Title: Polish National Alliance of the United States of North America. Lodge 54: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1932-1981

Creator:

• Polish National Alliance of the United States of North America. Lodge 54 (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 46

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (2 archives boxes, 1 card box, 1 volume)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records, some in Polish, of the Reverend Augustine Kordecki Society, Lodge 54 of a Polish American fraternal and mutual benefit association. Most records pertain to its sales of insurance and payment of death and sick benefits. Included are insurance premium records, records of loans granted and repaid, monthly insurance records to the PNA national secretary, lodge financial records, and fragmentary correspondence, plus a few items from Lodge 457 which merged into Lodge 54 in 1937. Also present are badges worn by lodge officers during ceremonies.

Language: English, Polish

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00046

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Lodge 54 of the Polish National Alliance (Zwiazek Narodowy Polski) was organized May 29, 1886 as the Stanislaus Moniuszko Society. Organizers included Michael Kucera, Constantine Malek, Casimir Swierzy, and Ignace Wendzinski. On 5 March 1937, the Moniuszko Society merged with the Reverend Augustine Kordecki Society, Lodge 457 of the PNA, with the resulting group known as Lodge 54, Rev. Augustine Kordecki Society. Lodge 457 was itself originally established January 1, 1899, by J. Piatkowski, M. Gawin, J. Kolter, Joseph Markowski, Joseph Wojczynski, Leon Warkoczewski, Anton Smigielski, J. Slatkowski, A. Kaminski, J. Napientek, and S. Cieslinski.

As an affiliate of Milwaukee's Council 8, Lodge 54 held its meetings at the Council's Alliance Home, and participated in PNA-sponsored Red Cross and war relief work, and paid sick, disability, and death benefits to members. During the last years of its activity, work of the Lodge was conducted primarily by secretary Orville Brunnelle, with assistance from his wife, Anna. The last president of the Lodge was James Kotowski. In May 1981 Lodge 54 merged with Lodge 3073 (the AmerPole Lodge), and lost its separate identity.

The records of Lodge 54 are predominantly financial in nature and are incomplete. Most items date from the late 1950s, with almost no records of Lodge 457 included in the collection. Several years prior to the date of donation, lodge members instructed secretary Brunnelle to destroy the minutes of the lodge; all remaining records were turned over to Lodge 3073 following merger in 1981, and were donated by the financial secretary of Lodge 3073, Gladys Podkomorski.

The majority of the records of Lodge 54 pertain to members' insurance policies, premium payments, requests for loans, and payment of death benefits. There are several folders of insurance premium records, in alphabetical order by last name, listing personal data, amount of policy, amount of premium, and recording payments made. Originally these records were in the form of two ledgers, dated 1958 to 1968 (including records of juvenile policies, and cash surrenders and death payments), and 1971 to 1980. Monthly reports to the PNA National Secretary also provide information about insurance policy holdings and premiums, in the form of a monthly computer listing of members, with addresses and telephone numbers. There are two folders relating to loans requested by members using their insurance policies as security. One folder contains signed legal forms recording the amount of the loan, members' name, amount of monthly repayment, and date of last payment; these are the oldest records in the collection. A separate folder contains documents recording automatic loans granted to members. Also included in the collection is a folder of correspondence and related material, much of which deals with insurance matters; and such lodge financial records as a cash book, checks and check stubs, and bank statements.

Also present are several badges once worn by Lodge officers during ceremonies. The badges are quite ornate and indicate the seriousness and solemnity with which both Lodges 54 and 457 performed their ceremonies.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Gladys Podkomorski, Greenfield, Wisconsin, 1981. Accession Number: M81-372

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, September 1981.

Volume   1	Cash Book, 1971-1978
Box   3	Ceremonial Badges, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence and Related Material, 1966-1981
	Financial Records
Box   1 Folder   2	Bank Statements and Miscellaneous, 1975-1978
Box   1 Folder   3	Check Stubs, 1959-1961
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Checks and Check Stubs, 1968-1978
Box   1 Folder   6	Insurance Policies, 1960-1961
	Insurance Premium Records
	1958-1968
Box   1 Folder   7	Last Names B-J
Box   1 Folder   8	Last Names K-S
Box   1 Folder   9	Last Names T-Z
Box   1 Folder   10	Juvenile(?), Last Names A-Z
Box   2 Folder   1	Cash Surrenders and Death Payments
	1971-1980
Box   2 Folder   2	Last Names A-H
Box   2 Folder   3	Last Names I-P
Box   2 Folder   4	Last Names R-Z
Box   2 Folder   5	Loans Granted, 1964-1980
Box   2 Folder   6	Loans Repaid, 1932-1956
Box   2 Folder   7	Miscellany, 1966-1980, undated
Box   2 Folder   8-10	Monthly Reports to PNA National Secretary, 1974-1978