New Year's Resolution
An Open Letter to Czech & Slovak American Organizations

Dear Friends:

I am writing to you on behalf of SVU and our National Heritage Commission, an informal group of Czech and Slovak ethnic organizations in the US, joined together for the purpose of coordinating and spearheading our efforts toward preserving Czech and Slovak cultural heritage abroad.

As you will recall, several years ago, under the aegis of the Commission, we carried out an extensive US-wide survey of the historic sites and other memorabilia bearing on the Czech and Slovak presence in America. Based on this survey, two comprehensive reports have been prepared, one entitled Czech American Historic Sites, Monuments and Memorabilia, and the other Czechoslovak American Archivalia. The latter comprised of archival materials relating to emigres and exiles from the territory of the former Czechoslovakia and the relevant holdings on their ancestral land. You will be pleased to know that the above reports, which form an important baseline of information, will be published in a book form by Palacky University in Olomouc, on the occasion of the forthcoming SVU World Congress in June 2004.

The main reason why I am writing you today is to inform you about the recent archival conference, organized jointly by SVU and the Czech and Slovak Embassies, in Washington, DC, held in the two Embassies on November 22 and 23, 2003. The conference, with its theme "Czech and Slovak American Archival Materials and their Preservation", was an unqualified success, as was also reported in American ethnic press and by the Czech and Slovak media in the old country. The conference was prompted by the genuine concern about the state and the uncertain fate of Czech and Slovak archival materials in America. Although some of these materials have been deposited in exiting archival institutions, the majority of the documents are still in private hands. The individuals, in whose possession these materials are, are frequently unaware of their historic value and, as a consequence, many of these precious materials may get destroyed or lost. It is for this reason that ethnic leaders and chief officers of various Czech and Slovak American organizations were invited to the conference to acquaint them with the seriousness of the problem in an effort to persuade them to save these irreplaceable materials for the future. After all, this material frequently reflects the life, the struggles, the work and the accomplishment of our ancestors - the immigrants and the exiles from the territory of former Czechoslovakia and, as such, is an important source material for scholars and researchers. It is part of our Czech, Slovak and American cultural heritage that needs to be preserved.

As a result of the conference, the participants unanimously agreed to launch a concerted effort leading to the preservation of the Czech and Slovak documents and other memorabilia for the future, irrespective of where they may be. This goal, of course, is feasible and attainable only with the participation and cooperation of the entire Czech and Slovak community in the US and Canada. We are therefore appealing to all the various societies to lend their hand to this important endeavor. The mechanism for such cooperation is already in place in the recently created National Heritage Commission. The societies that are not members yet are encouraged to join our ranks so that we can indeed launch a united national effort to save our precious cultural heritage.

We appeal to all the societies, as well as to all individuals who have possessions of any documentary material or other memorabilia relating to Czechs and Slovaks in North America to please let us know. The type of material we are referring to includes correspondence, oral histories, diaries, memoirs, speeches, photographs, reprints, notebooks, newspaper clippings, obituaries and other announcements, certificates and various family documents, posters, records of meetings, club financial records, various types of publications, almanacs, calendars, annuals, old newspapers and periodicals, etc. Based on the type of material you have, we will be able to advise you where the material could be deposited for safe keeping so that future generations could learn how their ancestors lived. With the recently created Czech ad Slovak American Archival Consortium we will also be able to give you technical advice from professional archivists and scholars. Please send your responses, comments, suggestions and queries to the following e-mail address: SVU1@comcast.net

Make our effort also your effort and let's all consider our joint endeavor our New Year's Resolution!

With the best wishes for the New Year,

Mila Rechcigl
SVU President
Coordinator, National Heritage Commission

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