Katedra Więdzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American History at Central Connecticut State University

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Polish American Studies Vol. LIX, No. 1 (Spring 2002) ? Polish American Historical Association

Katedra Wi?dzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American History at Central Connecticut State University

by Katherine A. Hermes

In Hartford, Connecticut, there stands in front of the Federal Building a monument to General Kazimierz Pulaski. The statue is a testament not only to the contributions of a great individual in history, but to the love that

people of Polonia have for commemorations of historical milestones. Annual processions honor Pulaski, for example, and the program typically features prominent speakers.1 Shortly after the Pulaski monument was

The author thanks Nicholas Pettinico, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, for his assistance with matters concerning the endowment funds, Professor Adam Walaszek, visiting Kosciuszko Foundation scholar, for his assistance with Polish, and Dr. Michael Peszke, member of the Polish Studies Advisory Board, for his good memory. This essay is dedicated, in Stan Blejwas's memory, to the Polish community of Connecticut.

1 "Pulaski Honored in Sunday Event," Hartford Courant, October 9, 1999, Connecticut Section, B3. See also, General Studies of Connecticut', Title 10. Education and Culture; Chapter 164 Educational Opportunities, Part I General; Conn. Gen. Stat. ? 10-29a (2001). Certain days and weeks to be proclaimed by Governor. Distribution and number of proclamations. "Polish-American Day. The Governor shall proclaim May third of each year to be Polish-American Day to honor Americans of Polish ancestry, their culture and the contribution they



106 Polish American Studies

erected in 1970, the Polish American Congress (PAC) began to prepare for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Mikolaj Kopernik (Copernicus) in 1973. Dr. Michael Peszke, a psychiatrist and historian of the Polish

military, was at the time chairperson of the Educational Section of Polish American Congress. He envisioned an "intellectual" monument, rather than one of marble or concrete, to one of the most significant intellectuals of all time. His plan included a series of lectures on Copernicus, which he gave to different groups, a PBS program, and the formation of a Polish Heritage Library at an institution of higher learning in Connecticut. Most ambi tiously, he foresaw the offering of courses in Polish Studies at a local col

lege or university.2 With that, the journey toward the establishment of an Endowed Chair of Polish and Polish American Studies at Central Connecti cut State University was begun.

The process for creating the endowed chair at Central Connecticut State University has been an unusual one, and one perhaps that can stand as a model when the corporate funding of endowed chairs has become an issue of debate within the academy. The process to endow a chair can vary widely, and can affect the process for determining who will fill the position. Accord

ing to The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Typically, the professor is chosen by university-appointed committees, which include administrators and faculty members. Some institutions invite the donor to sit on the com

mittee. A chair holder may serve indefinitely or for a fixed term; some

campuses award chairs competitively or on a rotating basis within a depart ment. In some cases, professors are expected to report on their research to

the corporate donors."3 The Central chair unfolded in a grassroots manner, was overseen by community members from the start, and has developed over time a cooperative relationship between the administration, the faculty and the Polish American community. The difficulties in arriving at such a rela

tionship were manifold. What became the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish and

Polish American Studies was only the second permanent, endowed Polish chair in the United States. The first chair, the Jurzykowski Chair at Harvard, was devoted to Polish literature and language. Subsequently a chair was also established at the University of Virginia. The idea of Polish chairs at American universities was not new, but neither was it commonly envisioned that a Polish Chair could combine the study of both Poland and Polonia. Paderewski helped to secure a modest subsidy to underwrite the

have made to this country. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor designates for the observance of the day."

interview with Dr. Michael Peszke, April 2, 2002. Notes in author's

possession. 3 Julianne Basinger, "Increase in Number of Chairs Endowed by

Corporations Prompts New Concerns; Critics of the trend are concerned that universities may be compromising their standards," Chronicle of Higher Education, April 24, 1998, A51.



Katedra Wi?dzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair 107

teaching of Polish language at Columbia University after World War I. After World War H, through the efforts of the Polish Cultural Attach?, an Adam Mickiewicz Chair of Polish Culture existed at Columbia between 1948 and 1954. Efforts have been made to fund Polish chairs at the

universities of Michigan at Ann Arbor, which since 1973 has had the Nicholaus Copernicus Endowment, established by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the Polish American Congress and the University's Polish-American community. The principal goal of Michigan's endowment was to raise 1.2

million dollars to endow a professorship of Polish Studies at the University. Income from the endowment would be used to appoint an internationally renowned scholar from the fields of the humanities or social sciences.4 A

single gift of $1,000,000 was donated to the University of Michigan at Dearborn for the Frank and Mary Padzieski Endowed Chair in Polish Studies

in 1996.5 In Canada, Canadian Polonia helped fund a chair of Polish history at the University of Toronto.6 In the same years that Central Connecticut State University was building its Polish program and establishing its endowment, similar efforts occurred all around the country. In the end, though, CCSU's endowed chair would be the most unique.

The intellectual monument to Copernicus got its first boost when Central Connecticut State College (as it then was) picked up the challenge laid down by Michael Peszke in his Pulaski Day speech. "Cognizant of the

changes in curricula occurring at all our colleges and with the recognition that students in their liberal arts studies wish to pursue areas of relevance and interest," Peszke told the crowd, "it is fitting that the thousand years of Polish accomplishments in architecture, literature, music, arts, science, social studies be available to those who are interested." Peszke called for the

University of Connecticut, as the state's land grant college, to respond to the need for Polish Studies, given that 10% of the state's citizens were of

Polish heritage.7 It was not the University of Connecticut, but Connecticut's oldest

institution of higher learning, Central Connecticut State College, that made

4Nicolaus Copernicus Endowment at the University of Michigan, http:// www.umich.edu/~iinet/crees/regionalstudies/polish/copendow.html (April 9,

2001). 5Terry Gallagher, "$1 million trust endows chair of U-M-Dearborn Polish

studies," The University Record, October 22, 1996, http://www.umich.edu/ ~urecoro79697/Oct22_96/artcl02.htm.

6Stanislaus A. Blejwas, Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies, Central Connecticut State University, 1996-97 Annual Report. These annual reports were prepared in manuscript form by Prof. Blejwas. The

university's annual report includes summaries from the more extensive reports cited here, which are the mss. files, in the possession of the author.

7Michael Peszke, "Speech in Honor of the Upcoming birth of Nicholaus Copernicus," Pulaski Day, October 11, 1970, 1.




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:a?#*^ TOT?

Michael Alfred Peszke giving the Pulaski Day Address in 1970 in which he called for development of a Polish Studies Program at a Connecticut institution of

higher learning. Courtesy of Katherine Hermes and Central Connecticut State

University.

In 1973 Governor Meskill signed the Polish Studies Program bill in the presence of (left to right) Attorney Kozlowski, unknown, T. Kolczak, Michael Alfred Peszke, and the President of Central Connecticu State College. Courtesy of Katherine Hermes and Central Connecticut State University.



Katedra Wiedzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair 109

the resources available, after consultations with many of the leaders of the Polish community. Monsignor Wodarski and the Association of Polish Priests also preferred an intellectual monument to some other kind of honor, and persuaded lay leaders to move in that direction.8 In many ways, CCSC was a natural choice to house a Polish Studies program. Located in New Britain, or what some locals refer to as "New Britsky," it was in the midst of America's second largest population of Polish immigrants. As a former normal school with a mission to educate teachers for Connecticut's schools, it more readily embraced the idea than the University of Connecticut, a research institution located in the quiet and secluded town of Storrs. In May, 1973 the state legislature passed a bill entitled "An Act Establishing a

Center for the Study of the Polish Language, Arts, History and Culture," committing $34,000 to a Polish program at Central.9

An advisory committee was formed to hire a coordinator for the program. It chose as its standard bearer a recent graduate from Columbia University who had been recommended by Yale University's Piotr Wandycz, the Bradford Dufree Professor of History at Yale University, and Thaddeus

Gromada of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, among others.10 In 1973, the newly hired assistant professor, Stan Blejwas, began to teach classes and solicit donations from members of the city's Polish community who were interested in fostering the Polish Studies program at Central Connecticut State College. The community came forward with money, often a little at a time. Administrators and Blejwas's family alike recall two decades of his walking into the Office of Institutional Advancement with sacks full of coins and small bills. The community gave whatever it could,

when it could, in increments of ten or twenty-five dollars.11 CCSU Presi

8Peszke, interview and notes.

9Peszke, interview and notes; General Statutes of Connecticut; Title 10 Part II Connecticut State University; Conn. Gen. Stat. ? 10a-97 (2001) ? 10a 97. (Formerly Sec. 10-115a). Nicholas Copernicus Center. Interchange between

colleges and universities. The amended statute now reads: A resource center, to be known as the Nicholas Copernicus Center, is hereby established at Central Connecticut State University, for the primary purpose of teaching and

encouraging the study of the Polish language, arts, history, culture,

anthropology, and any other subjects that any visiting professor assigned to the resource center shall deem necessary to study. The resource center and its

faculty shall also be responsible for encouraging the interchange between

colleges and universities in the United States and Poland. History: (P.A. 73

618, S. 1, 2; P.A. 82-391, S. 4, 6.). Notes: P.A. 82-391, designated Central Connecticut State College as Central Connecticut State University pursuant to

reorganization of higher education system, effective March 1, 1983; Sec. 10 115a transferred to Sec. 10a-97 in 1983.

10Peszke, interview.

^Cynde Rodriguez, "An Endowment For Polish Studies; Chair at CCSU Is The Result Of One Man's Dream," The Hartford Courant, October 30, 1997 Thursday, 2 West Central Section: Town News, Bl.




dent Richard Judd recalled the phenomenon of personal giving in his eulogy for Professor Blejwas,

Stan was resolute about everything he did. When he first started

raising funds for the Copernican endowment in 1971, I worked very closely with him as Assistant Treasurer of the CCSU Foundation. His efforts were untiring. He knew if we could raise the $600,000, the sum would be matched by the State of Connecticut. One day he walked into my office with a brown paper bag. "Dick," he said, "I have a donation from so and so." In the bag was $50 - in rolls of quarters. And so it

went, donations from all walks of life, corporations, foundations,

friends, and the chair became a reality.12

The emptied coin banks and the bank checks manifested the nature of the community itself, a mixture of generations of immigrants and native born who were Connecticut's Polonia.

There were corporate donors who helped the chair, but most of the large sponsors came from organizations such as the Polish National Alliance, the

Polish Cultural Club of Greater Hartford, the Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Polish International Golf Tournament. The individual donors repre sented a range of incomes and occupations. Katherine Bogucka, for example, gave ten dollars during her lifetime, in 1976 when the program was getting off the ground. She was active in only one public cause, the New Britain

Taxpayer's Association, but otherwise she lived a quiet life as a mother and a landlady. Former Mayor of New Britain, Stanley Pac, recalled her as a

nice woman who saved her money carefully. Her only child passed away and she was alone. She wanted to give her life savings to a good cause.13 Upon

Ms. Bogucka's death, she left a total of $318,683 paid out over the years between 1992 and 1995.14

Other donors made Polish and Polish American activities a significant part of their lives. Dr. Joseph A. Mlynarski, a well known Connecticut sur geon and an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Connecticut

Medical School since its founding, and his wife, Eleanor, gave annual con tributions in the amounts near $100 until his death in 1998, with a few

larger gifts. After his death, Mrs. Mlynarski has made substantial contribu tions to the Copernican Fund, the main fund in the endowment. Unlike Ms.

Bogucka, who was not a substantial figure in Polish American affairs, Dr.

12A Reflection Offered by Dr. Richard L. Judd, President, Central Connecticut State University, September 29, 2001, Holy Cross Church, New Britain, Connecticut, 2. Ms. in author's possession at CCSU.

13Phone interview with Stanley Pac, April 15, 2002. 14Central Connecticut State University Foundation Financial Report, Fiscal

Year Ending June, 2001, compiled by the Office of the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.



Katedra Wiedzy : The Founding of the Endowed Chair 111

Mlynarski was honored in 1994 with the Connecticut District of the Polish American Congress Lifetime Achievement Award.15

Alumni also gave generously, sometimes, like Richard Mocarski, to

specific purposes such as the Rudewicz archival fund and the Rudewicz musical fund. Other alumni gave to the Copernican general fund and then established their own. Henry Gajda started with small gifts in 1977, but

they grew as he prospered. In 1997, twenty years after his first contribution of $20, he gave $10,000 to fund the publication of lectures delivered by speakers brought to CCSU under the auspices of the Endowed Chair in

Polish and Polish-American Studies.16 Henry Gajda was a former field

representative for the Social Security administration, a member of the Pulaski Democratic Club and a member of the Polish National Alliance.

The Polish Heritage Archive, an integral part of the Polish Studies pro gram and a fundamental building block toward establishment of the chair, was opened in 1986 with a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a federal agency concerned with the preservation of historical documents connected with the American experience.17 Ewa

Wolynska was hired as the archivist in 1989. In addition to the Polish Heri tage Archive, which now holds 20,000 volumes, the Rudewicz Archives

maintain the archival activities of the Connecticut Polish and Polish Ameri can Manuscript Collection.

The academic year 1993-94 was the Polish Studies Program's twentieth

anniversary. At this time Prof. Blejwas and John Shea taught the core of its courses, in history and language. Sixty-five students took elementary or intermediate Polish languages courses. The program subsidized the study of the language in those formative years, before it became popular enough to run without financial assistance. In addition to the program's growth, the celebration of the anniversary helped propel the program forward. Blejwas also arranged accompanying events for a major art exhibit at the Wadsworth

Athenaeum, "Master European Drawings from Polish Collections," which ran from January 15 to March 6, 1994. Prof. Daniel Stone from the Univer sity of Winnipeg spoke on the "Eighteenth-Century Patronage of the Arts in

Poland" to over 600 people at the inauguration of the exhibit.18 By now the program was attracting crowds numbering in the hundreds to its sponsored events.

Those sponsored events include the Fiedorczyk-Wodarski Lecture, which

provides funds for an annual lecture related to the Polish Studies Program

15Financial Report; Joseph Mlynarski, Obituary, The Hartford Courant, April 2, 1998 Thursday, 2 West Central Section: Town News, B6.

16Financial Report. 17Stanislaus A. Blejwas and Ewa Wolynska, The Connecticut Polish

Heritage Archive, pamphlet, files of S.A. Blejwas, Central Connecticut State

University. 18Stanislaus A. Blejwas, Polish Studies Program, Central Connecticut State

University Annual Report, 1993-94.




(Polish-American studies); the Godlewski Evening, a biennial evening of Polish culture (music, literature, poetry, art, and so on); the A. and R. Rudewicz Fund to support an annual recital or conceit featuring Polish music performed by a distinguished individual artist, ensemble, or composer and conductor and to support a Medal of Merit to recognize individual achievement and contribution to the Polish and the American communities; the Gajda Fund; and the Koproski Fund to support a lecture in the area of

Polish business, economy and trade. Never ones to eschew controversy, the Polish Americans who have

funded the endowment enjoy speakers who will bring debate to the commu

nity. The Nowakowski Fund, for example, supports "Cultural Conversa tions." Adam Michnik, one of Poland's great dissenters during the commu nist era, was the inaugural speaker at the Boguslaw Nowakowski Conversa tions about Poland. Michnik was an organizer of the peaceful social resis tance against communism in Poland, and was jailed several times as a result. His arrest in 1968 sparked student protests.19 AJeksandra Nowak owski endowed the "Conversations" after the death of her husband, Boguslaw Nowakowski, the supervising civil engineer for the Connecticut

Department of Transportation and longtime supporter of the Copernican general fund.20

Scholarships were also established, such as the Grzyb Prize, providing support for a student of American birth who excels in Polish Studies at

Central Connecticut State University, and the Polish Golf Tournament to support to a Polish born, full-time, matriculated undergraduate student.

Likewise the Stanislaus A. Blejwas fund is being established by his family. The import of the numbers attending the events cannot be exaggerated

Although many of the founders of the Polish Studies Program and its major donors were college educated, a great proportion of the audience attending lectures by eminent scholars had not been privileged with higher education.

These were truly the interested, intelligent public that many historians claim to work for. Blejwas himself was engaging more and more in what is now called public history, writing for and about the local population. The Polish

Heritage Archive continued to grow, and in 1994 reached 10,000 volumes. That year the works purchased for the Collection through the Copernican Polish Heritage Fund included fifteen American dissertations on various aspects of Polish American and ethnic studies.21 More Polish Studies Pro grams similar to the one at Central were cropping up. In 1976 Indiana Uni versity at Bloomington opened a center that, like CCSU's, was not a degree granting program, but was part of the international studies curriculum at the

19"Polish Activist to Speak at CCSU," The Hartford Courant, March 6, 2000 Monday, 2 West Central Section: Town News, B3.

20Financial Report. 21Annual Report, 1993-94.



Katedra Wiedzy : The Founding of the Endowed Chair 113

school.22 Blejwas continued to think in expansive ways, though, and envi sioned an endowed chair that would bring under it both Polish Studies and the study of Polish Americans.

Individuals at CCSU who were instrumental in the creation of the Polish Studies Program included many of the senior administrators over two decades: Dr. Thomas A. Porter, former Dean of Arts and Sciences; his successors, Dr. Robert Brown and Dr. George Clarke; Dr. Richard L. Judd, long-time Treasurer of the CCSU Foundation, Inc., and currently president

of the university. The endowment of a chair was due in great part to Mr. Nicholas Pettinico, Vice-President for University Affairs (now Vice President of Institutional Advancement); and Cornelius O'Leary, Associate Vice-President for Community and Regional Development. Similarly the support of Mr. Lawrence D. McHugh, Chairperson of the CSU Board of

Trustees, and Dr. William Cibes, Chancellor of Connecticut State University was also critical.23

Certain events were also seminal in raising support for an endowed chair. The visit on April 10, 1996 of former President of Poland, Lech

Walesa, to deliver the annual Robert C. Vance Distinguished Lecture and to

accept an honorary degree from Central Connecticut State University was a milestone in the history of the Polish Studies Program. Charismatic and

inspiring, Walesa brought the passion of the Solidarity movement to New Britain, and placed stones at the human rights monument erected in honor of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko in Walnut Hill Park. Walesa then met with Governor John Rowland and Connecticut's political leaders in Hartford The President addressed a joint session of the State Legislature, where Sen. Tom Bozek of

New Britain introduced him. That afternoon, he participated in a seminar with Central students, and was the guest of honor at the Vance Lecture Dinner, the proceeds of which went to benefit the Polish Studies Program. And in the evening, President Walesa received the honorary degree and delivered the Vance Lecture. The Polish Studies Program was now receiving local, state, national and international attention.24

Yet the establishment of an endowed chair was not without internal dissension at CCSU. There were diff?rent visions about how to develop the chair. "I can remember one discussion with him about the nature of the academic appointment for the holder of the endowed chair in Polish

American Studies. Our views differed like night and day," recalled Richard Judd. Judd envisioned revolving appointments that he thought would allow the University to attract different holders to broaden the chair's influence. Several universities have endowed chairs on this model. "Stan would have none of that," the President said. "Stan had this look on his face, unmistakable consternation." The President became convinced of a need for a

22Polish Studies Center at IU, http://www.indiana.edu/~polishst/ (April 9, 2001).

23Annual Report, 1996-97.

24Annual Report, 1995-96.




permanent chair to develop all of its many aspects, academic and

community-oriented. "The foundation of this work needed to be handled on a

day-to-day basis: the Blejwas way!"25 During Polish Day ceremonies on May 7, 1997, at the Capitol Build

ing in Hartford, Gov. John G. Rowland announced the establishment of the state's first endowed chair of Polish and Polish American Studies at Central

Connecticut State University. Both Chancellor Cibes and the governor praised the strong links that CCSU had built with the community to create the chair. Dr. Andrzej Jaroszynski, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Polish

Embassy, represented then Ambassador Jerzy Kozmiriski at the announce ment.26 The $600,000 raised by the Polish community was matched by the state of Connecticut. The new Chair's permanent financial base is $1,200,000, and the endowment has grown currently to about $1.4 million dollars.

On October 19, 1998, Professor Stanislaus A. Blejwas was installed at the first holder of the Chair. Administratively, the endowed chair is housed in the Center for International Education, while the holder of the Chair is a

member of the history faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences.27 "There are several defining moments in a university's history. This is one of those

moments," said CCSU President Richard L. Judd.28 The chair helped advance Polish and Polish American Studies in several

disciplines. In 1998 an agreement between the Kosciuszko Foundation and the University allowed Central to participate in the Foundation's national program sponsoring Polish studies at American universities and colleges. Since that time the Kosciuszko Foundation has sponsored visiting scholars in literature and history.29 The last speaker that Professor Blejwas intro

duced was Ambassador Przemyslaw Grudzinski of the Republic of Poland, who gave the Milewski Lecture on May 7, 2001. Blejwas did not live to see the fall semester lecture and concert events that he had planned.

He was at the Polish Embassy on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center towers fell; the next day he was in New York City at Colum bia University, as part of his scheduled engagements as the endowed chair at Central. On September 23 he died suddenly at his home. On November 8, 2001, the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University announced that the chair would be known as the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies. What started as a tribute to Coper

nicus and his intellectual descendants now bears the name of the man who

25A Reflection Offered by Dr. Richard L. Judd, 2 (emphasis in original). 26"Polish-Studies Chair Set Up at University," The Hartford Courant, May

9, 1997, 2 West Central Edition, B5. Polish Studies Program, Central Connecticut State Annual Report, 1996-97.

27Stanislaus A. Blejwas, Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies, Central Connecticut State University Annual Report, 1997-1998.

28Rodriguez. 29Annual Report, 1997-98.



Katedra Wiedzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair 115

embodied, for the New Britain community, the finest qualities of that heri

tage. The Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish Ameri

can Studies is jedyne w swoim rodzoju. Unlike the new wave of corporate endowed chairs bemoaned by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Blejwas chair is owned by a community. It belongs to them in a way that few academic positions of any kind do. Since the untimely passing of Stanislaus Blejwas, the community has expressed not only its grief, but also its solidarity. When news of his death reached the community, the his tory department received many offers of assistance to help continue the rela

tionship between the university and the community. When the university approached the daunting task of hiring a second person to fill the Endowed Chair, President Judd formed a search committee that included five members of the local community, one administrator, a university librarian, and six professors. No major donor was on the committee. The committee decided that as part of the search process, finalists for the position should give pub lic lectures so that the community and the candidates could meet. The uni versity recognized that the next holder of the chair, like the first, must be a scholar and teacher and public servant. The responsibilities are vast, the expectations high. The Blejwas Chair grew out of love and pride. The $40 and $100 and $1,000 contributions keep coming in. The Polish Studies program at Central Connecticut State University is, as its founders imagined it, a living intellectual monument.



Documents

Katedra Więdzy: The Founding of the Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American History at Central Connecticut State University