Polish Falcons of America Museum

Polish Falcons of America (PFA) is a nonprofit fraternal benefit society owned by its insured Members. The purpose of this museum is to make the PFA Headquarters Archives available to the public and encourage discussion about Polish-American history.

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This photograph from the Agencja Fotograficzna Światowida Kraków shows the “Towers of Kraków,” including the towers of St. Mary’s Basilica, at night. Date unknown.

St. Mary’s, a 14th-century Gothic church, stands at the corner of Kraków’s main square.  The church is well known for the hejnał Mariacki, the trumpet call that is played from the tallest tower every hour.  According to popular legend, the hejnał ends abruptly in honor of the trumpeter who died while trying to warn his city of a Tartar invasion.  An arrow in his throat prevented him from completing his call. 

To learn more about the history of Poland, check out the photographs in our Cultural Collection!

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Kraków’s own Lajkonik (literally “hobby horse”) mugs for the camera in this photograph from the Agencja Fotograficzna Światowida Kraków.  Date unknown.

Each year on the first Thursday after Corpus Christi, the Lajkonik prances through Kraków, collecting ransoms of money and food from local merchants.  His elaborate costume, designed by the remarkable Stanisław Wyspiański, is meant to recall the costume of a Tartar general.  Although the origins of this parade are uncertain, according to one story the festival was started over 700 years ago to honor local fisherman who saved the city from a Tartar invasion.

You can still see the Lajkonik today if you happen to visit Krakow in the early summer.  If you do, be sure to touch his golden mace – it will bring you good luck!

To learn more about the history of Poland, check out the photographs in our Cultural Collection!

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Another photograph from the Agencja Fotograficzna Światowida Kraków shows Kraków’s market square, including the Sukiennice, or Cloth Hall, and the clock tower of the old Town Hall.  Date unknown.

Kraków’s Rynek Glowny, or main square, is the largest medieval square in Europe.  It dates back to the 13th century, when Kraków was an important center of trade.  For centuries, merchants gathered in the Sukiennice, which was first built in the 13th century and remodeled in the Rennaisance style in the mid-16th century.  The Sukiennice continues to dominate the main square to this day - the lower level is filled with stalls of Polish-made goods that cater to tourists and the upper level houses the beautiful Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art.  For its outstanding, historically-significant architecture, Kraków’s city center was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1978.

To learn more about the history of Poland, check out the photographs in our Cultural Collection!

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This photograph, also from the Agencja Fotograficzna Światowida Kraków, shows the Cathedral on Wawel Hill in Kraków.  Wawel Hill, with its castle complex and cathedral, has played an important role in Polish history for centuries.  Medieval legends tell of a dragon that lived under the hill and the young boy that saved the city (you can read Nicole Karwowski’s version of the legend here). 

The Cathedral, first built in the 11th century when Kraków was the capital of Poland, is Poland’s National Cathedral.  Historically, it served as the location where Polish kings were crowned. Many important Polish figures, including the military leader Thaddeus Kosciuszko, have been buried beneath the Cathedral as well.  In more recent history, the recently-canonized Pope John Paul II was ordained to the priesthood in Wawel Cathedral and offered his first Mass there in 1946.

To learn more about the history of Poland, check out the photographs in our Cultural Collection!

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This photograph, from the Agencja Fotograficzna Światowida Kraków, shows the courtyard of the Collegium Maius in the Jagiellonian University.  The Jagiellonian University, founded in 1364, is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in the world.  The Collegium Maius, which dates to the 1400s, is the oldest building in the University.

One of the university’s most famous pupils is Mikołaj Kopernik, or Nicholas Copernicus.  The famous astromer, renowned for his development of the heliocentric model of the universe, enrolled in the Jagiellion University in the late 1400s.  A statue of Copernicus (pictured here) was commissioned for the Jagiellonian University’s 500th Anniversary and placed in the courtyard of the Collegium Maius.  In the 1950s, the statue was moved from the Collegium Maius to its current location in the Planty gardens near the Collegium Novum.  

To learn more about the history of Poland, check out the photographs in our Cultural Collection! 

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Members of the Polish Falcons of America gather in front of the Kosciuszko Monument in Chicago, Ill.  Date unknown.

 In the late 1800s, Polish-Americans in Chicago began raising funds for a statue to celebrate the memory of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish military leader that found with the Continental Army during the American Revolution.  The bronze statue was carved by Kasimir Chodzinski and installed in Chicago’s Humboldt Park in 1904.  Its unveiling was attended by more than 50,000 people, including local dignitaries.  

In the late-1970s, the statue was relocated to Northerly Island to accomodate the expansion of a nearby ball field.  A time capsule containing documents related to Polish history was buried beneath the statue.

To learn more about Kosciuszko and the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection! 

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John Bartmanski served as the National Instructor of the Polish Falcons of America between 1914 and 1916, a pivotal time in the military history of the organization.  During the early 1900s, the Polish Falcons were preparing for entry into World War I to fight for Poland’s independence.  As they wrote in the 1914 “Memorial to Civilized Nations:”

“We, the vanguard of over four millions of Polish immigrants and native born Americans, banished from our Fatherland, in the name, for and on behalf of Poland declare… That we shall tend to and attain, by any and all justifiable means, the Freedom of Poland… We believe that a Free and Independent Poland means peace in Europe.”

In his role as National Instructor, Bartmanski orchestrated multiple military training camps, officer training programs, and drilling exercises to prepare the Polish Falcons for war.  He eventually resigned from his position in 1916 to join the war himself.  In 1920, Bartmanski was killed in Ukraine while fighting in the Polish-Soviet War.

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection! 

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District VIII officials gathered in Chicopee, Mass., in 1915.

Although the Chicopee area is now part of District V, in 1915 it was part of the newly-formed District VIII, which encompassed parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut. In the early 1910s, Polish Falcons in District VIII and throughout the United States were conducting military training exercises, as well as first aid training programs in preparation for World War I.

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection! 

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A young veteran snapped this souvenir photograph at a Photomatic machine.  Date unknown.

Beginning in the 1930s, Photomatic machines offered quick, cheap portraits in "swanky frames" similar to photo booth portraits today.  Produced by the International Mutoscope Reel Co., these machines were often installed in busy public location such as train stations.  According to this advertisement from 1936, the photographing process was simple:

“As easy to operate as stepping on a scale to learn your weight. The customer sits down— looks into mirror— inserts the coin— NOTHING ELSE TO DO. In one minute, the complete photograph, enclosed in a swanky frame, drops into the delivery chute. NO ATTENDANT IS NECESSARY.”

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection!

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Druh Ted Zolkiewicz from Nest 6 in Buffalo, N.Y., poses in his Polish Falcons uniform.  Date unknown.

Buffalo's Nest 6 was officially formed on October 5, 1896 after a false start three years earlier.  In 1900, the nest joined the building committee for the Dom Polski, or Polish Community Center, in Buffalo.  Each Polish Falcon member contributed one penny each month toward the building until it was completed in 1905.

Today, Buffalo's Dom Polski has taken on a new life as the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center.  The center's namesake is among the most decorated veterans in American history.  Lt. Col. Urban was born in 1919 to Polish immigrants and grew up in the Polish community around the Dom Polski.  Today, the center that bears his name provides a variety of services, including housing services and work skills training.

To learn more about the Polish community in Buffalo, check out the photographs in our Nests Collection! 

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Members of Haller's Polish Army in France pose for a photograph in their uniforms in 1917. 

From 1795 to 1918, Poland was partitioned between three different nations: Prussia, Russia, and Austria.  Many Poles believed that they would have to be prepared to win their independence through direct military action, czyn zbrojny.  The Polish Falcons of America, founded in 1887, used their physical fitness activities to begin preparing for military service. When World War I began in Europe (almost 100 years ago) the Polish Falcons increased their military training exercises and began an aggressive recruitment campaign. Ultimately, more than 20,000 Polish-American men joined the ranks of General Haller’s Polish Army in France to support the cause of Polish independence.

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection!

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Mrs. Theresa Sienkiewicz of Jackson, New Jersey was a lifelong member of the Polish Women’s Alliance.  Her dedication to her Polish heritage runs in the family too – her father (pictured here) served in the Polish Army in France under General Jozef Haller in World War 1.  Mrs. Sienkiewicz shared these memories of her family:

“My Dad was a sweetheart like my mother.  They loved each other dearly.  I guess that’s why we had such a good life at home.  I’m the middle child (90) and had a younger brother who was in the Navy 23 years and a deep sea diver who did some kind of work under water plus retrieved live ammunition which fell overboard.  After retirement, he became a  school teacher.  Retired again at 65 and a year later died of cancer.  He was a clone of Dad and just as great.

"My older brother had his own business which I called miniature Macy’s.  Everything from soup to nuts.  Jewelry, clothing, food counter, hardware and much much more.  Became wealthy after 40 years, closing the store, and retiring.  He was extremely generous to me.  I miss my two brothers terribly.  He died a year ago at 91.” 

If you have a photograph or story about your experiences with the Polish Falcons of America, we encourage you to contact us through our “Contact" page or to submit your story directly to [email protected].  Please, tell us your stories!

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John Major Jr., of Typecraft Press, submitted this photograph and story in response to our article about the Polish Falcons newspaper, Sokol Polski. Mr. Major spent his life in the printing business and wanted to share his memories of the relationship between Typecraft Press and the Polish Falcons of America: “Because of World War II, the Falcons' large printing press was shut down in ~1943 for lack of any press operators. I believe that the newspaper was then being printed by Western Newspaper Union, located on Stanwix Street. The type forms were taken there by Teddy Ruszala. This was very difficult to do, as the forms (2 Pages) probably weighed in excess of 80 to 90 pounds or more. A mat was rolled of each form and a lead cast was made so that the paper could be printed. I am not positive of the actual date, but it was probably in the fall of 1951, when my father, John Major, Sr., a friend of Mr. Wasilewski, was asked to oversee the refurbishing of the press and possibly get it to run again. My Dad hired my uncle, Ted Simon, who was running a press in Swissvale, exactly like the one in the Falcons printing shop, along with me to undertake the project. We worked about 4 or 5 months on the press. When the press was shut down, because of the war, they failed to clean it properly. They left ink in the fountains and on the rollers and the oil and grease congealed. It was a very difficult and dirty job. Naturally being young at the time my job was to clean the fountains and clean the gears and drip pans. We eventually got it to work again, but it also took a gentleman by the name of Fred Kluge, who was a press repair specialist to make it happen. For refurbishing the press, we were allowed to use it, and we printed Sokol Polski, along with 2 or 3 other community newspapers. I ran that press for a year or two after that until it was found to be too inefficient and slow. We were never able to get the press to run steady at any high speed. After that period, we started to roll our own mats of the typeset papers and we had various printers throughout the Pittsburgh area running the newspapers. The rest is history. In 1968, Typecraft Press purchased our first lithographic web news press and started to print a variety of local papers along with Sokol Polski.

The picture above shows me and one of our Pressman, when we installed our second press in 1975.”

If you have a photograph or story about your experiences with the Polish Falcons of America, we encourage you to contact us through our "Contact" page or to submit your story directly to [email protected].  Please, tell us your stories!

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To the delight of their friends, two Polish Falcons members show off their gymnastics skills during a military training course near South Bend, Ind., in 1915.

To learn more about the athletic programs of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Athletics Collection! 

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Polish Falcons from Nests 31, 79, and 86 around Detroit, Mich., participate in military exercises in 1916.  

From 1795 to 1918, Poland was partitioned between three different nations: Prussia, Russia, and Austria.  Many Poles believed that they would have to be prepared to win their independence through direct military action, czyn zbrojny.  The Polish Falcons of America, founded in 1887, used their physical fitness activities to begin preparing for military service. When World War I began in Europe, the Polish Falcons increased their military training exercises and began an aggressive recruitment campaign. Ultimately, more than 20,000 Polish-American men joined the ranks of General Haller’s Polish Army in France to support the cause of Polish independence.

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection!

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The S.S. Polonia makes her way into port in New York while onlookers crowd the docks.  Date unknown.

The S.S. Polonia sailed under many different flags and made port in many different cities during her relatively short life. Originally known as the S.S. Kursk, the ship was rechristened in 1921 when she was sold by the Russian-American Line to the Baltic-America Line. The S.S. Polonia was one of four steamers that maintained service between the Baltic states and New York for the Baltic-America Line, which advertised her as the "Queen of the Baltic Sea."  In 1930, as the Great Depression began and immigration to the United States declined, the Baltic-America Line sold the S.S. Polonia.  The ship continued to sail, this time under the Polish flag, for several years, making regular journeys between Poland and Palestine, but she was eventually sold to Italy for scrap in 1939.

To learn more about the history of Polish immigration to the United States, check out the rest of the photographs in our collection!

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Druh Aleks Kaleła, from Nest 931 in Chicago, poses for a photograph in his uniform.  Date unknown.

To learn more about the military history of the Polish Falcons of America, check out the photographs in our Military Collection!