Medal to SVU President

At a special ceremony on November 16, H.E. Martin Palous, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States of America, presented SVU President Miloslav Rechcigl "Jan Masaryk Silver Memorial Medal". The citation, which was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs JUDr. Cyril Svoboda, reads that the award is being made "in recognition of his significant contributions in developing and strengthening relations between the Czech Republic and the United States of America."

The award presentation ceremony was initially scheduled during a reception marking the Czech National Holiday on October 28, 2005 at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, however, because of Dr. Rechcigl trip to Prague, it had to be postponed until November.

Mila Rechcigl, who has been SVU President since 1994, after his early Presidency in 1974-1978), has been involved in fostering cultural relations between the US and Czechoslovakia, and its successor States, from the time of the Velvet Revolution in Prague. Through his initiative SVU established its notable Research Institute and the Commission for Cooperation with Czechoslovakia which sponsored a whole series of workshops and seminars on grantsmanship and research management. The workshops played an important role in the Society's effort to bring Czech, as well as Slovak, scientists, reseasrchers and educators on the par with their counterparts in the West. He was also instrumental in creating Czech and Slovak National Heritage Commission for the purpose of coordinating efforts toward preserving Czech and Slovak Cultural Heritage abroad and surveying and mapping historic sites and archival documents bearing on the Czech and Slovak presence in America and the Czechoslovak-US relations. The latter resulted in his recently issued monographs, Czech-American Histotic Sites, Monuments, and Memorials and a 2-volume set, Czechoslovak American Archiovalia, published by the Palacky University in Olomouc in 2004.

In this connection, he also organized several important conferences, one in Texas in 1997, the second in Minnesota (1999), the third in Nebraska (2001) and another in Iowa (2003). Through his initiative, a special Working Conference on Czech & Slovak American Materials and their Preservation was held at the Czech and Slovak Embassies in Washington, DC in November 2003. It was an exceptionally successful conference which led to the establishment of the new Czech & Slovak American Archival Consortium (CSAAC). Most recently, he also organized, jointly with the ACSCC of Florida, a conference on "Czech and Slovak Heritage on Both Sides of the Atlantic", 17-20 March 2005. The conference was co-sponsored by the US Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, under the aegis of both Presidents of the Czech and Slovak Republics. Apart from these Conferences, he was the chief organzer of most recent SVU World Congresses, including the 1994 Congress in Prague, 1996 Congress in Brno, 1998 Congress in Bratislava. 2000 Congress in Washington, DC, 2002 Congress in Plzen and 2004 Congress in Olomouc.

Among historians, Dr. Rechcigl is well known for his studies on history of American Czechs and Slovaks. A number of his publications deal with the early immigrants from the Czechlands and Slovakia, including the migration of Moravian Brethren to America. In the last few years he has been working on the cultural contributions of American Czechs and Slovaks. A selection of his biographical portraits of prominent Czech-Americans from the 17th century to date has been published in Prague, under the title Postavy nasí Ameriky (Personalities of our America) (2000; 350 p.).On the occasion of his 75th birthday, SVU sponsored his monograph, Czechs and Slovaks in America, published by East European Monographs and Columbia University Press (2005; 317 p.).

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