The first issue of Glos Polek was published on November 3, 1910, one hundred years ago this November. This is a historic anniversary, which Polish Women's Alliance of America will be celebrating with pride!
A traveling exhibition called a "Voice of Their Own," is being planned to mark the Centennial. It is scheduled to open in Chicago in the fall of 2010, travel to other U.S. cities in 2011, before continuing to Poland in 2012. An exhibition of this scope involves a lot of work and detailed planning -- by PWA officers and the exhibit organizers -- as well as a lot of costs -- so we are asking members and friends of PWA to help raise funds for the exhibition, which will showcase the history of the PWA and its members and their many achievements over the last 100 years, as chronicled in the pages of Glos Polek.
We hope to garner a lot of publicity with the exhibition, generate interest in our organization, and increase membership. Special anniversaries are a time of celebration, of looking back, but they also provide a unique opportunity to bring people together, to look ahead, and to get excited about the future. Please join us in making the Centennial a successful and meaningful celebration.
All donors to the Centennial Fundraising Drive will have their names published in the Centennial Issue of Glos Polek, which will be mailed to members and donors in October 2010. Become a part of history! Support our Centennial Fundraising Drive!
Save the Date … to attend the Centennial Banquet in the Chicago area on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Learn more at the links below. We will provide updates on a regular basis as the exhibition plans are finalized and as our fundraising totals grow.
Read more about the exhibition, the fundraising drive, and the banquet below:
Centennial Exhibition Plans
Centennial Fundraising Drive
Centennial Banquet
GLOS POLEK CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION
A Voice of Their Own
A
Centennial Celebration of a Women's Newspaper
1910 - 2010
Overview
Schedule
Catalogue
Funding
Organizers
OverviewA Voice of Their Own celebrates the centennial of the Glos Polek, the official publication of Polish Women's Alliance, and the impact the organization and its publication have had on the lives of PWAA members-hundreds of thousands of women and their families. The articles and photographs in the hundreds of issues of the newspaper illustrate the changes that shaped the world over the last one hundred years. Against the backdrop of women's struggles to assume their equal place in society-including the right to vote, to make their own financial decisions, to pursue higher education, and to enter the professions-and against the backdrop of the global struggle to defeat fascism and communism and to win independence for Poland, the pages of the Glos Polek chronicle the stories of ordinary women rising to meet the extraordinary challenges of their time.
The exhibit uses front pages and selected articles and photographs from the Glos Polek to tell a unique and inspiring story of journalism, immigration, and the fight for self-determination. The historical importance of a news publication written by women for women, beginning in 1910, is rare. It is one of the oldest such publications in the country.Fourteen front pages will be enlarged and framed and wall text will explain as needed. Photographs and articles from inside the newspaper will complement the front page stories. A gallery guide with translations into English will be provided.
Three to six original bound newspapers will be featured in the exhibit, opened to pages and housed in glass vitrines, to show audiences what the newspaper, particularly the older copies, looked like and how they have been preserved.
Subsidiary sections in the exhibit will feature:Honorary Members of the PWAA, including Marie Sklodowska Curie, Helena Paderewska, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, WW II hero Irena Sendler, and other prominent Polish women..
Advertisements taken from the Glos Polek, documenting products and fashions throughout the years.
Poetry by Maria Konopnicka, a Positivist poet, novelist, and essayist who spoke to citizens during Poland's oppression by foreign powers, and who offered moral support to PWAA members in the early days of the organization. Konopnicka was the first Honorary Member of PWA.
Schedule
The schedule is still being finalized and will be posted here soon. The exhibition will open in Chicago in fall of 2010 and then travel to a number of other cities in 2011. Proposed venues are being considered in Milwuakee, New York City, and Springfiled, Massachusetts. At the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, the exhibition will travel to Warsaw, Poland. It will be donated to a permanent collection at an institution of higher learning or to a museum at the end of its travels.
Catalogue
A 72-page color catalogues with a history of Polish Women's Alliance of America, essays by guest historians, and photographs of the objects in the exhibition will be printed and offered for sale.
FundingProduction, promotion, and traveling costs of an exhibition can add up. A Fundraising Drive is currently underway. Additional funding will be provided from the proceeds of the Centennial Banquet, catalogues sales, grants, and Polish Women's Alliance Alliance of America.
OrganizersVirginia Sikora, National President and Managing Editor of Glos Polek
Maya Piergies, Curator, Art Consultant, and Exhibition Specialist
Mary Mirecki-Piergies, Glos Polek English Editor and Book Publisher
Lidia Rozmus, Glos Polek Polish Editor, Graphic Designer, and Artist
CELEBRATING THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF GLOS POLEK
Join our Centennial Fundraising Drive!
The first issue of Glos Polek was published on November 3, 1910, and it has been in print, without interruption, for the past 100 years. Ours is one of very few publications in the United States that has been owned, edited, and managed by women for so long. It is truly an accomplishment we can be proud of!A Centennial Exhibition, called "A Voice of Their Own" will open in Chicago in October 2010, and it will travel to a number of venues in the United States and Poland over the next two years. You can read about more about the exhibition here.
The exhibit will tell the story of PWA and its members taken from the front pages, articles, and photographs of the Glos Polek. It is a remarkable story of ordinary women living in extraordinary times. The exhibit will show how our organization grew and prospered and how it responded to the challenges the world faced in the last 100 years. A catalogue with the history of the PWA and photos of the exhibition objects will be printed and offered for purchase.
To raise funds for the exhibition, we are holding a Centennial Banquet in the Chicago area on September 26th, and asking our members and friends for their support of our Centennial Fundraising Drive. Banquet invitations will be mailed later in the year, but the Fundraising Drive kicks off on February 1st and ends on June 1st. Learn more about the Banquet here. Be sure to Save the Date!
All donors will have their names published in the Centennial Issue of Glos Polek. Become a part of PWA history! Show your pride in our achievements! Make sure your name is included in the Centennial Issue of Glos Polek! The Donor Benefits are listed on the Donation coupon here and also listed below.
GLOS POLEK CENTENNIAL FUNDRAISING DRIVE
DONOR LEVELS AND BENEFITS
KRAKOWIAK LEVEL $1 - $99
1. Name will be published in Centennial Issue of Glos PolekKUJAWIAK LEVEL $100 - $199
1. Name will be published in Centennial Issue of Glos Polek
2. Donor will receive a copy of the Exhibition CatalogueOBEREK LEVEL $200 - $499
1. Name will be published in Centennial Issue of Glos Polek
2. Donor will receive a copy of the Exhibition Catalogue
3. Name will be published in the Exhibition CatalogueMAZUR LEVEL $500 - $999
1. Name will be published in Centennial Issue of Glos Polek
2. Donor will receive a copy of the Exhibition Catalogue
3. Name will be published in the Exhibition Catalogue
4. Invitation to Curator Tour and Cocktail ReceptionPOLONAISE LEVEL $1000 and over
1. Name will be published in Centennial Issue of Glos Polek
2. Donor will receive a copy of the Exhibition Catalogue
3. Name will be published in the Exhibition Catalogue
4. Invitation to Curator Tour and Dinner Reception
The FUNDRAISING DRIVE runs from February 1 to
July 31, 2010
Make checks payable to: PWA Charitable and Educational Foundation (Memo: Glos Polek)
Mail checks to: Polish Women's Alliance, 6643 N. Northwest Hwy, 2nd Fl., Chicago, IL 60631
Questions: 1-888-522-1898, ext 206Please be sure to send in your name and city/state as it should appear in the Centennial Issue and/or catalogue. Groups, Councils, and Districts should also include the city/state along with the Group. Council or District number.
Download mail-in coupon here.
GLOS POLEK CENTENNIAL BANQUET
will
be held on
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The
Centennial Banquet
Celebrating 100 years of our publication
The
Glos Polek (Polish Women's Voice)
1910 - 2010
will
be held on
Sunday September 26, 2010
at
The Rosewood Restaurant and Banquets
9421 W. Higgins Rd., Rosemont, IL
Tickets
$100 per person
$900 for Table of Ten
4
P.M. - Cocktails & Hors d'oeuvres
5 P.M. - Dinner
Journalist and Sportscaster from NBC5 Chicago
will be the Keynote Speaker
The Banquet will kick-off a year-long Traveling Exhibition entitled
"A Voice of Their Own"
Invitations were mailed out in August
Hosted
by
Polish Women's Alliance of America
For additional information or to make reservations, please call (847) 384-1200
Learn more about the venue at http://www.rosewoodrestaurant.com/