Vlasta Adele Vraz was a Czech-American who served as the director of American Relief for Czechoslovakia after World War II and was arrested as a spy by the Communist government in Czechoslovakia. She was released, becoming the Czechoslovak National Council of America. She spent most of her life before World War II surrounded by writers and writing for her family’s newspaper, the “Svornost.” After her release, she continued as an editor for the American Bulletin and Vestnik before she died in 1989.
Tomáš Masaryk and the United States
Tomáš Masaryk, first president of Czechoslovakia, was inspired by the freedom and democracy of the United States. While negotiating for Czechoslovakia’s independence, Masaryk developed not only political relationships, but also personal and intellectual ones with the United States. During the First World War, he was exiled after siding with the Allied Powers, but did not give up on garnering support from his fellow Czechoslovakians. The Lansing Declaration of May 1918 was one of many important moments in the future creation of the Czechoslovak Republic, which eventually came to pass, all before he died in 1937.
Oldřich Kulhánek and the Czech Koruna
Oldřich Kulhánek was a Czech artist and critic of the Communist Regime best known for his work on designing the current Czech banknotes. His career began in 1958 at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. During his young life, his politically motivated art would get him arrested and the art almost destroyed since he negatively portrayed Communist leaders. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Oldřich Kulhánek was once again free to express his views through his art and was tasked with designing the bills of the Czech Koruna.
Božena Hauserová (1914 - 2009)
Božena Hauserová was a lawyer turned CIA operative for the United States to help fight against Germany during the World War. She and her husband, Charles Lauwers, moved to the United States in 1941 after hearing news of the war, after which she enlisted, following her husband. In 1944, she participated in Operation “Sauerkraut,” where she’d spread rumors, provide fake orders, and pass around discouraging leaflets, all to spread propaganda among German soldiers. Her work was a success, being declassified after her death in 2009.
Meda Mladkova
Meda Mladkova was a patron of the arts who helped support Czech artists stuck behind the Iron Curtain. She trained to be a dancer but decided to leave Czechoslovakia after witnessing how terribly the Germans who remained in the country were treated at the end of the Second World War. Even when she met the Ministers of Culture and Education and the Director of the Nationa Gallery, she truthfully and successfully stood up for artistic freedom.
The Czech Response to the American Civil Rights Movement
The American Civil Rights Movement became a method of propaganda against the United States to gain support and sympathy from non-socialist states. The Czechoslovakian government would invite activists to the nation so that communism would be promoted, including singer Paul Robeson, who would sing at the Prague Spring classical music festival in 1949. Between the 1960s and 1980s, Czechoslovakia continued to push communism in African nations, broadcasting the benefits of communism and what it would provide to Africans.
David Cerny: Lilit Sculpture
For over a year, David Cerny and his associates have toiled away at the completion of the recently completed "Lilit" sculpture, placed in the Karlin District of Prague. Cerny himself began his artistic career at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague, continuing to build his knowledge and network with several artist residencies in Switzerland and the United States. His entry into fame began with infamy as he painted a Soviet tank monument pink as an act of "civil disobedience." Soon after did his career take off, eventually making him an impactful cultural installation in Czech society.
Kamil Kubik: Impressions
Kamil Kubik grew into an internationally recognized artist from a rough beginning to his life, having to escape his home in 1948 due to radical political changes. He's most famous for his cityscape paintings, including paintings of Central Park, Prague, London, and the White House, along with a scenic painting from nearly every state in the United States. He became the official artist for the White House.
Czechoslovakia and their only naval battle
Despite being a landlocked nation, Czechoslovakia had a naval army, one which fought a single battle. This singular battle took place on Lake Baikal in Russia during WWI. Being that Czechoslovakian soldiers fought so far away from their own nation and that they seemed unwelcome in Russia, the situation of their naval military grew more complicated.
The Czech Pioneers of the Southwest by Henry R. Maresh and Estelle Hudson
Celebrating Czech Heritage in America
Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
It's quite a difficult thing to pin down an exact historical reason for any significant event. We can, however, follow the lives of a specific royal family and the events that surrounded their tragic lives. Over the course of a seventy-two year span, we will look at the events that led to the creation and dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Bohemian Glass Artistry
Having a rich and extensive history of glass working, historical findings show evidence of glass processing in the Bohemia region at the beginning of the Christian calendar about 2000 years ago. Although Bohemian glass working experienced many revivals and declines, it has consistently remained revered in the international stage throughout the years.