Summary Information
Polish Fine Arts Club Records
1921-1949
1978
- Polish Fine Arts Club (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Milwaukee Mss 63
0.2 c.f. (1 archives box and 1 oversize folder)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Records of the club, a Milwaukee group founded to disseminate Polish culture by performing and sponsoring plays, concerts, and operas. Included are minutes of meetings (1930-1933); correspondence; fragmentary financial records; membership records; programs; and some script materials, newsclippings, and photographs from performances (some from the Polish Opera Club).
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00063 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Polish Fine Arts Club (Klub Kultury Polskiej) was organized following a 1930 lake front festival in Milwaukee. Festival singers and dancers who participated in the favorably received “Polish Wedding” ceremony were asked to perform again on several occasions, and thus decided to form a group to disseminate Polish culture to others. Charter members included Conrad Saskowski, Stasia Pokora, and Felicia Kwasieborska. The Club produced and sponsored both light comedies and more serious works, operas, and concerts, among them being Words and Music (1932), Ladies and Hussars (1932), Yours to Command (written by Saskowski, 1935), Children Be Good (1937), Ach Te Wakacje (written by Stasia Pokora, 1937), Polonaise (1939), and the annual Night in Poland ball. Several symphony concerts, usually featuring Polish conductor Jerzy Bojanowski, were also sponsored by the Club. While the operas and serious concerts and plays of the Polish Fine Arts Club generally broke even financially, the comedies and spoofs were fundraisers for the group. After 1949 the Club disbanded due to declining interest among the membership.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of minutes of meetings of the Club, 1930-1933; correspondence, primarily concerning membership information; fragmentary financial records, with a few bills and box office statements; and membership lists and dues records. Records of the Club's productions include programs, news clippings of reviews, some script materials and other writings, probably by Conrad Saskowski. The photographs are of productions of Halka, Masked Ball, and Martha which were performed by the Polish Opera Club, 1921-1927. Pictured in the photographs are characters from these productions, most of them portrayed by Rose Saskowski.
Also in the collection are news clippings, 1938-1940, regarding Club activities, with a 1978 clipping and copy of a certificate honoring Conrad Saskowski at the time of the performance of his operetta Spring Song. A folder of miscellany includes programs of other dramatic events and concerts, and brochures from exhibits of art work by Polish artists. Some of the papers have been damaged by mice.
Related Material
Researchers should also consult the papers and photographs of John C. Landowski, co-founder with Anthony J. Lukaszewski of the Polish Opera Club; the Lukaszewski collection of papers and photographs; and the papers of actor Jozef Kosciuk in the collection of Emil Pankiewicz.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Conrad and Jane Saskowski, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1980. Accession Number: M80-42
Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, January 1982.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Correspondence and Related Papers, 1930-1939
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Financial Records, 1939-1949, undated
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Membership Lists, 1931-1933; Application and Questionnaire
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Minutes, 1930-1933
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Miscellaneous, 1938, 1940
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Box
1
Folder
6
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News Clippings, 1938-1940, 1978
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Box
1
Oversize Folder
1
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Photographs, 1927-1940
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Box
1
Box
7
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Play Scripts, Directions, and Other Writings, 1931-1933
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|
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Box
1
Box
8
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Programs and News Clippings, 1933-1939
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