OUR BLOG
The Polish Cultural Fund is initiating a blog on its Facebook page focused on the history of Polonia in Ann Arbor, with an early emphasis on the visits to the city by a wide range of Polish political and cultural representatives who were hosted in the city over the past fifty years.
These Polish guests, who played an important role in Poland’s recent history and culture, came as a result of invitations by the University of Michigan and its Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES), as well as the Copernicus Endowment and now the Copernicus Center for Polish Studies (CCPS), by Studium: The North American Study Center for Polish Affairs, which was headquartered in Ann Arbor between 1975 and 1991, by the local Ann Arbor Chapter of the Polish American Congress, and by a variety of other University of Michigan departments, clubs and by private Ann Arbor residents. Our longer term plans also include presenting a history of Polish American Ann Arbor residents and students, who over the past century have been active in promoting and showcasing Polish culture and history.
The blog will be written by Ewa Sobotowski and Andrzej Dolata , and will draw on the archival photos and documents of among others, Marian Krzyżowski, recently retired from the University of Michigan where he worked for over forty years as a research administrator, the director of a University of Michigan research institute and who was an active participant in many of the visits by the Polish guests. We will also draw on the archives of CREES, CCPS and private individuals at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library.
We hope the blog will serve as a basis for others to share their memories, experiences and archives related to the Polish and Polish American presence in Ann Arbor. We welcome your thoughts, contributions, and suggestions. Feel free to share the postings.
Ewa and Andrzej