CZECH TEXANS: ETHNICITY AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY LAVACA COUNTY By MELINDA ROSE HOSKIN Bachelor ofArts Oklahoma State University StiUwater, Oklahoma 1995 Submitted to the Faculty ofthe Graduate College ofthe Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE July, 1997 CZECH TEXANS: ETHNICITY AND AGRICULUTRAL PRODUCTION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY LAVACA COUNTY Thesis Approved: Dean of the Graduate College II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my committee chairman, Dr. Lou Seig, who pointed me in the right direction in the first place. I took every bit ofhis advice! Thanks also to the rest ofmy committee: Dr. George Carney, Dr. Jon Comer, and Dr. George Jewsbury. I wish to recognize the support ofcomputer genius, Joe Seig, who put up with my ineptness and "electrical problem". and the great and wondrous Susan Shaull, who always had a moment and a smile. I wish to thank my family, my long-suffering husband and four children. Special thanks to all the folks in Lavaca County, who aided me during my field research in the summer of 1996. Without their interviews much of this study would not have been possible. Some ofmy interviews did not fit into the format ofthis study. This in no way detracts from my appreciation ofthose people who took the time to talk to me. Two gentlemen, however, gave me hours and insight into the Czechs of Lavaca County. Mr. Herman Hanslik related his family's history that he had carefully documented from the arrival ofhis great-grandfather in Lavaca County. With a phone call to his brother Adolph in Lubbock, Texas, as we sat in his office in Hallettsville, the map ofcotton gins in Lavaca County became possible. Mr. Doug Kubicek, high school teacher and local historian, has my undying gratitude. He gave me a series ofinterviews that drew a picture ofLavaca County, past and present. Over the last year, Doug has continued to be my Lavaca County connection. Thanks Doug! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION , '... 1 Problem Statement..... 1 Methodology.... 2 Definitions and Limitations............................. 2 Definitions...".............................................................................................. 2 Limitations....... 7 Sources ofInformation.. 9 Hypotheses................ ... 10 II. LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................... 11 Migration Studies............. 12 Ethnic Studies....,................................................................................................ 14 Texas Czechs..................................................................................................... 16 Cultural-Agricultural Islands..... 20 Cotton Production.............................................................................................. 22 Ill. MOTIVATION FOR MIGRATION..................................................................... 24 The Czechs from Europe to Texas...................................................................... 24 Settlement and History ofthe Czech Lands.......... 24 Germans, Allies or Oppressors.................................................................... 25 Land Hunger in the Homeland.... 26 Czechs Into Texas ,..... 28 The First Settlers............. 29 The Czechs Come to Texas........................................................................ 30 Czechs into Lavaca County........................................................................ 34 Summary............................................................................................................ 38 IV. THE IMPACT OF CZECHS ON COTTON PRODUCTION IN LAVACA COUNTy............................................................................................................ 40 The Agricultural History ofTexas with Emphasis on Lavaca County 40 The Cotton Gins ofLavaca County........................................................... 47 The Effects ofCotton Allotments on Lavaca County................................. 49 Pecans and the Czechs ofLavaca County.................................................. 53 How the Cultural Agricultural Island ofLavaca County Developed 55 Summary..................................................................................................... ...... 59 iv Chapter Page V. CZECH ETHNICITY AS IT RELATES TO LAVACA COUNTY, TEXAS 61 The Czech Family Unit....................................................................................... 63 The Czech Community Unit......... 63 Language and Religion......................................................................................... 67 Formal Czech Clubs and Organizations............................................................... 72 Sumrnary......... 75 VI. CONCLUSION......................................................................... 76 Hypotheses ,.......... 77 Further Studies................ 79 Summary............................................................................................................ 80 BIBLIOGRAPHy........................................................................................ 81 APPENDIXES APPENDIX A--CZECH ORGANIZATIONS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 89 APPENDIX B--THE GINS OF LAVACA COUNTy 91 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. The Rise ofCzech Population in Lavaca County...... 8 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Lavaca County Study Area.... 5 2. Nineteenth Century Czech Homelands.......... 31 3. The Passage to America... 32 4. The Texas Czech Seed Colonies...................................................................... 35 5. The Texas Blackland Prairie Soils.................................................................... 36 6. The Rise and Fall ofCotton Production.................................... 42 7. Location Quotient Comparing Bales to Acres.................. 44 8. Percent ofCzechs in 42 Texas Counties...................................................... 45 9. Lavaca County Cotton Gins..... 4S 10. Change in Cotton Acreage, 1930-1960............................................................ 51 11. Location Quotient Comparing Allotments to Acres................................... 52 12. 1996 Acres in Cotton , ' 53 13. Rural Schools ofLavaca County..... 69 Vtl GLOSSARY Acculturation - changes ethnic group makes to fit into a host society Anglo - vernacular tenn used to identify people who migrated to Texas from other parts ofthe United States before the Czechs arrived Assimilation - complete blending ofethnic group with host culture Bohemia - westernmost region ofCzech lands which was historically a political unit Bohemian - tenn used in nineteenth century, especially in the United States, to designate person ofCzech extraction; term used interchangeably with Czech. Chain Migration - concentration ofimmigration from the same area in the old homeland into the same area in the new, which causes heavy concentrations of a particular ethnic group, also called serial migration Cottager - term used to designate the middle class ofpeasants in Czech homeland that were described as skilled individuals who owning ten to twelve acres of land and produced enough grain to sen at market Cultural-agricultural Island - a cluster ofa rural ethnic group in the United States - tenn used when studying the impact ofethnic traits on fanning practices Czech - person ofSlavic origins who settled in the region that is today the Czech Republic - one who speaks the Czech language Czech Texan/Texas Czech - tenns used to identify people ofCzech extraction who settled in Texas viii Ethnic Group - people ofcommon ancestry and cuitural tradition living as a minority in a larger society, or host culture - can live in original homeland or move to a new area Ethnic Homeland - region ofa particular ethnic group that is substantially larger than an ethnic island; population exerts some political control. are attached to a region. and have special places that symbolize the homeland and the ethnic group. Ethnic Island - usually smaller than a county with a few hundred to a few thousand residents - usually rural where other members already reside thereby attracting new residents ofsame group - minimizes distances between members - facilitates acculturation and assimilation Ethnicity - feeling of group identity or belonging - can be based on race, religion, or national origin - sense ofpeoplehood Freethinkers - Czechs who discarded organized religion upon arriving in America as a result ofthe state ordered Catholicism in their homeland Host Culture - the larger society in which an ethnic group Iives as a minority Moravia - central region ofCzech lands which was historically a political unit Preadaptation - adaptive traits possessed by a group in advance of migration that gives them the ability to survive and a competitive advantage in colonizing the new environment Silesia - region located in southern Poland occupied by people of Czech extraction who originally were located in the northern parts ofBohemia and Moravia Slavs - people who migrated into Europe from the area that is now Russia. as well as Russians themselves - share the same language family, Slavic IX I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The effect ofethnicity and migration in America has become an integral part of world cultures. Since the 1970s studies concerning the landscape ofcultural American identity has increased. The focus ofthis study examines the settlement ofCzechs in Texas and the development ofa new ethnicity which reflects developing traits and