Party, 88-120. Czech in the state, although there will students of Czech during the last ten 7 Joseph Svoboda, "Czechs: The Love of surely be people who will know it by years proves that there is no wide­ Liberty," in Broken Hoops and Plains People, ed. Paul Olson (Lincoln: Nebraska having learned it as a second language. 26 spread desire to study Czech, and that Curriculum Development Center, 1976), 161.

216 SaSkova-Pierce - Czech-Language Maintenance

8 This can be seen on the wedding certifi­ the Czech periodicals exhibited a degree of 24 The University of Nebraska at Omaha, cates brought by Nebraska Czechs to the nationalistic fervor, the English-language thanks to a series of visiting Fulbright profes­ author. Population studies useful in any Czech periodicals, such as The Bohemian sors from Czechoslovakia (through 1992) and investigation of language maintenance Review, which became Czechoslovak Review from the Czech Republic (for five months in include D. J. Bogue, Th e Population of the in 1918, published informational articles. 1993), was able to offer Czech-language United States (New York and London: The These articles promoted the knowledge of the instruction through a period of eleven years. Free Press, 1985); U.S. Bureau of the Census, Czech culture, and later of the Czechoslovak Metro Technical Community College occa­ Subject Reports: National Origin and Lan­ idea, without the open nationalism character­ sionally hired some of the same instructors to guage, U.S. Census ofPopulation 1970, istic of the periodicals in Czech, such as the teach Czech on a part-time basis. No visiting (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1973); and Supple­ club periodical, Komensky. Fulbright professor has been sent to UNO to mentary Report: Ancestry of the Population replace Dr. Jana Bischofova, who returned to 16 Efforts by immigrant groups generally to by State, U.S. Census of Population 1980 Prague in July 1993. UNO will not offer cultivate ancestral language use in the United (Washington, D.C. : GPO, Czech in 1993-94. 1983). States are discussed by J. A. Fishman, ed., 9 Scholarly articles pertaining to Czech­ Language Loyalty in the United States (The 25 It is interesting to compare these stu­ language maintenance and its part in sustain­ Hague: Mouton, 1966). Karel Kucera, Cesky dents' experiences with those of others ing Czech-American ethnic identity include: jazyk v USA (Czech Language in the U.S .A.) discussed in broad studies such as J. S. J. B. Dudek, "The Bohemian Language in (Prague: Univerzita Karlova, 1990) discusses Phinney and M. J. Rothel'am, Children's America," American Speech 2 (1927): 299­ the status of the Czech language in the United Ethnic Socialization (Newbury Park-Beverly 311; Eva Eckert, "Lexicon of the First Gen­ States today and in historical perspective. Hills-London-New Delhi : Sage Publications, eration American Czechs," Review of 1987). 17 The periodicals of the Komensky clubs Applied Linguistics (Lueven, Belgium) 76 discuss a few of these activities. Also see 26 To compare the declining use of Czech (1987): 25-41; R. B. Klymasz, "From Immi­ Svoboda, "Czech-Americans," and Garver, in Nebraska to the diminishing use of other grant to Ethnic Folklore: A Canadian View "Czech-American Freethinkers." foreign languages in the United States, see P. of Process and Transition," Journal of the Schach, ed., Languages in Conflict (Lincoln : Folklore institute 10 (1973): 131-39; J. S. 18 The author of this article helped revive University of Nebraska Press, 1980), and U. Roucek, "The Passing of American Czecho­ the Komensky Club at UNL in 1990. The Weinreich, Languages in Contact: Findings slovaks," The American Journal of Sociol­ club's modest archives are deposited in the and Problems (The Hague: Mouton, 1968). ogy 39 (1934): 611-25; and G. L. Trager, Czech Heritage Collection at the University "The Slavic-Speaking Groups of the United of Nebraska-Lincoln Archives. States and Canada," American Council of 19 In contrast to the Nebraska Czech Learned Societies Bulletin 34 (1942): 58-63. experience is the somewhat similar experi­ 10 There were thirty-four Czech news­ ence of Czech immigrants and their descen­ papers or periodicals published in Nebraska dants in the state of Texas. See, for example, at one time or another. Both the Nebraska E. Hudson and H. R. Maresh, Czech Pioneers State Historical Society and the Czech Heri­ of the South-West (Dallas: South-West Press tage Collection at the University of Ne­ Inc. , 1934); Clinton Machann and James W. braska-Lincoln Archives hold extensive files Mendl, Krasna Amerika: A Study of the of these publications. Finding aids are Texas Czechs, 1851 -1939 (Austin, Tex.: available in both repositories. Eakin Press, 1983); Clinton Machann, Czech Voices: Stories from Texas in the AmerikGn II Some of these hall s are still standing. narodni kalendaf (College Station: Texas The use of drama in Czech-language mainte­ A&M University Press, 1991); and three nance and in cultivating popular understand­ articles by Machann, "Texas Czechs Preserve ing of Czech history and culture is discussed a Proud History," The Texas Humanist by David Murphy in his article, "Dramatic (December 1978): 2-3; "The Czechs in Expressions: Czech Theatre Curtains in Texas," Continuum 43 (1979): 21; and Nebraska," in this issue of Nebraska History. "Czech Folk Music, Orchestras, and Assimi­ 12 For further discussion of Czech fraternal lation in Texas," Kosmas 7 (1988): 107-112. benevolent organizations see Bruce Garver, 20 Svoboda, "Czechs: The Love of Liberty," "Czech-American Freethinkers on the Great 186. Plains," in Frederick C. Luebke, ed., Ethnic­ ity on the Great Plains (Lincoln : University 21 Personal communication of 1993 from of Nebraska Press, 1980), 147-69; and Joseph Western Fraternal Association representative Svoboda's article, "Czech-Americans: the Glenn Riensche. Love of Liberty," in this issue of Nebraska 22 The first generation in Nebraska is from the History. period between 1870 to the end of the century. 13 Komensky, The Periodical of the Educa­ 23 Some Czech communities have offered tional Komensky Clubs, 10 (1920): 352. classes on an irregular basis, whenever there 14 Ibid., 6 (1913): 18. is a teacher of Czech available or there is enough interest (as there was in Hastings in 15 The possibility to publish both in Czech 1993). Personal communication to the author and in English gave the Czech associations by the instructor, Mrs. Hula. and groups a means for "double talk." While

217