Czech-Slovak Genealogical Society of America

Czech-Slovak Genealogical Society of America
Name	Czech-Slovak Genealogical Society of America
Abbreviation	CSGSA
Formation	1978
Type	Nonprofit
Headquarters	St. Paul, Minnesota
Region served	United States
Language	English

Contents

Czech-Slovak Genealogical Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting genealogical research for descendants of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia, linking scholars, family historians, and cultural institutions such as Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Minnesota Historical Society, Newberry Library, and American Heritage Center. Founded in 1978 with ties to immigrant communities centered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cleveland, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Illinois, and St. Paul, Minnesota, it developed networks with repositories like National Archives and Records Administration, Prague Castle Archive, Slovak National Archives, Moravian Library, and Masaryk University. The society collaborates with ethnic and academic organizations including Bohemian National Alliance, American Czech and Slovak Association, Czech-American Bar Association, American Historical Association, and Association of European Genealogists.

History

The organization was established amid renewed interest following post-World War II migration waves involving communities in New York City, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, drawing founders who corresponded with scholars at Charles University, Comenius University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, and cultural figures such as Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk scholars and curators from National Museum (Prague). Early initiatives included partnering with the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library and advocacy contacts with legislators from Minnesota Legislature and municipal leaders in St. Paul, Minnesota to preserve church records from parishes tied to dioceses like Archdiocese of Prague and Diocese of Nitra. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the society interfaced with digitization efforts at institutions including Genealogical Society of Utah, FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and academic projects at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The society's mission emphasizes assisting genealogical research and cultural preservation through collaborations with entities like International Commission for Slovak-Czech Relations, Czech Ministry of Culture, Slovak Ministry of Culture, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Ellis Island researchers, and diaspora organizations such as Federation of Czech-Slovak Societies, Sokol movement, and Czech School of Minnesota. Activities include indexing parish registers from regions including Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Spiš, and Zemplín and offering workshops referencing archival practices modeled on projects at British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bundesarchiv, Austrian State Archives, and Vatican Apostolic Archive. The society provides guidance on records from rulers and events associated with Austro-Hungarian Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938), First Czechoslovak Republic, Munich Agreement, Velvet Revolution, and post-1993 Slovak Republic developments.

The society publishes newsletters, journals, and indexes drawing on methods used by The Genealogist (periodical), National Genealogical Society, American Ancestors, Royal Society, and university presses at Princeton University Press, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press. Printed and digital resources include transcribed parish registers, emigration lists that reference ports like Hamburg, Bremen, Rijeka, and Trieste, and guides to records in repositories such as Moravian Church Archives, Evangelical Church Archives, State Regional Archives in Opava, and Slovak National Museum. Contributors have included scholars affiliated with Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Ethnology, and independent researchers researching families tied to figures like Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud, and emigrants recorded in Ellis Island manifests.

Annual conferences and regional meetings are hosted in partnership with cultural centers and universities such as University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Iowa, University of Texas at Austin, and libraries including New York Public Library and Boston Public Library. Programs feature lectures on paleography referencing training at Jagiellonian University, University of Warsaw, Charles University, and archival preservation sessions resembling workshops at Smithsonian Institution Archives and National Archives (UK). Joint events have convened panels with representatives from Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Chicago, Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York, Czech Center New York, Czech Center Chicago, and ethnographic museums like Moravian Museum.

Membership comprises amateur and professional genealogists, librarians, archivists, and historians from cities such as Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, and institutions including American Library Association, Society of American Archivists, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Polish Genealogical Society of America, German Genealogy Group, and JewishGen. The organizational structure includes a board and committees that liaise with grant-making bodies like National Endowment for the Humanities, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and regional heritage councils including Minnesota Historical Society and Iowa Historical Society.

Research assistance connects members to primary sources preserved at repositories including State Regional Archives in Prague, Moravian Provincial Archive, Statni okresni archiv Tabor, Slovak National Archives, Municipal Archives of Brno, and American collections at Newberry Library, Minnesota Historical Society, Czech Slovak Museum and Library, and university special collections at University of Minnesota Libraries, Harvard University Archives, and Cornell University Library. Holdings commonly used include church books from Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olomouc, civil registers from towns like Pilsen, Bratislava, Ostrava, and digital microfilm made available via partnerships with FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast, and collaborative indexing projects with International Tracing Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum databases. The society maintains catalogues, finding aids, and digitization standards influenced by practices at Library of Congress, Digital Public Library of America, and European Library initiatives.

Category:Genealogical societies Category:Czech-American history Category:Slovak-American history