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Amicus Poloniae

AMICUS POLONIAE AWARD

The Amicus Poloniae Award recognizes significant contributions to enhancing knowledge of the Polish and Polish American heritage by individuals not belonging to the Polish American community.

2023: RICKY HUARD

Ricky  Huard, Editor-and-Chief at Ohio University Press and de facto acquisitions editor for Polish and Polish-American Studies Series.    Previously he had served as the copyeditor and proofreader of the series. Rick served ably and meticulously and then was promoted to current role and despite his numerous moves in the Press, he retained the series in his portfolio due to his love of it.  He has been and continues to be an enthusiastic supporter, defender, and friend of the series and of PAHA and has attended PAHA events at the AHA and supported and assisted in signing up the Kosciuszko Foundation as a series funder. 

2022: DAVID STRATHAIRN

David Strathairn, actor, Clark Young, script writer, and Derek Golden, writers and producers of “Remember this.  The lesson of Jan Karski.” Originally developed at Georgetown Univ, where Karski taught for four decades, the one-man dramatic production has been shown to great acclaim in Chicago, New York, Washington DC, among many locations. Strathairn himself has imbued himself into Jan Karski’s heroic story as a Polish resistance fighter and his struggle to convince the Allies of the Holocaust’s enormity and gives lectures and talk backs about the man he portrays.  He has been telling this story of the World War II hero for seven years. In carrying out this 90-minute, one man production the 73-year-old actor goes through a physically demanding regime: “The more time I spend with him, his legacy continues to amplify,” says Strathairn.  The contemporary relevance in the story of an Eastern European man who testifies to atrocities committed by a foreign invader based on what he has seen is plain to understand.  The play will travel to Spain and potentially an off-Broadway run.

2021: DR. JOHN P. DUNN

John P. Dunn teaches history at Valdosta State University, Georgia where he offers courses dealing with the Middle East, Eastern Europe, China, and World Military History. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-partisan policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., selected Dunn as an Academic Fellow for 2010. In 2018 he launched Valdosta State University’s Department of History first study-abroad program with a trip to Poland. He secured funding to take a group of students to attend the PIASA conference in Gdańsk.  This was produced in partnership with the University of Gdańsk. Prof. Dunn expanded opportunities for Polish studies by sponsoring Kosciuszko Foundation Visiting Professor Ania Mazurkiewicz  from the University of Gdańsk to teach through the Louie A. Brown Visiting International Scholars Program. He supported a Polish studies conference celebrating Poland’s centennial rebirth anniversary by inviting and sponsoring professors from around the country and ending with a banquet of Polish foods which had never been seen in Valdosta where there really is no Polish community! Prof. Dunn participates in PAHA Conferences where he has offered presentations. Publications include articles in Polish American Studies. 

2020: DR. NEAL PEASE

Dr. Neal Pease is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he specializes in the history of Poland and Central Europe, Christianity (especially Catholic Church), modern Europe, and sport, particularly baseball in the United States. His 2009 book Rome’s Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914–1939 is a co-winner of the 2010 Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies /Orbis Book Prize for Polish Studies. He has also published numerous articles on 20^th-century Polish history, history of the Catholic church, and history of sport, including history of Polish American contributions to Americans sports. Among his numerous contributions to the field of Polish and Polish American Studies, Pease has served as Editor in Chief of The Polish Review, board member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and member of the Editorial Board of Polish American Studies. He has also been a long-serving board member of the Polish American Historical Association. Pease is currently the organization’s First Vice-President and in January 2021, he will begin his term as PAHA’s President. 

2019: Dr. NORMAN KELKER AND JOANN FALLETTA

Norman Kelker accepts his award, with Pres. Anna Muller and VP Marta Cieslak

DR. NORMAN E. KELKER has had a long career as a microbiologist. For many years now Dr. Kelker has been an active member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America and a supporter of the Kosciuszko foundation. His interests in history and family history resulted in his many presentations. Most recently, Dr. Kelker presented his research on Ernestine Rose, a Polish Born Leader of the American Suffrage Movement and Herbert Hoover’s support for Poland. Dr. Kelker is a long-time friend of Poland and Polonia.

Dr. Kelker with his Award

The second Amicus Poloniae Awardee for 2019 was JOANN FALLETTA.  Ms. JoAnn Falletta, Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra received the award for continuous support of Polish and Polish American composers and musicians. Falletta has led numerous projects and events that showcased Polish and Polish American composers as well as invited Polish musicians to play with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. 

2018: DR. STEPHANIE KRAFT

Dr Stephanie Kraft

The 2018 Award was presented to Dr. Stephanie Kraft, a journalist who visited Poland for the first time 28 years ago and, after that visit, she decided to learn Polish. She is recognized as a translator of such novels as Emancypantki (Emancipated Women) by the 19th-century Polish novelist Boleslaw Prus, and Stone Tablets by Wojciech Zurkowski, and co-translated Marta by Eliza Orzeszkowa (2018). In one of her interviews, Stephanie Kraft said “I really want Polish literature to be better known… that’s really why I got involved in this.”

 

Therese Clarke with PAHA President, Anna Mazurkiewicz, January 2018

2017 - Therese Clarke

Therese Clarke was born in Buffalo NY to an Irish Father and French Mother. Therese graduated from D’Youville College with Honors in Buffalo NY and Majored in French Education. She was a career French Teacher in the Williamsville NY School District. A founding member, (the only original member actively involved since 1990) of the 1990 creation of Pomost International, a local organization which has been sending volunteers annually to Rzeszów, Poland, Buffalo's Sister City. Therese went to Rzeszów alone (not knowing any Polish) to make the arrangements. She returned 15 times as leader of the program. Since 1991 more than 125 Americans (many non-Poles) have gone to Poland to facilitate a two-week Intensive English Language and American Culture. Therese regularly attends the Chopin Singing Society Concerts, UB Polish Student’s Association, Polish American Congress of WNY & Polish Arts Club of Buffalo Wigilias and Swieconkas. Dyngus Day, Paczki Day, Dożynki, Kosciusko Foundation of Buffalo, Orchard Lake Seminary Fundraising, Polish Businesswomen's Association, Casimir Pulaski Association, Polish Genealogy Associations.

Maja Trochimczyk, Grazyna Kozaczka (PAHA President) with Amicus Poloniae winners, Brenda Bruce and Dr. Alvin M. Fountain II, Denver, CO, 2017.

2016 - Dr. Alvin M. Fountain II and Brenda Bruce

At the 74th Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, PAHA presented its Amicus Poloniae Award to Dr. Alvin M. Fountain II and Brenda Bruce who co-founded the Paderewski Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2014 (paderewski-festival.org). Dr. Fountain, the President of the Festival, is a former administrator with the State of North Carolina and for more than 25 years he taught history at North Carolina State University. In 2008, Dr. Fountain was appointed as an Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland. The Vice-President and Secretary of the Festival, Brenda Bruceis an accomplished pianist, harpsichordist, acclaimed teacher, and accompanist dedicated to the promotion of classical piano performance of the highest quality.

Jim Pula, Silvia Dapia and Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann with Dapia's Award, Atlanta, GA.

2015 - Dr. Silvia Dapia

Dr. Silvia Dapia has provided significant service to Polonia and PAHA through her work on the Polish experience in Latin America. She guest edited a special edition of Polish American Studies on this topic and also guest edited a special issue of the Polish Review on the work of Witold Gombrowicz. Beyond this she has presented papers on Polish-related topics at PAHA and PIASA conferences as well as at the conference organized by Dr. Anna Mazurkiewicz at the University of Gdansk. Further, she organized two complete sessions on Gomrbowicz for the Fifth World Congress on Polish Studies in Warsaw in 2014. (Papers from this conference formed the basis for her guest-edited issue of The Polish Review.) In her position on the organizing committee for a 2014 conference on Gombrowicz held at the National Library in Buenos Aires she was able to obtain invitations for three prominent Polish scholars to participate, and she solicited papers for the completion of The Polish Review issue on Gombrowicz.

Terry Tegnazian with Anna Mazurkiewicz, Washington D.C., 2014

2014 - Terry Tegnazian

Ms. Tegnazian was recognized for her devotion to printing books about Poland in World War II which nurture interest in and have an impact on the perception of Poland and Poles among the American audiences. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School, Terry Tegnazian became interested in the Polish experience of World War II as a result of research for a book she was working on about a Polish airman in the Battle of Britain. Reading memoirs of key Polish Underground leaders, she was moved by the stories of the Poles' incredible courage during World War II - an aspect of the war she had not previously been aware of. Terry co-founded Aquila Polonica Publishing because she felt it was important that such lost stories be restored to history and the wider public.

2013 - Peter Hetherington

Peter Hetherington is a geologist by profession and author of Unvanquished - already a widely-acclaimed book that through a dynamic narrative chronicles Josef Pilsudski's life with a "stunning detail and impressive depth" - as one reviewer put it. Published in 2012 this 752-pages-long book brings Pilsudski to life and with him the history of Poland and the region. The book had two editions in one year! It has been favorably reviewed and endorsed (among others) by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Marek Jan Chodakiewicz and has already received a number of recognitions. Hetherington's description of the book reads: "Although not of Polish ancestry, I have come to appreciate Pilsudski and the Polish people with zeal of a convert, and hope that in some small measure this book will increase awareness of Poland's rich cultural heritage and her important contributions to Western civilization." His interest, effort, input and efficacy with no support in the Slavic profession make him a perfect candidate for the award recognizing friends of Poland.

2012 - Harlan J. Berk

Harlan J. Berk, founder and president of Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., Chicago, IL, was the person who noticed that items brought to his business for sale had come from the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. He did the right thing and notified authorities, thereby setting in motion the recovery of some $5 million worth of irreplaceable artifacts missing from the Polish Museum collections.

2011 - Dr. Pien Versteegh

Former Director for Strategic Projects at Tilburg University, Holland (currently at Avans University), Dr. Pien Versteegh has published works on the Polish migrant workers in western Europe and in the United States in the last decade of the 19th century, and first decades of the 20th century. As Executive Director of PAHA (since 2007), Dr. Pien Versteegh has effectively performed all of the administrative functions of the organization.

2010 - Ieva Zake

Dr. Ieva Zake of Rowan University (New Jersey) published research work in a field that is central to the mission of PAHA. That is, her work deals with the place of organized American ethnic groups, particularly those from east and central Europe, in the making of U.S. foreign policy.

2008 - Stephen Leahy

Dr. Leahy has held several important positions within PAHA. Most notably, he has served as editor of the PAHA newsletter, our organisation's most important direct communication tool with its members and provided notable service on the PAHA Awards committee.

2007 - Sean Martin

Dr. Martin's academic interests lie in Polish- Jewish relations. He is Associate Curator for Jewish History at the Western Reserve Historical Society, and teaches at the University of Phoenix. His recent book, Jewish Life in Cracow, 1918-1939 (London: 2004) received acclaim and he is currently working on a history of Jewish child welfare in interwar Poland.

2006 - Joel Wurl

A Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C., Joel Wurl is recognized for his longtime service at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota. While at IHRC he filled various positions, including Head of Research Collections and Associate Director. Due to his initiatives, many priceless manuscript collections produced by Polish American organizations were acquired by IHRC and made available to researchers. His nominator states that anybody who has ever done research at the IHRC can attest to Joel Wurl's invaluable assistance.

2005 - Gillian Berchowitz

Ms, Berchowitz is senior editor and assistant director of Ohio University Press, having worked with the firm more than 20 years. She is a native of Capetown, South Africa, of Latvian/Jewish background. She helped develop and has been essential to the success of OUP's Polish and Polish-American Studies Series, which has produced numerous award winning volumes.

2004 - Catholic University of America Press.