Title: Mary J. Kosmatka Family Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1896-1979

Creator:

• Kosmatka, Mary J., 1906-

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 76

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 flat box)

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:

Family photographs and genealogies, a few letters, newsclippings, and other items preserved by Mary Grochowska Kosmatka. Among those represented in the collection are members of the Kuszewski and Grochowski families in Milwaukee. There are many photographs of the relatives of Mary Kosmatka, as well as photos of herself as a young woman, and as a member of the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle. The Dramatic Circle, which presented plays in Polish at St. Casimir's Church in Milwaukee, is represented by cast and banquet photos from the 1920's and 1930's. Also included is a family genealogy compiled by Kosmatka, her own autobiographical sketch, newsclippings of her experiences as a VISTA worker in Arizona, and a few family records.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00076

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Mary J. (Maryanna Joanna) Grochowska was born in Milwaukee, September 2, 1906 to Rosa (Kuszewska) and Simon (later James) Grochowski, Jr. She attended several grade schools, including St. Casimir's, Lapham Park Open Air School, and Palmer Street Public School, followed by Riverside High School. She also took the two-year commercial course offered by the Milwaukee school systems, and attended McDonald's Business College, finishing before she was sixteen years of age. Mary then worked for her uncle, Joseph B. Kuszewski, at his grocery store on North Bremen Street for three years, and later in the office of the Milwaukee Shoe Company until her marriage on May 22, 1934. Throughout her youth and following her marriage, Mary Kosmatka was active in numerous civic, church, and social organizations. When she was nineteen, she was accepted as a member of the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle, which gave performances at St. Casimir's Church.

In 1936 Mary and her husband, Valentine Kosmatka, opened the Lincoln Gift Shoppe on West Lincoln Avenue, which they operated until 1940. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kosmatka subsequently held a variety of jobs in several Milwaukee businesses. Their daughter, Rose Marie, was born in 1936. Valentine Kosmatka died in 1961. In 1966, Mary Kosmatka joined VISTA and spent a year working with families on the Navajo reservation at Ft. Defiance, Arizona. Since that time she has lived in Oconomowoc, Milwaukee, and in Watertown, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since 1977.

The majority of the collection is composed of photographs of Mary Kosmatka, her parents, siblings, and other relatives; of the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle (to which Mary Kosmatka belonged), circa 1930; and of a few Milwaukee priests. A listing of brief descriptions of the photos is attached, although not all have been identified. To supplement the photographs are a family history compiled by Mrs. Kosmatka; a lengthy autobiographical letter and sketch, dated May 17, 1981; her 1981 remembrances of working in her uncle's store; two letters from a relative describing two of the photographs and giving additional genealogical details; a copy of the speech delivered by Mary Grochowska when accepted in the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle; and news clippings regarding Mrs. Kosmatka's VISTA experiences. There are a few printed items which mention Mrs. Kosmatka's name, a loan repayment record book of Rosa Grochowski, an accounting exercise book of Clara Grochowska (Mary's sister), and a small packet of holy cards.

The papers of Mary Kosmatka are most significant for the photographs of her family, relatives, and friends, and for their depiction of the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle casts, and scenes of Milwaukee during the first two or three decades of the twentieth century.

Wojtczak, Pelagia. Papers, 1937-1976. (Milwaukee SC 103)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mary J. Kosmatka, Watertown, Wisconsin, 1980-1981. Accession Number: M81-020, M81-371

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, March 1982.

Box   1 Folder   2	Accounting Exercise Book of Clara Grochowska, 1910-1911
Box   1 Folder   1	Historical and Biographical Materials, 1967, 1981, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Holy Cards, 1927-1961, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Loan Repayment Book of Rosa Grochowski, 1935-1939
Box   1 Folder   2	Accounting Exercise Book of Clara Grochowski, 1910-1911
	Photographs
Box   1 Envelope   1	Simon Von Grochowski, father of Simon, Jr. (James), and grandfather of Mary Kosmatka, undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	Carolina Stripling (or Streipling) Grochowski, mother of Simon, Jr. (James) and grandmother of Mary Kosmatka, undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	Joseph B. Kuszewski's grocery store, with identifications, 1910
Box   1 Envelope   1	50th wedding anniversary photo of Joseph and Anna (nee Bolowska) Kuszewski, circa 1910
Box   1 Envelope   1	Wedding photo of Rosa Kuszewska and Simon (later James) Grochowski, Jr., 1896
Box   1 Envelope   1	Twins, Mary and Joseph Grochowski, circa 1908
Box   1 Envelope   1	Class photo, labelled “Primary Room,” possibly including Mary's sister, Clara, undated Note: Photo is damaged.
Box   1 Envelope   1	First Communion of Mary and Joseph Grochowski, undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	Group photo with Joseph Grochowski, undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	Interior of Joseph Kuczewski's store on Bremen Street (Maternal uncle of Mary Kosmatka), undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	First Communion of John Grochowski, circa 1914
Box   1 Envelope   1	First Communion of Frank Grochowski, with John Grochowski, circa 1910
Box   1 Envelope   1	Frank Grochowski in military uniform, 1943
Box   1 Envelope   1	First Communion of Clara Grochowksi, with Mary Grochowski, circa 1911
Box   1 Envelope   1	School class, undated
Box   1 Envelope   1	8 snapshots of Mary Grochowski, some with friends, at about age 19
Box   1 Envelope   1	Girl Scout Troop, with Mary Kosmatka giving a speech, 1949b
Box   1 Envelope   1	Mary Kosmatka in Navajo dress, circa 1967
Box   1 Envelope   1	2 photos of Mary Kosmatka and friends at 1979 Watertown Funster Mothers Day Program
Box   1 Envelope   1	3 photos of Mary Kosmatka at a Senior Get-together, rehearsing for a Christmas program, and dressed for Easter parade skits, circa 1960s or 1970s
Box   1 Envelope   2	11 snapshots and photos of Mary Grochowska and other members of the cast of Bogata Wdowa and other plays, presented by the Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle
Box   1 Envelope   2	2 photos of members and banquet in honor of 10th anniversary of Marya Konopnicka Dramatic Circle, 1930 November 9
Box   1 Envelope   2	Cast photo, undated
Box   1 Envelope   2	Fr. Sarnowski, undated
Box   1 Envelope   2	Fr. Sarnowski at St. Casimir's, undated
Box   1 Envelope   2	Unidentified priest, undated
Box   1 Envelope   3	2 large cast photos of Gilded Youth, presented by the Marya Konopicka Dramatic Circle at St. Casimir's Church, together with partial identifications, circa 1925