Top Ten More Ways to Celebrate Pol-Am Heritage Month

Daj mi buzi - give me a kiss!

Everyone can have fun celebrating Polish-American Heritage Month, as we proved yesterday. But if you have Polish ancestry, there are also some fun genealogical things you can do.  Today I present:

Top Ten Genealogical Ways to Celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month

1. Listen to Polish pronunciation of names and places with Expressivo.  I wrote about it here but the company has since changed the site so the links don’t play the recordings.  However, it will take you to the new site, Ivona text to speech.  You can still enter some words or phrases and choose the Polish voices to “speak” to you.

2. Learn to decipher a Polish record.  These translation aids can help.

3. Learn all about Polish genealogical research.  Start with Poland Gen Web or Polish Roots or Polish Origins.  Or, read a book such as Going Home:  A Guide to Polish-American Family History by Jonathan D. Shea or Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy by Ceil Wendt Jensen.

4. Explore the Polish records on Family Search. They don’t have much yet, but the good news is that there are some!

5. Explore Geneteka’s records.  I wrote a primer here.

6. Virtually visit some of Poland’s Archives.  Stanczyk presents a list here.

7. Join a Polish genealogical society.  Perhaps PGSA or PGSCTNE?  There are many!

8. Browse the Poland-related mailing lists at Rootsweb. Here’s a list of all, just look around for Polish-related lists.

9. See if there’s a website for your ancestor’s hometown.  Try a Google search, or else try the town name in between “www” and “pl”.

10. Create a surname map for one of your Polish surnames. It’s both fun and educational!

So there you have it.  How are you celebrating Polish-American Heritage Month?

 

Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Pol-Am Heritage Month

Kiss me....I'm approximately 31.25% Polish!

Did you know that October is Polish-American Heritage Month?  Although the month is nearly half over, there is still plenty of time to celebrate.  This weekend I’ll be speaking at conference by the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast (PGSCTNE). I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun discussing Polish genealogy.  But if you’re not Polish, don’t feel left out – there are a lot of ways to celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month even if you are not lucky enough to be Polish-American!  And so I present…

The Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month – If You’re Polish or Not!

1. Read Polish literature.  Henryk Sienkiewicz won the Nobel Prize in 1905 for his achievements as an epic writer – try With Fire and Sword, the first of an epic trilogy.  Or read literature about Poland, such as the historical novel by American James C. Martin, Push Not the River.

2. See a Polish movie. Try Three Colours (Polish: Trzy kolory), the collective title of the trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.

3. Eat Polish food (and drink). Who wouldn’t want some pierogi? Or kruschiki?  Just be careful of too much vodka when learning these recipes.

4. Learn to Polka. It’s a lot of fun – and great exercise, too!

5. Visit Poland virtually on tv or the internet.  PBS travel hosts Rick Steves and Burt Wolf have both visited Polish cities.  Or try some YouTube videos such as this one.

6. Learn about Poland’s history. Poland has a long, rich history.

7. Celebrate your name day. Birthdays are overrated, but name days are fun!

8. Wish someone “sto lat” on their birthday.  Or sing it to them instead!

9. Read a biography of a famous Pole.  Try Witness to Hope if you’re a fan of Pope John Paul II or The Peasant Prince about Tadeusz Kościuszko and his role in the American Revolution.

10. Learn more about Polish customs.  From art to clothing to holiday traditions, Poland has a custom for everything.

Tomorrow I will continue this post with the Top Ten Genealogical Ways to Celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month.  Some of the things might interest non-Poles, but you’ll get more out of it if you’re actually Polish.  And if you’re not, you’ll want to be.  Really…

Polish History and Culture Challenge Results

Poster designed by footnoteMaven!

During the month of October, which was Polish-American Heritage Month, I presented a challenge to all genea-bloggers, regardless of their ancestry, to learn more about the history and culture of Poland and write about it on their blogs.  I’m happy to say that a few folks did just that!  The following bloggers participated in this challenge:

Alwierz at the Polish-American Genealogy Research Blog writes about Polish genealogy every day!  But specifically for this challenge, Al turned his focus on the histories of his ancestors’ hometowns in Poland.  Al says, “I’ve researched and attempted to translate the histories of the area and parishes within the Kujawy area of Poland, specifically within Powiat Aleksandrow. Polish history is very rich and proud, so I had tried to translate these histories with the utmost respect. I had used two online translation tools, Google Translator and Poltran, along with my Polish – English English – Polish (Langenscheidt’s Pocket Dictionary). Any errors with any of the translations are my fault and will be corrected as they are pointed out.”  His articles for this challenge are:

• Kujawy – Urban Gmina Aleksandrow-Kujawski History
• Kujawy – Powiat Aleksandrow
• Kujawy – Gmina Raciążek History
• Kujawy – Gmina Aleksandrow – Kujawski History
• Kujawy – Gmina Zakrzewo History
• Kujawy – Straszewo Parish History
• Kujawy – Siniarzewo Parish History

This was a fascinating look at the Kujawy area in Poland.  Thanks, Al!

Jasia at Creative Gene also wrote a series of posts.  Her series focused on the crafts of Poland.  The slide shows and photographs in Jasia’s posts are beautiful, and really show the best of Polish art.  Her series about her Polish art collections are:

• Polish Folk Art (Wood Carving and Wycinanki)
• Jasia’s Amber Collection
• Polish Pottery and Crystal
• Polish Christmas Ornaments

Aren’t they beautiful?  Thanks, Jasia!

Next, Sheri Fenley, The Educated Genealogist, learned how to polka.  Well, she tried to learn how to Polka!  Who knew it would be so hard?  Disappointed, but still wanting to participate in the challenge, Sheri instead offers a wonderful look at the polka in The Problem with Polka!  A-one, and a-two, and a dziękuję to Sheri!

Lisa, at 100 Years in America, writes about the connections and friendship between Poland and Hungary in Two Good Friends: The Pole and the Hungarian.  What a beautiful proverb!  Thanks for participating, Lisa, and for your friendship!

The footnoteMaven has presented us with the fascinating life story of a little-known Pole who was quite famous in her day.  Read all about Madame Helena Modjeska in Today I am an Honorary Pole! We’re grateful for this glimpse into her life, and you’re welcome to be an honorary Pole any day.  In fact, in appreciation you shall be called footnoteMavenska for today!  Thanks so much.

Finally, I offered a hodge-podge of various posts here at What’s Past is Prologue as follows:

• Polish Literature
• From a Far Country
• Featured Site: PolandGenWeb
• Michigan Polonia: An Interview with Ceil Jensen, CG
• Push Not the River: An Interview with James C. Martin

I hope my readers enjoyed this challenge and the wonderful posts from those that participated.  Thanks to all!  Or rather, to say it in Polish, dziękuję!

Polish History and Culture Challenge Reminder

Designed by footnoteMaven!

We’re nearly half-way through Polish-American Heritage Month!  Have you found the time to learn more about Polish genealogy, history, or culture?  If not, it’s not too late!  The Polish History and Culture Challenge runs for the month of October, so there is ample opportunity for you to learn more about all things Polish…even if you’re not Polish at all!

I also wanted to take the opportunity to apologize to my readers for the lack of new posts recently.  Hosting a challenge and then failing to offer any posts for it is a bit like inviting everyone to a party where I show up late or not at all.  Unfortunately, circumstances beyond my control have prevented me from completing several posts in the last week.  But I have several articles in the works related to this challenge, so hopefully there will soon be a flurry of posts.

I can’t wait to find out if Sheri found a polka partner yet!  Thanks again to the lovely footnoteMaven for not one, but two great posters to represent this challenge!

The Polish History and Culture Challenge

Poster designed by footnoteMaven!

October is Polish-American Heritage Month!  In honor of this national celebration, What’s Past is Prologue is hosting the Polish History and Culture Challenge.  If you have Polish ancestry, it’s a great time to learn more about those ancestors and their lives.  But, even if you do not have any Polish blood, I invite you to take the opportunity to learn more about the country, its long history, and its people.

What’s involved with the “challenge”?  Simply do one, some, or all of the following “tasks” – or similar ones of your own invention.  Then, write about it on your blog.  Email me the link and I’ll post a round-up at the end of the month to see how much we all learned.  The best part is that you don’t have to have Polish ancestry to participate!  Become an honorary Pole by joining in on the fun!

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate Polish-American Heritage Month and participate in the challenge:

Genealogy

• Find a Polish ancestor’s hometown
• Decipher a Polish record
• Write about one of your ancestor’s hometowns
• Write a biography of one of your Polish ancestors
• Develop a research plan for a hard-to-find ancestor
• Join a Polish genealogical society
• Contribute to a Polish genealogical record indexing project

History

• Read a book about Poland or its history and tell us about it
• Research an event in Polish history
• Write about a Polish historical figure
• Write about a famous Pole in the arts or sciences
• Learn about Poland’s history through maps or photographs

Culture

• Experiment with Polish food – make a recipe or try a restaurant
• Read a novel by a Polish author or one set in Poland
• Write about a famous Pole that you admire
• Watch a Polish film
• Learn how to Polka
• Learn about some Polish customs or folklore

The possibilities are endless, but hopefully at least one of these ideas will be interesting to you.  I hope you will join me in celebrating Polish-American Heritage Month.  If you would like to participate in the challenge, email me with the title, subject, and URL of your post at djpoint at gmail dot com.  You can either send me emails as you post, or one at the end of the month if you post on multiple subjects!  All of the posts will be published in a round-up during the first week of November. Dziękuję!