The collection consists of a variety of materials regarding the Kwasniewski and Dyniewicz families, as well as business records of Roman and Jozef Kwasniewski, and a few records of clubs and organizations. None of the files are complete.
Family papers are represented by several folders of correspondence of Jozef, Roman and Wanda Kwasniewski. Letters to Jozef primarily relate news of relatives living in the Galicia district in Poland. Jozef's correspondence with individuals at the Kuryer Polski concerns his position, his salary, and planning for future projects. There are also several letters from Roman to his parents, written when Roman paid visits to relatives in Chicago and to the St. Louis Exhibition in 1904, and letters from Roman to his son Edward while the latter was a student at the University of Wisconsin. Like his father, Roman maintained an extensive correspondence with relatives in Poland. Following a visit to Poland in 1932, Roman wrote both to Polish friends and to young American acquaintances who had traveled with him. Many of these young people addressed him as “Dad” in their letters. Roman continued the family correspondence with the Jaclowska family in Warsaw, who were related to his Dyniewicz relatives, and with several individuals in the Jaroslaw region from which his father had come. Despite the changes in the European political situation during the 1930s, there is little comment in these letters other than on matters of personal interest. Other letters written and received by Roman concern his takeover of his father's role as agricultural editor of the Kuryer Polski following his father's death. Later correspondence deals mainly with the family genealogy. Letters received by Wanda Kwasniewski were entirely personal and family-related in nature; most came from her sister and other relatives in Chicago.
The results of Roman Kwasniewski's research into the family history are contained in a separate folder, and include a handwritten family tree, his handwritten reminiscences of his grandparents and relatives, obituaries and newspaper clippings concerning Jozef Kwasniewski and Wladyslaw Dyniewicz, and other papers.
Business records in the collection are numerous, and include Art Flower Shop client records, with correspondence, orders, and occasionally, samples of products ordered or offered for sale. Most of these records date from 1949 to 1952, when Roman Kwasniewski ran the business. Among the customers were retailers, and wholesale firms and suppliers. Together, these records provide an interesting view of a small Milwaukee business.
In addition, there are a few canceled checks written by Jozef Kwasniewski (1923), a record of photo supplies purchased by Roman in 1912 and 1913, and a folder of newspaper advertisements for Roman's studio and for his competitors, with a printed brochure and business cards. Many of these advertisements bear Kwasniewski's photograph. In addition there are fragmentary notes and accounts from his business during the 1930s, and an address book apparently listing photographic suppliers. There is a Kwasniewski photo in the collection, a 1916 photo of the 25th anniversary of the St. Cecilia Choir of St. Josaphat's Basilica. A folder of legal documents contains Jozef Kwasniewski's 1892 application as Notary Public, several family mortgage bonds, documents regarding improvements to the Becher Street property (1918-1921), a document listing bequests of a Kwasniewski relative in Poland (1921), and a legal agreement regarding storage of property (1953). Roman Kwasniewski was a stockholder of the Lincoln State Bank, and received a copy of the Bank's 1949 report to the Board of Directors.
On microfilm are records related to the farm column and agricultural page edited by Jozef and Roman Kwasniewski. Included are examples of a wide correspondence with readers regarding specific queries, and correspondence with others in the same subject field requesting information. Roman Kwasniewski also acted as a consumer advocate for his readers. Following this portion of the file are newspaper clippings, arranged alphabetically by name of newspaper, by subject, and by season of the year. Roman Kwasniewski attempted to improve the quality of the farm column and page, and kept the newspaper clippings as a personal reference file. Most of the items are in Polish, and were taken from United States publications, although there are two examples of foreign journals, Czas, published in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Swit from Parana, Brazil.
Other papers include printed by-laws and a receipt book of the Dabrowka Society (Group 115 of the Polish Women's Alliance of America), which was organized in Milwaukee by Wanda Kwasniewski on March 2, 1911, and a folder of dues books of family members who belonged to Polish National Alliance and Polish Women's Alliance groups. There is also a small book of prose written and published by Wladyslaw Dyniewicz, Kwasniewski family insurance and real estate records, and copies of family photographs and a few postcards. Within the files of miscellaneous materials are a few business papers; a variety of printed constitutions, dues books, and reports from Polish community organizations; two certificates awarded to Roman Kwasniewski in recognition of his work with selective service registration during World War II, and Receipt books belonging to Adele Kwasniewski Kaczmarowski as a member of Group 2201 of the Polish National Alliance and Group 26 of the Polish Women's Alliance of America. Pamphlets and printed materials include Odezwa Polakow w Ameryck w Sprawie Polsi (Chicago: 1899), two Polish-language songbooks (1899-1901), several pamphlets regarding socialism (1920), a Golden Jubilee Souvenir of the Polish National Alliance, May 3, 1931, Zwiazkowiec (16 July 1933), and a guidebook to the cemetery of the Polish defenders of Lwow (1934). There are also two programs commemorating the visit of Joseph Moscicki, son of the president of Poland, to Milwaukee in 1934, and a souvenir program of the 25th anniversary of the Village of Pulaski, 1935.
