First Czechs and Slovaks in America, by States

Click here to access The Tentative Listing (PDF file) by Mila Rechcigl.

 

As a part of his extensive historical research on Czech and Slovak Americans, Dr. Mila Rechcigl has begun gathering information on the first Czechs and/or Slovaks, who entered and resided in a particular State of the Union. An example of this is Augustine Herman (1621-1685), a native of Prague, Bohemia, who came to New Amsterdam (the present New York City) in 1640.

In the States to which Czechs and Slovaks immigrated in large numbers, such as New York, Illinois, Texas or Nebraska, this is not much of a problem. The difficulty comes with other States in which relatively a few Czechs or Slovaks live, because very little, if anything, has been written about them. One thus has to depend mainly on the information provided by knowledgeable individuals who live in those States.

The purpose of this notice is to request the readers to assist Dr. Rechcigl in this
important task. The States for which the information is wanting are the following: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

If you have information on the early visitors or settlers in any of the named States who came or descended from the territory of the former Czechoslovakia, irrespective of their ethnic background, please, send it to the following address: svu1@comcast.net.

Besides the persons’ names, also include the year of their birth and death, place where they were born and the year when they arrived in America and when they entered the particular State. If you would also send a short bio of these individuals, that would be great. Besides the Czech or Slovak natives, you can also include persons with Czech or Slovak roots who removed to the above States from other US regions or States. The information on the first Czechs or Slovaks in various Provinces of Canada would also be welcome.