2008 Annual Meeting Program
Thursday, January 3
1:00-3:00 p.m. Marriott, Buchanan Room. Encyclopedia of Polish American History and Culture editorial board meeting
3:00-6:00 p.m. Marriott, Buchanan Room. PAHA board meeting
6:00-6:30 p.m. Marriott, Buchanan Room. PAHA business meeting
Friday, January 4
9:00-9:30 a.m. Registration
9:30-11:30 a.m. Marriott, Taft Room.
Session 1. Newest Research in Polish-American History
Chair: Anna D. Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University
Papers: From Monte Cassino to the Back of Yards: The Life Story of a Polish Émigré, Mary P. Erdmans, Central Connecticut State University
Death and the Polish Americans, John Radzilowski, University of Alaska Southeast
On the Move: Mobility as a Way of Life?, Pien Versteegh, Tilburg University
Polish Forced Labor during World War II: Assessing a Decade of Research and Debate, Brian McCook, Leeds Metropolitan University
Comment: The Audience
2:00-2:30 p.m. Registration
2:30-4:30 p.m. Marriott, Taft Room.
Session 2. Polish-American Writing: from Polish Tradition to the American Identity
Chairs: John Guzlowski, Eastern Illinois University
Janusz Zalewski, Florida Gulf Coast University
Panel: Hedwig Gorski, independent writer
John Guzlowski, Eastern Illinois University
Stephen Lewandowski, independent writer
Joseph Lisowski, Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina
Jen Michalski, independent writer
John Minczeski, independent writer
Elizabeth Murawski, independent writer
Leslie Pietrzyk, independent writer
Thaddeus Rutkowski, independent writer
6:00-8:30 p.m. Marriott, McKinley Room.
Session 3. Documentary Screening. Washington, D.C. premiere of Dom Polski: Dance Hall Days of Detroit’s Polonia (2007)
Panel: Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Columbia College Chicago, Historical Advisor
Laurie A. Gomulka Pallazolo, Producer and Director
Thaddeus Radzilowski, PIAST Institute, Chief Historical Advisor
Saturday, January 5
8:30-9:00 a.m. Registration
9:00-11:00 a.m. Marriott, Taft Room.
Session 4. Polish Americans in the Twentieth Century
Chair: Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Columbia College Chicago
Papers: “Men of Meaner Sort”: Wilson, the Immigrants, and the Polish Vote in 1912, M. B. Biskupski, Central Connecticut State University
Fiorello LaGuardia and the Polish Case, 1939–45, Iwona Drag Korga, Jozef Pilsudski Institute
Feliks Gadomski, Assembly of Captive European Nations and American Policy of Containment, Anna Mazurkiewicz, University of Gdansk, Poland
Polite Avoidance: The Story of the Closing of Alliance College, Michael T. Urbanski, Central Connecticut State University
Comment: The Audience
11:00-11:30 a.m. Registration
11:30-1:30 p.m. Marriott, Taft Room.
Session 5. New Interpretations of Polish-American Past
Chair: Mary P. Erdmans, Central Connecticut State University
Papers: Jamestown: The Case of the Missing Polish Settlers, James S. Pula, Purdue University North Central
Including the Excluded: Kosciuszko’s Attitude toward Slaves, Serfs, Jews and Peasants, Alex Storozynski, independent scholar
Why Have Scholars Forgotten about Polish Immigration to New York City?,
Anne M. Gurnack, University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Comment: The Audience
11:30-1:30 p.m. Marriott, Truman Room.
Session 6. Polish Americans and Interethnic Relations
Chair: M.B. Biskupski, Central Connecticut State University
Papers: Polish Americans and Civil Rights Protests in the Milwaukee Newspapers, 1967, Stephen M. Leahy, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley
Polish and Jewish Issues in the Narratives of Ana Maria Shua, Silvia G. Dapia, Purdue University
The Reception of Polish Jews Expelled by Germany in October 1938, Charles Chotkowski, independent scholar
Comment: M.B. Biskupski
2:30-4:30 p.m. Marriott, Taft Room.
Session 7. Writing Polonia History: The Stressed and the Missed
Chair: Joseph Wieczerzak, Bronx Community College, City University of New York
Panel: John J. Bukowczyk, Wayne State University
James S. Pula, Purdue University North Central
William Galush, Loyola University, Chicago
6:00-9:00 p.m. Embassy of Poland, 2640 Sixteenth Street N.W. PAHA Awards Banquet, followed by poetry reading by Polish-American poets