Summary Information
Polanki, the Polish Women's Cultural Club of Milwaukee Records 1946-2013
- Polanki, the Polish Women's Cultural Club of Milwaukee (Wis.)
Milwaukee Mss 74; Milwaukee Micro 39; Micro 934; M98-009
5.4 c.f. (14 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35 mm); plus additions of 8 photographs
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Records of Polanki, a club organized in 1953 to create interest in Polish culture and traditions, inspire American Poles with pride in their heritage, and sponsor the Polish exhibit and booth at Milwaukee's annual folk fair. Among the activities of Polanki which are represented by correspondence, administrative and financial records, news clippings, and other files are annual Easter teas, Polonaise balls, Chopin piano contests, scholarship and achievement awards, and St. John's Eve (“Swietojanki”) celebrations. Also well-documented is the work of two long-time Polanki leaders, Harriet Gostomski and Janet H. Branden. English, Polish
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00074 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Polanki, the Polish Women's Cultural Club, was organized in Milwaukee in 1953 by 24 women of Polish ancestry, to provide for the staffing of the Polish cultural exhibit and booth at the city's annual International Folk Fair. The group also established as goals creating interest in Polish culture and traditions among non-Poles, and inspiring American Poles with pride in their cultural heritage.
Among the cultural and fund-raising projects of Polanki have been annual Easter teas, the Polonaise Ball for debutantes of Polish background, Chopin piano contests (beginning in 1960), scholarship and achievement award programs, and the St. John's Eve or “Swietojanki” celebration (1953-1956). Every year, the women of Polanki participate in the Folk Fair (sometimes called the Holiday Folk Fair), held by the International Institute of Milwaukee County; they also sponsor visiting Polish dance and music groups, Polish language classes, museum displays, Polish dinners, and lectures on a variety of subjects. In 1963 and 1979, the Milwaukee organization hosted the annual convention of its parent group, the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs.
The work of Polanki has been directed primarily by two long-active leaders, the first president, Harriet Gostomski (Mrs. John Jakusz-Gostomski) and current (1982) president, Janet H. Branden.
Arrangement of the Materials
This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Janet H. Branden, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1981; Susan Mikos, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1998; and Ewa Barczyk, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999. Accession Number: M81-120, M98-009, M99-083
Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, Mark Thiel, and Sheila Ryan, September 1982; additions processed by Heather Aho, April 2002.
Contents List
Milwaukee Mss 74
|
Part 1 (Milwaukee Mss 74, Milwaukee Micro 39, Micro 934): Original Collection, 1946-20014.8 c.f. (12 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35 mm) The activities of Polanki are illustrated through the files of General Correspondence and Related Materials, Administrative Records, Financial Records, Records of Special Projects and Events, and Miscellaneous Files. A file of Clippings has been microfilmed. Within the sizable files of GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIALS are letters, most of which pertain to preparations for the Holiday Folk Fair, or to other events sponsored annually by Polanki, together with associated programs, news clippings, flyers and announcements, and printed material. Much of the correspondence was written by the president of the organization. Some letters written by Harriet Gostomski concerning Polish participation in the Folk Fair pre-date the organization of Polanki. ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include lists of attendance at monthly meetings, monthly informational bulletins of Polanki, by-laws, mailing lists, membership applications and correspondence, and minutes of meetings (in Polish). Two folders of photographs of Polanki-organized events, exhibits, and Folk Fair booths complete the series. FINANCIAL RECORDS of Polanki comprise another major series of the collection, and include annual budgets; general financial records, consisting mainly of receipts and documentation of purchases and expenses involved with the Folk Fair; cancelled checks, statements, and stubs; bank deposit tickets and savings accounts records; and general receipts. The RECORDS OF SPECIAL PROJECTS AND EVENTS concern activities other
than the Folk Fair. Among the records are correspondence; applications for Polanki's achievement awards for high school seniors and college students of Polish descent, and for similar awards sponsored by the Polish National Alliance; and files of letters, financial records, programs, and news clippings from the 1976 reception for Small Business Administration head Mitchell Kobelinski and from the 1979 panel on “National Perspectives,” both sponsored in part by Polanki. Conventions of the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs are well-represented by files of programs, correspondence, and documents generated during the course of the conventions. There are also a few files of MISCELLANEOUS materials, consisting of items of interest to Americans of Polish background. On microfilm are NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS regarding Polanki's activities and other items of interest to Milwaukee Polish-Americans.
|
|
|
Series: General Correspondence and Related Materials
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1-6
|
1946-1962
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1-9
|
1963-1971
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1-7
|
1972-1978
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1-2
|
, 1979-1981; , undated and miscellaneous correspondence and related papers
|
|
|
Series: Administrative Records
|
|
Box
4
Folder
3
|
Attendance lists, 1973-1977
|
|
|
Bulletins
|
|
Box
4
Folder
4
|
1956-1979, undated
|
|
Box
12
Folder
6-10
|
1980-1998
|
|
Box
4
Folder
5
|
By-laws, circa 1955, 1960, 1966, undated
|
|
Box
4
Folder
6
|
Mailing lists, 1953-1955, undated
|
|
Box
4
Folder
7
|
Memberships, 1966-1979
|
|
Box
4
Folder
8
|
Meeting minutes, 1953-1972, undated
|
|
Box
4
Folder
9
|
Minute book, 1960-1963 (Volume 1)
|
|
Box
4
Folder
10
|
Minute book, 1963-1972 (Volume 2)
|
|
Box
13
Folder
2-18
|
Newsletters, Polanki, Inc., 2003-2011
|
|
Box
14
Folder
1-4
|
Newsletters, Polanki, Inc., 2012-2013
|
|
Box
5
Folder
1-2
|
Photographs and awards from International Institute
|
|
|
Series: Financial Records
|
|
Box
5
Folder
3
|
Budgets, 1961-1978
|
|
|
General records
|
|
Box
5
Folder
4-8
|
1950, 1954-1969
|
|
Box
6
Folder
1-2
|
1971-1977
|
|
|
Cancelled checks and statements
|
|
Box
6
Folder
3-6
|
1953-1961
|
|
Box
7
Folder
1-7
|
1962-1973
|
|
Box
8
Folder
1-3
|
1974-1976
|
|
Box
8
Folder
4-5
|
Check stubs, 1953-1964, 1970-1976
|
|
|
Deposit tickets
|
|
Box
8
Folder
6
|
1953-1966
|
|
Box
9
Folder
1
|
1969, 1973-1976
|
|
Box
9
Folder
2-4
|
Receipts, 1956-1959, 1962-1976
|
|
Box
9
Folder
5
|
Savings accounts, 1959, 1972-1975
|
|
|
Series: Records of Special Projects and Events
|
|
|
Achievement awards
|
|
|
Applications
|
|
Box
9
Folder
6-8
|
1970-1975
|
|
Box
10
Folder
1-2
|
1976-1977
|
|
Box
10
Folder
3-4
|
Correspondence, 1962, 1965-1977, undated
|
|
Box
10
Folder
5
|
Kobelinski reception, October 5, 1976
|
|
Box
10
Folder
6
|
National Perspectives Panel, August 17, 1979
|
|
Box
12
Folder
1
|
Polonaise Ball 1963, 1978, 1981-1985, and Polanki Awards Tea, , 1984, 2008
|
|
Box
10
Folder
7
|
Polish National Alliance Merit Awards, 1975-1976
|
|
Box
10
Folder
8
|
St. John's Eve (Swietojanki), 1953-1956
|
|
|
American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs Conventions, papers and correspondence
|
|
Box
10
Folder
9-10
|
1954-1963
|
|
Box
11
Folder
1-5
|
1963-1979
|
|
Box
12
Folder
2
|
1963, 1979
|
|
Box
12
Folder
4
|
We, the Milwaukee Poles, 1946
|
|
Box
13
Folder
1
|
60th anniversary, 2013
|
|
|
Series: Miscellaneous Files
|
|
Box
12
Folder
3
|
Contemporary Polish graphics, 1963
|
|
Box
11
Folder
6
|
The Panorama of Contemporary Polish Culture
|
|
Box
11
Folder
7
|
Polish folk art designs
|
|
Box
11
Folder
8
|
Royal Castle, Warsaw - fundraising project, 1971
|
|
Box
12
Folder
5
|
Miscellaneous Polish pamphlets, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1987, 2001
|
|
Box
11
Folder
9
|
Miscellany
|
|
Milwaukee Micro 39/Micro 934
|
Series: Newspaper Clippings, 1946-1979
|
|
M98-009
|
Part 2 (M98-009): Additions, 1960s-1980s 8 photographs : Photographs from the 1960s and 1980s depicting Polish costumes and crafts (probably the group's exhibits at the annual folk fair).
|
|
|