Czech Americans (
Czech: Čechoameričané), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the
Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority of the traditional
lands of the Bohemian Crown, namely
Bohemia,
Moravia and
Czech Silesia. These lands over time have been governed by a variety of states, including the
Kingdom of Bohemia, the
Austrian Empire,
Czechoslovakia, and the
Czech Republic also known by its short-form name, Czechia. Germans from the Czech lands who emigrated to the United States are usually identified as
German Americans, or, more specifically, as Americans of
German Bohemian descent.[citation needed] According to the
2000 U.S. census, there are 1,262,527 Americans of full or partial Czech descent, in addition to 441,403 persons who list their ancestry as
Czechoslovak. Historical information about Czechs in America is available thanks to people such as
Mila Rechcigl.
Augustine Herman (1621–1686) was the first documented Czech settler. He was a
surveyor and skilled
draftsman, successful planter and developer of new lands, a shrewd and enterprising merchant, a bold politician and effective diplomat, fluent in several languages. After coming to
New Amsterdam (present
New York), he became one of the most influential people in the Dutch Province which led to his appointment to the Council of Nine to advise the New Amsterdam Governor
Peter Stuyvesant. One of his greatest achievements was his celebrated map of
Maryland and
Virginia commissioned by Lord Baltimore on which he began working in earnest after removing to the English Province of
Maryland.
Lord Baltimore was so pleased with the map that he rewarded Herman with a large estate, named by Herman "
Bohemia Manor", and the hereditary title
Lord.
There was another Bohemian living in New Amsterdam at that time,
Frederick Philipse (1626–1720), who became equally famous. He was a successful merchant who, eventually, became the wealthiest person in the entire Dutch Province. Philipse was originally from
Bohemia, from an aristocratic
Protestant family who had to leave their native land to save their lives, after the
Thirty Years' War.
The first significant wave of Czech colonists was of the
Moravian Brethren who began arriving on the American shores in the first half of the 18th century.
Moravian Brethren were the followers of the teachings of the Czech religious reformer and martyr
Jan Hus (1370–1415),
Petr Chelčický and Bishop
John Amos Comenius (1592–1670). They were true heirs of the ancient "Unitas fratrum bohemicorum" -
Unity of the Brethren, who found a temporary refuge in
Herrnhut (
Czech: Ochranov) in Lusatia under the patronage of Count
Nikolaus Zinzendorf (1700–1760). Because of the worsening political and religious situation in
Saxony, the Moravian Brethren, as they began calling themselves, decided to emigrate to North America.
This group started coming in 1735, when they first settled in
Savannah, Georgia, and then in
Pennsylvania, from which they spread to other states after the
American Revolution, especially
Ohio. The Moravians established a number of settlements, such as
Bethlehem and
Lititz in Pennsylvania and
Salem in
North Carolina. Moravians made great contributions to the growth and development of the United States. Cultural contributions of Moravian Brethren from the Czech lands were distinctly notable in the realm of music. The trumpets and horns used by the Moravians in
Georgia are the first evidence of Moravian instrumental music in America.
In 1776, at the time of the
Declaration of Independence, more than two thousand
Moravian Brethren lived in the colonies. President
Thomas Jefferson designated special lands to the missionaries to civilize the Indians and promote Christianity. The free uncultivated land in America encouraged immigration throughout the nineteenth century; most of the immigrants were farmers and settled in the
Midwestern states.[6] The first major immigration of Czechs occurred in 1848 when the Czech "
Forty Eighters" fled to the United States to escape the political persecution by the
Austrian Habsburgs.[7] During the
American Civil War, Czechs served in both the
Confederate and Union army, but as with most immigrant groups, the majority fought for the
Union.
Immigration resumed and reached a peak in 1907, when 13,554 Czechs entered the eastern ports. Unlike previous immigration, new immigrants were predominantly
Catholic. Although some of the
anticlericalism of the Czechs in Europe came to the United States, Czech Americans are, on the whole, much more likely to be practicing Catholics than Czechs in Europe.
By 1910, the Czech population was 349,000, and by 1940 it was 1,764,000. The
U.S. Bureau of the Census reported that nearly 800,000 Czechs were residing in the U.S. in 1970. Since that figure did not include Czechs who had been living in the U.S. for several generations, it is reasonable to assume that the actual number was higher. Additionally, Czech immigrants in America often had different claims of origin in records. Before 1918, many Czechs would be listed as from Bohemia or Moravia or vaguely Austria or Silesia.[8] Some were also counted as from Germany if they were German-speakers or rarely Polish if the recorder could not distinguish the language.[9][10]Slovaks were often listed as from
Hungary.[11] After the formation of
Czechoslovakia in 1918, Czechs and Slovaks were also listed under the new blanket category.[12]
The Czech American community gained a high public profile in 1911, with the kidnapping and murder in Chicago of the five-year old
Elsie Paroubek. The Czech American community mobilized massively to help in the searches for the girl and support her family, and it gained much sympathy from the general American public.
While most Czech-Americans are white, some are
people of color or are Latino/Hispanic. A small group of Black Czech-Americans of Ethiopian descent lives in Baltimore.[13] In Texas, many Tejanos have Czech ancestry. Czech immigrants to Texas had a deep influence on Tejano culture, particularly
Tejano music.[14]
Population
The top 50 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Czech ancestry
The top 50 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Czech ancestry are:[15]
Hallettsville 4th weekend in March and last Saturday of September
Shiner Several lesser Czech and Kolache festivals are held in Shiner varying in size, occasion and date, where Shiner's largest contribution to Kolache festivities conjoins with the
Hallettsville Kolache Festival and the annual Bocktober festival.
Yoakum 2nd week of June as part of the annual Tom-Tom Festival
Crosby Annual Czech Fest is held the first Saturday in October. Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Crosby is the festivals organizer and was the original site of the festival. However, as the festival and Crosby have grown it has been held at the Crosby Fair and Rodeo grounds since about 1990.
Libuse Annual celebration held by the Louisiana Czech Heritage Association. Includes attractions such as Czech cuisine, Czech dancers, and a showing of the history of the Czech community in Libuse, Louisiana.
Hampl, Patricia. A Romantic Education. Houghton Mifflin, 1981.
Labendz, Jacob Ari (2021). ""In unserem Kreise": Czech-Jewish Activism and Diaspora in the USA, 1933–1994". American Jewish History. 105 (3): 371–401.
doi:
10.1353/ajh.2021.0035.
ISSN1086-3141.
S2CID245162560.
Laska, Vera. The Czechs in America, 1633-1977 (Oceana Publications, 1978).
Molinari, Christine. "Czech Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2014), pp. 619-632.
online
Rechcigl, Miloslav, Jr. Czechs and Slovaks in America. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs and New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.
Rechcigl, Miloslav, Jr. Encyclopedia of Bohemian and Czech American Biography. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2016. 3 vols.
Smith, Philip D. From Praha to Prague: Czechs in an Oklahoma Farm Town (U of Oklahoma Press, 2017).