pohoda - · PDF fileIt is not easy to define Pohoda (good time). It is primarily a...

pohoda

It is not easy to define Pohoda (good time). It is primarily a multicultural music festival with many other special events. The feeling of freedom, fellowship and peace during the three-day festival can only be compared to the American Woodstock festi-val. It is a phenomenon that hits the town Trencin each year in July and gives it the energy of 30,000 hearts that come to enjoy this unique festival.

The presentation will be accom-panied with multimedia exam-ples and trailers from the festivals.

S1 8–9:15 a.m. Saturday, October 26

Rusyns as the Third Founding People of Czechoslovakia

John Righetti

I. Czechs, Slovaks and Rusyns in the mid 19th century—cultural development

II. Germanization and Magyarization

III. The fall of Austria-Hungary

IV. The creation of Czechoslovakia—an American phenomenon

V. The Rusyns in the creation of the Czecho- Slovak state

VI. The “lost” Rusyns of Poland

VII. Cultural components developed—a stateless people with a state

VIII. Gregory Zatkovich—first governor of Podkarpatska Rus’

IX. Czechoslovakia—not what they thought

X. The pros and the cons


Where Else Did They Go?Jan Dus

This presentation will track those people who emigrated from the Czech Lands in the1800s, but did not go to the United States. Where did they go and why?

QuiCk look at CzeCh miGration beFore 1800S

n Protestant migration after 1618n Migration within Austrian Empire

politiCal and SoCial SettinGS

n The world of 1800sn 1848—serfdom abolishedn Developments in agriculture and industry

two main StreamS oF emiGration in the 1800S

n United States Gold rush—California Agriculture—Midwest, Texas Industry—Chicago, New York, Cleveland n Austria—Vienna Workmen (industry) Craftsmen (little businesses)

aGriCultural Colonization in eaStern and Southern europe

n Banat (Romania) Svatá Helena Biger Rovensko Eibenthal Šumica Nová Ogradinan Krym (Ukraine; 1861-1865) Čechohrad Bohemka Veselinivka Alexandrovkan Black Sea (Russia; 1867-68) Metodějovka Kyrilovka Vladimirovka Glebovka Aderbijevka Tekos Tešebs Anastasijevka

Pavlovka Varvarovkan Volyně (Poland; Ukraine; 1868-74) More than 50 villages

County of Dubno: Podhájce, Mirohošť, Sed-miduby, Závalí, Straklov, Malín

County of Rovno: Hlinsko, Hrušvice, KvasilovCounty of Lutsk: Teremno, Borjatín, HubínCounty of Volodymyr-Volynsky: KupičevCounty of Ostrowiec: Hulč, Bludov,

Antonovka First village: Luthardovka (1863) – founded by

resettlement of Czech Protestants from Polandn Vojvodina (Serbia) Ablián—Češko Selo Veliký Bečkerek Velké Središtěn Croatia Ivanovo Selo (1826) Daruvar Bosnia-Hercegovina Slovenia

latin ameriCa

n Chile Emigrants from the regions of Broumov and

Police nad Metují (1972-75)Nueva Braunau

n Argentina Buenos Aires (late 1800s; early 1900s) Industrial engineers, salesmen; workmen

BerissoVeronicaAvellaneda

Gran Chaco Province Farmers Presidencia Roque Saenz Pena

n Brazil Sao Paulo Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul


induStrial miGration to weStern europe

n Craftsmen; small businessmen; industrial work-ers; agricultural workers

n Seasonal/temporary migrationn Germanyn Dresden, Chemnitz; Leipzig; Berlin; Hamburg;

Bremen; Westphalian France Craftsmen; industrial workers; agricultural

workers; coal-miners Departaments in the north of France

Pas-de-Calais, Nord, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle

Departaments around Paris Seine, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oise a Oise

n Belgium Province Haimaut; Liége; Limburg

Industrial workersn Brussel and Province of Brabant Craftsmenn Others: Netherlands; England; Switzerland

SeCondary miGration

n Poland Zelow founded in 1803 by Czech immigrants

from the Polish region of Sycovn Siberia Villages Miltuš, Sosnovka, and Ditlov

founded by Czechs from Volyň

n Bosnia Other Czechs from Volyň refuse to accept

Orthodoxy and move to Bosansky Kobaš, Mačino Brno, and Vranduk

n Bulgaria Vojvodovo founded by Czechs from Banatn Other Czech secondary migrants Moldavia: Goluboje Kazakhstan: Borodinovkan United States Secondary migration from Poland, Ukraine,

and Russia

QuiCk look at CzeCh miGration in 1900S

n Politically motivated Exile (escape from war and political oppression)

1914 (WWI: legionnaires; Czech politicians)1938 (Jews; antifascists; democrats; soldiers)1948 (democrats)1968 (democrats)

n Search for new opportunities Many of the 1970s and 1980s emigrants

1990s (students; young professionals)n Czech community in Slovakia After separation of 1993n The most grotesque – migration to Soviet Union

(Tbilisi region, Georgia) 1923-1932; organized by Czech Communist Party Small farmers and craftsmen: promise of free land Happy return after 1945


The Freethinker Movement in the United StatesCarol Jean Smetana

167 County Road A4A, Sapello, New Mexico 87745-5026 [email protected]

[email protected]

What is a freethinker? Freethinkers look to science, logic and reason to form their worldview. Their ideas about religion eschew tradition, authority and established belief. Rationalist, humanist, lib-eral, socialist, communist, anarchist, anti-clerical, anti-Catholic, anti-religious, agnostic, atheist, un-American—all these words have, at various times, been used to identify and indeed to denigrate the freethinker.

Historians and social scientists note that, unique among immigrant groups, more than half of the Bohemian immigrants gave up their religion when they arrived in the United States and identified themselves as freethinkers, although the percent-ages varied significantly by area. Some estimates put the number of freethinkers in Chicago in the late nineteenth century at approximately 70 per-cent, while contending that 70 percent of the Czech immigrants in Texas maintained their Catholic faith. Bohemian freethought shared many elements with the American freethought movement, but it had its own distinct, nationalistic identity.

Freethinkers were central to and had a profound effect on many Czech-American communities,

The Congregation of Bohemian Freethinkers, Svobodná obec, was founded in Chicago in 1870. By 1880 there were 40,000 Czechs in Chicago, the majority of whom were freethinkers. The speaker of the congregation acted as a “minister,” officiating at secular marriage ceremonies.

with an impact still felt today. They established newspapers, set up benevolent societies, founded cemeteries, maintained schools and libraries, orga-nized children’s programs and adult lectures, and sponsored musical and dramatic programs. The oldest Czech fraternal organization, Česko-Slo-vanský Podporující Spolek (Č.S.P.S.) was founded by Freethinkers and still survives today as CSA Fraternal Life.

In this session I will briefly outline the roots of freethought in Bohemia and the background of freethought in the United States, and how the two historical strains blended to form the Czech freethinker movement in the United States. I will introduce some of the more prominent free-thinker leaders and their accomplishments in the Czech-American communities. We’ll look at some of the institutions they created and at the role of the freethinkers in various social movements, such as the American labor movement and the fight for Czechoslovakia’s independence. I will also talk about the attacks on freethinkers in the American press and some reasons for the decline of free-thought in the United States.


the Creed oF the Freethinker

Source: Hlas jednoty svobodomyslných (Voice of the Freethinkers’ Union), Iowa City, Iowa, June 3, 1872.

1. We see, believe and comprehend that everything that exists, grows and lives is directed by certain laws or intelligence.

2. We see, believe and comprehend that in all diversity things are mutually related through natural law.3. We see, believe and comprehend that this mutuality is graduated, as lower organisms combine

and create higher ones.4. We see, believe and comprehend that the most complex and hence most perfect culmination of

this development is the human being.5. We see, believe and comprehend that man’s highest emanation is his spirit, that is his mind and

will, which is called “I”.6. We see, believe and comprehend that many by himself is powerless and incomplete, and indi-

viduals are called upon to combine their minds and their wills into higher entities, first into small communities, then into larger ones, and ultimately into a unity of all mankind; we call this self-conscious entity Great Mankind, whom all should serve as the only Lord on earth.

7. We see, believe and comprehend that the earth is but one member of a higher unit, the solar system.8. We surmise, that this solar system is also but a member of a still higher unit, and that any other

possible units form one body, which we call the universe.9. We believe that every creature has a purpose as a member of the universe, and this purpose is

called universality.10. We believe and comprehend that everything has an awareness of this universality, and we

term this religion.11. We believe and comprehend that unconscious creatures fulfill their purpose by existing, growth

and life, and we term this natural religion.12. We feel, believe and comprehend that conscious creatures are liberated through their conscious-

ness, hence they should voluntarily fulfill their purpose, and that is conscious or free religion.13. We call the greatness of the universe harmony, the laws of the universe as the objects of cog-

nizance truth …14. The devotion of one member of the universe to another is love, its conscious exercise is jus-

tice; the process of learning about the laws of the universe is science, and the imitation of universal harmony is art.

Reprinted in The Czechs in the United States by Joseph Chada, p 97; and in The Czechs in America 1633-1977, compiled and edited by Vera Laska, p. 97.


uSeFul reSourCeS

Čapek, Thomas. The Čechs (Bohemians) in Amer-ica. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920.

Jacoby, Susan. Freethinkers: A History of Amer-ican Secularism. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2004.

Jacoby, Susan. The Great Agnostic: Robert Inger-soll and American Freethought. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2013.

Nemecek, Paul M. Historical and Cultural Essays on Czechs in America. 2004.

Panorama; A Historical Review of Czechs and Slovaks in the United States of America. Cicero, IL: Czechoslovak National Council of America, 1970.

Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899) was a prominent American freethinker, political leader, and the most renowned ora-tor of his era. Known as “the Great Agnostic,” his popular speeches advocated freethought and ridiculed religious beliefs. Ingersoll and other freethinkers were denounced for their convictions and blamed for many of society’s ills (real and imagined), as illustrated by this headline from The Morning Herald (Lexington, KY), published Sept. 21, 1899.

The Congregation of Bohemian Freethinkers of Chicago, Svobodná obec, played a vital role in the establishment of Chicago’s Bohemian National Cemetery. The freethinker symbol is the pansy: the word pansy comes from the French word pensée, which means “thought.” This pansy is one of the decorations commemorating fraternal and veterans’ organizations that adorn the walls of the cem-etery’s Ceremony Hall in the crematorium/columbarium


Beginning Slovak GenealogyLisa A. Alzo, MFA www.lisaalzo.com

Copyright 2013, Lisa A. Alzo

Nearly 620,000 Slovaks came to the United States during the period of “mass migration” (1880–1914). With a vast number of Americans claiming Slovak ancestry today, the interest in Slovak genealogy is greatly increasing. This workshop will provide an overview of how to begin the research process using both traditional and online sources. Learn how to identify your ancestral village, locate and interpret vital records, trace ancestors through census and immigration records, and use the Family History Library. The talk features tips for contacting possible relatives, writing to Slovak archives, and finding and hiring pro-fessional researchers.

oVerView

n How to identify your ancestral villagen A brief history of each country and how it

impacts genealogyn Finding key information in vital, census and

immigration recordsn How to use the Family History Libraryn Tips for contacting possible relatives and writing

to the Czech and Slovak archivesn Strategies for overcoming the most common pit-

falls and problems

beGinninG your GenealoGiCal reSearCh

n Start by researching records on this side of the ocean and work backward/talk to relatives.

n Be flexible and open to alternate spellings, a variety of languages, alphabets, etc.

n Anticipate/expect confusion—names, dates, and place of origin.

n Utilize Internet resources when possible.n Always verify information (whether from online

or traditional sources).n Focus on North America first: Records easier to

access.n Provides clues to village of origin. Helps you to

avoid making critical research mistakes.

reSearCh diaGram

loCatinG the anCeStral VillaGe

n FamilySearch Wiki pages (for Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia).

n Check Maps, Printed Gazetteers and/or Atlases online Gazetteers.

n Use JewishGen.org website (Communities Locator).

n Nazvy obci Slovenskej Republiky (Names of Villages, Slovak Republic) Milan Majtan.

n Slovakia Genealogy Research Strategies (Bill Tarkulich).

S5 9:30–10:45 a.m. Saturday, October 26

ForeiGn Vital reCordS/CenSuS reCordS/ other reCordS

n The Family History Library (FHL) has micro-film (not all areas available yet).

n Some digitized and available online. Some you’ll need to browse as they are not indexed.

n Until 1950, the churches held all of the official village records for births, marriages and deaths. After this time, “civil registration” initiated; some records still with local priest.

n 100 year privacy restriction.n Sometimes church records for several villages

were kept in one parish, larger, nearby town.n Variety of languages used (Slavonic, Greek,

Hungarian, Latin, Slovak).n Consult website by John J. Jaso, Google Trans-

late, word lists from FamilySearch. n In Slovakia, censuses were taken according to

Hungarian law. Some have been microfilmed. Check FHL Catalog under HUNGARY or SLO-VAKIA CENSUS.

n Of special note: 1828 Landowner Census; 1848 Jewish Census of Hungary; 1869 Census (most valuable to genealogists).

n Muster rolls and qualification lists are available from the 1700s to 1915; mostly Austrian.

n Local histories/nobility (from the 1600s).n Tax Lists (Austrian records 1654, 1684, 1746,

1757, 1792).

webSiteS

Major Genealogy Sites/Databases

$ = subscription websiteAncestry.com—ancestry.com ($) Castle Garden—castlegarden.orgEllis Island—ellisisland.orgFamilySearch—familysearch.org; Wiki:—

lisaalzo.com/articles.htmFindMyPast—findmypast.com ($)Fold3—fold3.com ($)GenealogyBank—genealogybank.com ($) Genealogy Articles, Tips & Research Guides—

genealogybranches.comMocavo—mocavo.com ($)MyHeritage—myheritage.com ($)Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records—

deathindexes.com

One-Step Web Pages (Steve Morse)—stevemorse.orgResearch Guides—researchguides.net RootsWeb—rootsweb.com United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

(Click on “History and Genealogy”)— uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

Miscellaneous/Other

Association of Professional Genealogists in Amer-ica—apgen.org

Balch Institute (Historical Society of Pennsylva-nia—hsp.org

Board for Certification of Genealogists— bcgcertification.org

Carpatho-Rusyn Society—carpathorusynsociety.orgChurch Record Translations (John Jaso)—

bmi.net/jjaso/index.htmlCisarik.com—cisarik.comCyndi’s List Czech Republic & Slovakia—

cyndislist.com/czechCyndi’s List Professional Researchers—

CyndisList.com/profess.htmCzechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU)—

svu2000.orgCzechoslovak Genealogical Society International

(CGSI)—cgsi.orgEast European Genealogical Society (EEGS)—

eegsociety.org/Home.aspxFamily Search Letter Writing Guide—

familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/b/bf/LWGCzechSlo.pdf

Family Search Slovakia Genealogical Word List—familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Slovakia_Genealogical_Word_List

Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies—feefhs.org

GenealogyLinks.net— genealogylinks.net/europe/index.html

Google Translate—translate.google.comHungary Exchange—hungaryexchange.comImmigrant History Research Center (University of

Minnesota)—ihrc.umn.eduIt’s All Relative—iarelative.comJewishgen.org—jewishgen.orgNational Czech & Slovak Museum & Library—

ncsml.orgOur Slovakia—our-Slovakia.comSlovak Pride Database—slovakpride.homestead.com


Radix—Genealogical Research in Hungary— bogardi.com/gen/index.shtml

Repositories of Primary Sources— uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

RootsWeb’s Guide to Tracing Family Trees: Czechs and Slovaks—rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/lesson27.htm#Czechs

Slovak Genealogy Research Strategies— iabsi.com/gen/public/

Slovakia—civil.gov.sk/archiv/snarchiv/uk.htmSlovak Institute—slovakinstitute.comSurname Navigator site—geneaservice.nl/navigatorThe EastEuropean GenWeb—

rootsweb.ancestry.com/~easeurgw Twitter—twitter.comWorldGenWeb—worldgenweb.org

Social Media/Message Boards

Facebook—facebook.comGeneabloggers—geneabloggers.comGenealogyLinks.net—

genealogylinks.net/europe/index.html GenealogyWise—genealogywise.comGoogle Plus—plus.google.comDelphi Forums—forums.delphiforums.comGenealogy.com—genealogy.comRootsWeb—www.rootsweb.ancestry.comYahoo!—messages.yahoo.com/yahoo/

Family_%26_Home/Genealogy/index.html

ConCluSion

Effective Czech and Slovak genealogical research in the 21st century is not accomplished by only tra-ditional research or only online research, but rather by using all resources available.

additional reSourCeS

For Further Reading and Instruction

Nase rodina (newsletter of the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International). Order back issues—cgsi.org/publications/article-index. “Slovak Records in the Family History Library–Salt Lake City,” Vol. 18, No. 2, June 2006

Legacy Family Tree Quick Guides: Czech Geneal-ogy; Slovak Genealogy—legacyfamilytreestore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=71

Book: Alzo, Lisa A. Finding Your Slovak Ances-tors. Toronto: Heritage Productions— genealogicalstudies.com

Selected Articles

Alzo, Lisa A. “25 Super Slovak Sites!” Internet Genealogy Magazine, June/July 2009

Alzo, Lisa A. “Center of Attention” Family Tree Magazine, Aug. 2005—lisaalzo.com/articles.htm

Internet Genealogy: Special Issue on East Euro-pean Research—internet-genealogy.com

Course: Discovering Your Czech & Slovak Roots at Family Tree University— familytreeuniversity.com

Course: Finding Your Slovak Ancestors, National Institute for Genealogical Studies— genealogicalstudies.com


Carpatho-Rusyn Settlement in Metro Chicago By John Schweich

The end of the 19th century saw the arrival in the Greater Chicago area of several thousand Carpatho-Rusyns, a distinct but stateless East Slavic people who originated in a constellation of about 1,100 often remote villages located in what are today southeastern Poland, western Ukraine, eastern Slovakia and northeastern Hungary. Predominantly farmers, they arrived in search of economic opportunities offered primarily by the meat-packing, steel and oil refining industries. They came not with a well-developed sense of ethnic identity, but with a desire to replicate the cultural and spiritual life in their home villages. They settled in the city of Chicago and the sub-urbs of Joliet, Gary, Whiting, Mishawaka, Indiana Harbor, East Chicago and Hammond. Once established, they built churches, schools and cemeteries and established fraternal and cultural organizations.

Their Greek Catholic religious identity as Eastern Christians united with Rome was a source of tension and conflicts, prompting court cases, numerous local schisms, and the active intervention of the embassies and foreign ministries of Czarist Russia and the Hapsburg Empire. Perhaps a third of the local community embraced various Orthodox jurisdictions, while another third affiliated with non-Rusyn denominations or joined the ranks of the unchurched.

75th Anniversary of St. Mary’s Assumption Byzan-tine Catholic Church, Whiting Indiana, 1899-1974 (Whiting IN, 1974) 32 pp.

St. Nicholas Church, 50th Anniversary, 1935–1985 (Gary IN 1985) 63 pp.

43rd Anniversary Jubilee, 1916–1959, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, May 17, 1959, Ham-mond Indiana (Hammond IN, 1959) 32pp.

St. Michael’s Byzantine Catholic Church, Golden Jubilee, 1911–1961, Gary Indiana (Gary IN, 1961)

Consecration and Garden Party Reception, Annun-ciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catho-lic Church, Homer Township Illinois, May 14, 2000 (Homer Glen Il, 1990) 54 pp.

St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church, Burr Ridge IL, Orthodox Church in America, Presents 75 Years of Orthodoxy in Chicago, 1932–2007 (Burr Ridge IL, 2007)

100th Anniversary, 1911–2011, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church Palos Park IL (Palos Park IL, 2011) 187 pp.

Seventy-Five Years, 1916–1991, St. Michael’s Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church. Mishawaka Indiana (Mishawaka, IN 1991)

75th Anniversary St, Michael’s Orthodox Catholic Church, Niles Illinois September 10, 1989 (Calu-met City IL, 1989)

75 Years of Byzantine Witness, St. Mary’s Assump-tion Byzantine Catholic Church, Joliet IL, 1990 (Joliet IL, 1990)

Diamond Jubilee, Holy Ghost Orthodox Church, East Chicago Indiana, 1917–1992, 75th Anniver-sary, November 8, 1992 (East Chicago IN, 1992)

Barriger, Lawrence, Good Victory: Metropoli-tan Orestes Chornock and the American Car-patho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese (Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1985) 187 pp.

Anniversary Booklet of the Golden Jubilee of the Church of Saint Basil the Great, 4316 Indianapolis Blvd., East Chicago Indiana 1923–1973 (East Chi-cago IN, 1973) 84 pp.

Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church, Golden Jubilee 1920–1970, Sunday September 27, 1970, East Chicago Indiana (East Chicago, 1970)

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Celebrating 100 Years of Faith, 1907–2007 (Joliet IL, 2007)


Tarasar, Constance J., Orthodox America 1794–1975: The Development of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA, 1975) 351 pp.

Commemorating the Golden Jubilee of St, Mary’s Greek Rite Catholic Church, 1905–1955, 4949 South Seeley Avenue Chicago Illinois (pages unnumbered 1955)

Bezkorovainy, Anatole, ed., A History of Holy Trin-ity Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Chicago, 1892–1992 (Chicago: Holy Trinity Cathedral, 1992) 144 pp.

Commemorative Book on the Occasion of 75th Anni-versary (1906–1981), St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catho-lic Cathedral Parish, Chicago (Chicago: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 1981) 152 pp.

Hromada: Chicago in Luke Myshuha, ed., Jubilee Book of the Ukrainian National Association in Commemoration of the Fortieth Anniversary of its Existence (Jersey City, NJ; Svoboda Publishing, 1936) pp.541-550

Kedrovsky, B., On God’s Field: 20th Anniversary of St. Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church of Gary Indiana, North America, 1911-1931 (Southbury CT Atlas, 1931) 217 pp. (Text in Russian)

Protection of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church, 2011–2011, Centennial Celebration (Merrillville IN, 2011)

Golden Jubilee, 1911–1961: St. Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church, Gary Indiana (Gary, IN, 1961) (31pp.)

Myron Bohdon Kuropas, “Ukrainian Chicago: The Making of a Nationality Group,” pp.199–229 in (Melvin G. Holli and Pete d’A. Jones, eds.) Eth-nic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait (Grand Rap-ids MI, 1995 648 pp.

Taylor Robert N., Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic Experience (Indiana Historical Society Press, 2010) 724 pp.

Slayton, Robert A., Back of the Yards:The Mak-ing of a Local Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 1986) 278 pp.

Magocsi, Paul R., Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and History (University of Toronto, 2002) 561 pp.

Warzeski, Walter C., Byzantine Rite Rusins in Car-patho-Ruthenia and America (Byzantine Seminary Press, 1971) 332 pp.

Dyrud, Keith C., The Quest for the Rusyn Soul: The Politics of Religion and Culture in Eastern Europe and in America, 1890–World War I, (Balch Insti-tute, Philadelphia, 1992) 157 pp.

Korotnoki, (Rev.) Janos, Conscriptio congrega-tionum ecclesiarum, sacerdotum, sacellorum, ac animarum, item scholarum elementarium ritus graeco-Rutheni in Confederatis Statibus Americae Septembrioninalis existentium (unpublished ) 1905 [This is a handwritten census of of of the Greek Catholic parishes in existence as of 1905, with information on year of founding, origin of parishio-ners—“Galicia or Hungary,” names of priests.


How to Research Czech Birth/Marriage/Death Registers on the Internet: A Practical Lesson

Miroslav Koudelka

1) From a coal shovel to the world wide web: Revolution at Czech archives in recent years

2) Working personally with original registers (or their microfilm copies) in research rooms or vir-tually with their scanned copies on the Internet—advantages and disadvantages of both ways:

Travel time Travel expenses Organization convenience Legibility of records Speed/slowness of search

3) The key question—location: The ways to determine the village/town, the

parish and the archive where the needed records should be available.

4) Survey of digitization of birth/marriage/death registers from particular archives

Central Bohemia (Prague)—actapublica.eu 55%—plan to complete around 2018

City of Prague (Prague)—ahmp.cz/katalog Close to 50%—plan to complete in 2016

North-West Bohemia (Litoměřice)— matriky.soalitomerice.cz Completed except those newly taken over last year

South-West Bohemia (Pilsen)— actapublica.eu (parishes A–V) portafontium.cz (parishes P–Ž) Plan to complete on both the servers in 2013

South Bohemia (Třeboň)—digi.ceskearchivy.cz; Completed

North-East Bohemia (Zámrsk)— archivzamrsk.cz/sbirkamatrik/inventar.pdf 42%, plan to complete in 2015

South Moravia (Brno)—actapublica.eu Completed, plan to add about 80 duplicates where originals have not been preserved

North and Central Moravia and Silesia (Opava with its Olomouc Branch)— matriky.archives.cz. Completed

Differences in strategies to access the needed records at each archives:

5) Tools to make the search easier: Inventories, indexes, gazetteers, dictionaries, maps

6) What to be ready for: Various kinds of handwriting

Gothic script (kurent) and print (schwabach) Languages: Ancient Czech, Latin and German,

items of local dialects Occasional mistakes

7) Let us undertake an attempt to research a concrete family—a practical lesson:

Attendees will suggest each of the steps of online research under my leadership and try to decipher and understand the data.


Holidays in the Czech Republic and SlovakiaBy Daniela Mahoney

Festive celebrations, customs, traditional food and colorful crafts were an integral part of seasonal holidays in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Participants will learn about the history and various facets of different holidays in chronological order of the seasons of the year.

late winter/SprinG: maSopuSt, eaSter, niGht oF the witCheS, may traditionS

Summer: ride oF the kinGS

Fall: harVeSt FeStiValS, Celebration oF the SoulS

winter: SVaty mikulaS, ChriStmaS, new year


Tweets, Links, Pins and Posts: Social Media and Family History

Lisa A. Alzo, MFA www.lisaalzo.com

Copyright 2013, Lisa A. Alzo Social networking has literally opened the world to genealogists, providing unprecedented access to places, people and resources that would otherwise be impossible to visit in person or require more effort to connect with by traditional mail or email. But with so many options it’s sometimes hard to know when to tweet, pin, post or link in. This session will show you how to effectively use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Wikis, and websites in your family history research

webSiteS

Ancestral Atlas—ancestralatlas.com DearPhotograph—dearphotograph.com Facebook—facebook.comFindMyPast—findmypast.comFlickr—flickr.comGenealogyWise—genealogywise.com Geneabloggers (more than 3,000 genealogy/family

history blogs)—geneabloggers.com GenChat—conferencekeeper.net/genchat.htmlGeni—geni.comGoogle Alerts—google.com/alerts Google Earth—earth.google.com Google (Gmail/G+)—google.comHigh Definition Genealogy—hidefgen.com History Pin—historypin.orgHootSuite—hootsuite.com Hotmail—hotmail.com Instagram—instagram.com Linked In—linkedin.comMicrosoft Office Live Workspace—officelive.com Mocavo—mocavo.comMyfamily.com—myfamily.com MyHeritage—myheritage.com Pinterest—pinterest.comRootsWeb—accounts.rootsweb.ancestry.comTweetdeck—tweetdeck.com Twitter—twitter.comWeebly—weebly.comWeRelate—werelate.org WhatWasThere—whatwasthere.com WikiTree—wikitree.orgYahoo!—mail.yahoo.comYouTube—youtube.com

leaVinG Virtual breadCrumbS

Leaving a trail online to makes it easier for others to find you and could lead to connecting with living kin. Try these tips:

1. Use an email signature. Set up a free email account just for genealogy purposes. Create an email signature that’ll be automatically inserted at the end of every message, for example: Lisa A. Alzo—researching surnames: Alzo/Alsio/Alzyso, Fencsak/Fencak/Fenchak, Manovsky, Mala, Figlar/Figler, Straka, Verbovsky.

2. Put your tree online (Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, Geni.com, FindMyPast.com, WikiTree.org).

3. Create a family website. Give your family a home in cyberspace.

4. Blog. If you blog it, they may come. See Gene-abloggers website (more than 3,000 blogs about family history and genealogy, and it offers tips for how to blog about your family).

5. Socialize. Using social networking sites such can greatly increase your chances of family finding you. Post about your research finds, comment on other genealogists’ posts and join groups for those who share your genealogical interests.

6. Leave a message. Read and post to genealogy message boards and forums.

7. Locality-based research—Online map sites let you use “virtual pushpins” to map where your family was, and find others who may be researching families from the same locality.

S9 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Saturday, October 26

For Further readinG

“A Minute…to Pin It” by Lisa A. Alzo, Internet Genealogy, April/May 2013.

“Ancestral Atlas” by Lisa A. Alzo, Internet Geneal-ogy, April/May 2010.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Genealogy” by Lisa A. Alzo, Internet Genealogy, April/May 2010.

“Fancy Footnote Pages for Your Ancestors” by Lisa A. Alzo, Internet Genealogy, June/July 2009.

“Social Networking for Your Family Tree” by Rick Crume. Family Tree Magazine, June, 2011.


Rusyn and Slovaks: Similarities and DifferencesJohn Righetti

I. Ethno-historical development

II. East Slav/West Slav

III. Old political boundaries

IV. Rusyn and Slovak migration

V. Magyarization

VI. Czechoslovakia—its creation and administration

VII. Language

VIII. Dress and topography

IX. Acculturation of the Rusyns

X. Ethnographic Division

XI. Summary


Czech DNA Project: Background and UpdateLeo Baca

What do genealogists do after they’ve traced their ances-tors as far as written records will take them? One possi-bility lies in the application of genetic research.

I was not aware of the potential of genetic research until I attended Dr. Gary Kocurek’s presentation at the September 2001 Texas Czech Genealogical Society Conference in College Station. At that time Gary presented the results of his first mitochon-drial DNA test, which indicated the possibility of a genetic marker for Valachs. He later published his test results in the Ceske Stopy (Volume I, Number 3, pages 16-18). That was the beginning of the Czech DNA Project.

Now, what is this all about? Genetics research during the past 20 years has shown that an incredible amount of information about our ancestry is encoded in our genetic material (DNA). What we have learned in school is that we receive half of our genetic material from each our parents. What we didn’t learn was that two kinds of DNA are passed down from the father and mother and are not mixed. This makes it possible to trace both our maternal and paternal lines since no mixing of DNA occurs for these two kinds of DNA.

The method for gathering a DNA sample does not involve any blood. You are sent a small brush to scrape some cells from the inside of your cheeks. You seal the brush in small plastic package and return it to the genetics testing company with the payment for the test. Since DNA testing prices have been declining, it is best to check the websites of the various DNA testing companies for the latest prices. In the United States there are three large genetic genealogy testing companies. They are Family Tree DNA (familytreedna.com), 23andMe (23andme.com), and Ancestry.com.

The method for tracing your maternal line is called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing. Mito-chondrial DNA is passed from a mother to her chil-dren. While all children receive mtDNA from their mother, only females can pass on mtDNA. From these seemingly simple facts, an incredible amount

of genetics research has resulted. An update of the mtDNA results achieved to date will be presented at the CGSI Chicago Conference.

The method for tracing your paternal line is called Y chromosome testing. The Y chromosome is passed from father to son. This is a great technique for test-ing to see if a group of males is descended from a common ancestor. A practical example would be if two males shared a surname. They both would run a Y chromosome test. If they match, then they share a common male ancestor. The method for gathering a DNA sample is the same as described above for mtDNA. Family Tree DNA group offers discount rates for various types of genetics study. To participate in this study and to obtain the group discount rate, contact Leo Baca at [email protected] or 1707 Wood-creek, Richardson, TX 75082, or Joan Hudson at [email protected]. The Czech DNA Project has a website: http//www.familytreedna.com/public/Czech. You can join the project by visiting this website and ordering a DNA test. The project now has over 500 participants. An update of the Y chromosome test results achieved to date will be presented at the CGSI Chicago Conference.

There will also be a discussion of autosomal DNA testing. Its primary use is the identification of cous-ins, but is limited to about four or five generations as half of the DNA signal is lost with each passing generation. There will also be a discussion of the use of autosomal DNA testing to search for genetic markers which may indicate a predisposition for certain medical conditions.

Recently the application of population genetics research in the Czech Republic has resulted in the publication of a number of technical papers that have drawn the interest of Czech-American genetic genealogists. In particular, the publication of research data regarding the Y-chromosomal diversity of the Moravian Valachs will be discussed in detail. This will include the presentation of the Valach Modal Haplotype which was derived during the course of this research.


If you want to learn more, there is a list group on the use of DNA in genealogy. You can subscribe at [email protected]. Just put “subscribe” in the subject line of your email. Or you can email me at [email protected] or Joan Hudson at [email protected]. Joan is the project co- administrator. She has been working a number of genealogical issues/problems with project members.

teChniCal publiCationS

1. Edvard Ehler, Daniel Vanek, Vlastimil Stenzl, and Vaclav Vancata. “Y-Chromsomal diversity of the Valachs from the Czech Republic: model for isolated population in Central Europe.” Cro-ation Medical Journal. 2011.

2. F. Luca, A. Kracmarcova, R. Brdicka, et al. “Y-Chrosomal Variation in the Czech Republic.” American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 2007.

3. T. Vanecek, F. Vorel, and M. Sip. “Mitochon-drial DNA D-loop hypervariable regions: Czech population data.” International Journal of Legal Medicine. 2004.


pohoda - · PDF fileIt is not easy to define Pohoda (good time). It is primarily a...

Documents

Transcript of pohoda - · PDF fileIt is not easy to define Pohoda (good time). It is primarily a...