Šárka B. Hrbková

“ If a wager were to be made that every Bohemian community in Nebraska today has its own band or orchestra, it is safe to say that the bettor would win. The first musical organization west of Omaha was composed of Bohemians. ”

“ Practically every man of Bohemian birth or parentage belongs to one or more associations which have for their object insurance, protection in sickness and death, as well as the development of social life. There are also a number of organizations offering no insurance, but instead opportunities for education along gymnastic, musical, literary or related lines. ”

“ Every one of the counties of Nebraska have Bohemian inhabitants, the heaviest percentages of Bohemians being in Douglas, Colfax, Saline, Saunders and Butler counties. Cities and towns which have a generous percentage of Bohemian population are Omaha, especially the south side, Wilber, Crete, Clarkson, Milligan, Schuyler and Prague. In the main, however, Bohemians are settled on farms rather than in towns, and in the eastern portion of Nebraska, rather than in the western. ”

“ After the first wave of Bohemian immigration to Nebraska, which consisted of men seeking political and religious freedom, other waves came, representing men who were escaping enforced military service in the Austrian army or seeking economical betterment. ”

“ The high ideals which characterized the organization of the original Sokol or “Falcon” societies in the old country actuated all the early enthusiasts who plunged into the rough pioneer conditions after life in Bohemia where they had had all the accessories of the highest civilization. The first Sokol society in Nebraska was organized in Wilber in 1875. Another very popular and typical Bohemian amusement reached a high state of development in the Nebraska settlements, namely, the amateur performance of theatrical plays. ”

“ But that the Czech could not long remain content without some intellectual pabulum in addition to the simple necessities is amply proven by the fact that barely had a handful of them settled in the state when they clamored for a newspaper published in their own language, that intelligence of the world and its progress might be purveyed among them. ”

“ The first representative of that nationality in the legislative body was Edward Rosewater of Douglas county, who also held other offices of honor, representing the United States at the Universal Postal Congress in Washington in 1897, promoted the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha in 1898 and was a member of the International Arbitration Conference in 1904.
The Bohemians, like all pioneers of western states, had the problem of preservation of existence for themselves and families to solve before the question of higher education could be wrestled with. ”

“ The lodges of the former or fraternal class afford cheap insurance to the Bohemian, the assessments being, in practically every instance, much lower than those exacted in other orders. Of the fraternal orders among the Bohemians the best known and most widely supported are: the Č. S. P. S., Česko-Slovanské Podporující Spolky or Bohemian Slavonian Protective Association, the oldest Bohemian organization in the United States, established in St. Louis in 1854. It has now a total of 25,000 members, 513 of them in eleven lodges in Nebraska ”