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Poli sh Genealogcal Soc iefi1 NE\MSLEffiof Mtr,rnesuJa VOLUME 10 suMMER2002 NUMBER 2 Special issue! ! s% NATIONAL POLISH AMERICAN SPORTS HALL O7 f A}.,W tl This issue of the PGS-MN Newsletter recognizes those ath- &i letes of Polish descent who have been elected to ttre National ITS tr Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.l N The NPASFIF and Museum was founded in 1973 to honor and recognize outstanding American athletes of Polish descent, both amateur and professional. A Hall of Fame Room and p Museum was established in the Dombrowski Fieldhouse on the v campus of St. Mary's College, Orchard Lake, Michigan, located 25 miles northwest of Detroit. Each year inductees are elected in nation-wide balloting by the NPASFIF officers and Board of Directors, past members of the Hall of Fame, and more than 300 members who comprise the NPASFIF Sports Panel Council. llm this issue q q q Any athlete, male or female, of Polish American extraction National Polish American Sports (father or mother must be Polish) and meeting the eligibility ...page 1 requirements may be considered for nomination and induction. Hall of Fame......... All ama[eur athletes are eligible; collegiate athletes not continu- From the editor's desk.......... ..............p. 2 ing into the professional ranks are eligible two years after their NPASHF: Roll of Honor....................p. 3 collegiate participation ends; professional athletes are eligible NPASIIF: Class of 2OO2..................p. 1 0 two years after retirement from the sport. NPASHF: The 2O02 Nominees........p. 1 1 gets to vote?...........p.12 The NPASFIF and Museum has memorabilia from many of NPASHF: Who the athletes who have been elected. These include: An auto- My Nominees............. ....p. 13 graphed bat and 1963 St. Louis Cardinal cap and jersey from NPASHF: 2002 Ballot Results.........p. 14 Stan Musial; Hank Stram's 1970 Kansas City Chiefs Super- What about Bronko Nagurski?.........p. 15 jacket; bowl an autographed basketball from Mike Krzyszew- What about Paul Giel?. ...p. 15 ski; Dick Modzelewski's Cleveland Browns helmet; and many My All-Time Po1ish American other items. Baseball Team......... ...p. 16 The NPASFIF and Museum is open to the public for viewing 1948 Notre Dame Undefeated by calling the curator, Fr. Jim Mazurek at (248) 683-0401. Football Team......... ....p.18 Anyone wishing to suggest a nominee for election should con- An Interview tact: NPASFIF and Museum, 11727 Gallager, Hamtramek MI with Stan Coveleski.. ..p.20 48212. Genealogy: Collecting .....p.22 Missing ........p.24 lThe information on this page is mainly from the NPASFIF Branches... website at <http ://www. poli-shsportshof.com>. Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesoa Summer2(X)2 P olish Genealogical S ociety of Minnesota A Branch of the Minnesota Genealogical Society 5768 Olson Memorial Hwy. Golden Valley MN 55422 . htp: //www.mtn.org/m gs/branches/polish. html From the editor's desk . gs/pgs-mn. http: //www. rootsweb.com/-mnpol html I am usurping this space usually reserved for the Presi- Offi cers/Board of Directors: dent's letter. This issue marks the beginning of the tenth year that I have been involved with bringing this newsletter to President...... .Teny Kita (612-927-0719) you--I have been formatting and laying out this newsletter on <terry.kita @federalcartridge.com> a spare bedroom of my home since the prep- Vice President...............John Kowles (612-7 2l -7 227) my computer in <j ohnkow @ worldnet. att.neb aration for the publication of the Summer 1993 issue. Secretary..............Mary Ellen Bruski (763-588-3801 ) <[email protected]> You will notice that this issue of the newsletter differs a Treasurer.........................Audra Etzel (7 63 -97 2-6639) bit from past issues. It's articles contains more than a little <etzelfamil y@ msn.com> nostalgia and whimsy and very little dealing with genealogy. Past President.................... ...Greg Kishel This may not sit very well with some of our dedicated gene- <GFK-PGenSoc@ msn. com> alogy readers but others may welcome the change of pace. Director........ ...Jan Bias (651-766-0147) <[email protected]> As editor, I always have tried to include more than just Director.................John Radzilowski (65 1 -60$-02 I 0) genealogy issues in these pages. Besides, after ten years <[email protected]> doing this, I am in need of a litfle diversion. Dtector......................Lisa Trembley (952-941 -057 4) <Li sact@ cpintemeL com> This issue deals primarily with the National Polish Committee Chairs: American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum located on the campus of St. Mary's College in Orchard Lake, Michigan. Library .................Jan Bias In Spring 1996, I described my visit to the campus. r In that Membership. ....................Lisa Trembley article I mentioned the NPASHF briefly and I promised a Newsletter.... .....Paul Kulas future article on the topic. Well, years have gone by and no Program/Publicity.................Terry Kita, John Kowles Research...... ...Greg Kishel such article has appeared--until now. Website........ ..............Mary Ellen Bruski But while the articles in this issue deal very little with P olish Geneological S ociety solving genealogy problems, they do indeed deal with gene- of Minnesota Newslcfrer alogy--ir is a requirement that all candidates for election to the-NPASHF be of Polish descent. Also, the path that many Newletter Staff: of these athletes took to achieve their fame is really part of 8ditor........... Paul Kulas (7634274523) the Polish immigrant ethnic experience (See especially the Associate Editor........... ........Gre9 Kishel interview given by Stan Coveleski beginning on page 20). Labe1s.......... ....................Lisa Trembley There is aiendency among all immigrant groups for its Mailing........ ...Greg Kishel young people to try to break out of the poverty of the ethnic Sumame indexing.....,. .........Audra Etzel ltretto by becoming professional athletes. Unfortun-1tgly very The Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota few are talented enough to achieve this. Most will find that Newslotter is published quarterly in Spring, Summer, getting a good education is a far surer way to achieve the Autumn and Winter. Subscription to lhe Nev,sletter is Americandream. Still, Polish Americans have had their included with membership. Dues are $15.00 per yeax share of very talented athletes. The NPASHF and this issue (See application form on the advertising insert). gifted few. Items submitted for publication are welcomed and of the PGS-MN Newsletter honors those encouraged. Deadlines for inclusion are: March 15, --Paul Kulas June 15, Sept. 15 and Dec. 15 respectively. Articles, letten, book reviews, news items, queries, ad copy, PS: I am already working on the Autumn issue of the news- etc. should be sent to: Paul Kulas, editor, PGS-MN letter. It will be more traditional in content and will follow Newsletter,12008 West River Road, Champlin MN this issue shortly. 553 16-2145 or to e-mail: <kkulas@ties,kl2.mn.us> Mailing or e-mail address change? PPS: Thank you for allowing me [o bring back memories of Send address changes to: Lisa Trembley, my childhood with this issue. 15800 Post Road, Wayzata MN 55391 or to e-mail: <lctrembley @ mn. Ir.com> lPaul Kulas, "Orchard Lake (Michigan) Schools Emphasize Polish Heritage," Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota Newsletter 4 2o0zPolish ofMinncsoa @ (Spring 1996):5-8. Summer2002 Polish Geneelogical Society of Minnesota Page 3 At left: The obverse National Polish A,mqicavl Sports of the Stan Musial 1+AIl sf fame 1948 Bowman base- ball card. It is one in my collection of cards ghns'{ that I acquired in the frnll"{ summer of 1948. I was 11 years old at The following is a listing of those who have been the time. --PTK inducted into the NPASHF. They are listed by year of induction.l 1973r Stan Musial--One of baseball's all-time greats and NPASIIF's first inductee, "Stan the Man" com- piled a career.331 batting average in 22 seasons (1941-1963) At right: The reverse with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was ,rm5-rtdH,rls{ffi*{ .:, of the Stan Musial , ,. named National League MVP in 1943, 1946 and 1948 .' . Ia. OcrtM:-St-, Lortr f{l6tr.ts 1948 Bowman base- and won seven National League batting titles including . ,lhr,ltr Arrr*r. Fi.. I*ov, ftr, rtti ::::Ftr+: 1 a career-high .376 in 1948. Stan is a member of the ball card. [Xti thioirirr lr{t ::,,l[g*r"O** rrr*rtTr. itt , Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. ir[,.if!::,:aa:i i;, .;; Stan Musial was the p. fft: Sn:;, a& eEtr. .: first inductee (1973) il llt*tu.-r 197 4t Stella (Walasiewicz) Walsh--Polish-bom Stella * tltir r of the National Polish Sra. ' Walsh was one of the u,orld's greatest women athletes. American Sports Hall She won a gold (in medal in the 1932 Olympics the of Fame (See the brief 100 meter dash) and silver in the '36 games. at career summary ,A$t( ;C* ilffn $tflt Ted Kluszewski--"Big Klu" compiled a.301 bauing lefO. it00lti lhc Notb{o gxa rrUr average in 14 big league seasons. He hit .300 or better fhc lhrce dGoruat 6over* seven years in a row and had five consecutive seasons Bowl{AN CUm, ff*C. qaptrt*trr trr* with lfi) or morc RBIs. In 1954, he led the National League with 49 home runs and 141 RBIs. Stan Musial's 1948 Bowman baseball eard. Ed (Tyranski) Tyson--Considered to be one of amat€ur softball's gxeatest, Tyson starred for Dekoit's crown in 1940 and 1948. He is most remembered famed Briggs Beautyware teams. He led Briggs to for the vicious matches he had with Rocky Graziano "World Series of Softball" titles n 1937 and in 1948 (Tony won two of three). in twenty years with the team.