Czechs in Chicago

Chicago has a particularly large Czech population [1](colloquially known as "Czechcagoans").

Part of a series on
Ethnic groups in Chicago

History

The First Czechs came to Chicago in the 1850s and 1860s, shortly after the Habsburgs crushed the Czech Revolution of 1848 In the Crown Kingdom of Bohemia. Their Slovak counterparts would arrive in the city about 40 years later in the early 20th Century.[2] They called their first settlement in the city, concentrated around Canal, Harrison, and Twelfth Streets, Praha (Prague), where they would establish several Czech institutions. Later, many of them settled in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, which was named after Pilsen, Czechia. The first Czech Catholic Church, St Wenceslaus, was founded at De Koven and Des Plaines streets in 1863. America's first daily Czech newspaper Svornost began publication in 1875. Also, common in many Czech-American communities was a Sokol (equivalent to a German Turnverein), or a gymnastics facility, which fostered fitness and community bonding, located at Canal and Taylor. After the Great Chicago Fire started in Praha, the Czechs then moved south in an area they called Pilsen, especially after Italians and Greeks started moving into Praha.

Tragedy struck Chicago's Czech American community in 1911, when five-year old Elsie Paroubek was kidnaped and murdered. As a result, the Czech American community mobilized massively to help in the searches for the girl and support her family, and gained much sympathy from the general American public.

Notable Czech Chicagoans

Institutions
  • Chicago Czech American Community Center

References
  1. "The Historical Czech Chicagoland". CCACC. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  2. Cutler, Irving (February 1, 2020). Chicago. p. 96.
  3. "Gene Cernan: Always Shoot for the Moon Part I". Airport Journals. 2005-07-01. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  4. Swopes, Bryan (2021-01-16). "Eugene Andrew Cernan (14 March 1934–16 January 2017)". This Day in Aviation. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  5. Eugene Cernan (1999). The last man on the moon. Internet Archive. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-19906-7.
  6. Biography.com Editors. "Ray Kroc". Biography. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  7. ray-kroc-164.php
  8. "CZECHS IN CHICAGO". Chicago Filmmakers. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  9. Rechcigl, Miloslav Jr. (2016-11-10). Encyclopedia of Bohemian and Czech-American Biography. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5246-1990-9.
  10. Cook, Kevin (2017-11-16). "University of Illinois Alumni". University of Illinois Alumni. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  11. "Halas' family hosts Ch. 11 Czech doc benefit Feb. 17". | Reel Chicago - At the intersection of Chicago Advertising, Entertainment, Media and Production. 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  12. Limited, v6 Ventures. "Kim Novak Revisits her Family Roots (in Prague) | Prague TV - Living Like a Local! Jobs, News, Lifestyle and More ..." prague.tv. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  13. "Kim Novak: Czech Mate | The Rake". therake.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  14. "About Kim Novak ⋆ Kim NovaK". Kim Novak's official art website. Archived from the original on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  15. Phillips, Michael. "Milos Stehlik, longtime force and eloquent voice in Chicago and international film, dies at 70". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  16. Simon, Alissa (2019-07-08). "Milos Stehlik, Founder of Facets Multimedia in Chicago, Dies at 70". Variety. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  17. Lifka, Robert J. (2015-06-09). "City of Prague to honor Judy Baar Topinka". Riverside Brookfield Landmark. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  18. "Judy Baar Topinka, a Symbol of the Czech Community in Chicago, has Died". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
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