National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library marks 50 years, plans Prague-style Orloj
The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is the foremost institution of its kind in the United States – and this year is marking the anniversary of its founding in 1974. How is the museum and library celebrating 50 years of existence? And what state is it in today? To find out, I invited its director of community outreach and development, Andy Whiting, into our studios when he was in Prague recently.
What is your role at the museum and library?
“I am the director of community outreach and development at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I attend a lot of community events, and on the development side it’s fundraising for the museum.”
How is the museum funded? I would imagine perhaps an analogous institution in Europe might get public funding. How do you guys pay the bills?
“We are more than 50 percent private donations. We put in for some competitive grants, but other than competitive grants we get no federal funding, no state funding, other than the grants, and no city funding, other than a hotel-motel tax that we get.
“But for the most part our donations are private donations – or sponsorship monies and things like that.”
Some listeners will be saying, “Whiting” does not sound either Czech or Slovak. Do you any Czech or Slovak background?
“We are in our 50th year, so we have got a whole host of different events coming up.”
“I don’t. And I was very upfront with them when they offered me the job. I told them I don’t have any Czech or Slovak background that I know of; I haven’t done the whole research on it.
“So as far as I know, no, but I’m kind of an honorary Czech – they’ve kind of taken me under their wing.”
What are the main activities of the Czech and Slovak Museum and Library?
“We are in our 50th year this year, so we have got a whole host of different events coming up.
“We’re working with the folks who maintain the Orloj in Prague are going to be installing a Prague-style Orloj in Cedar Rapids.”
“We have a gala coming up in May that we’re really excited about. We’re also going to be having, on that same weekend, an economic summit that we’re really looking forward to. Those are a couple of highlights.
“We’re working on a Prague-style Orloj [astronomical clock]. We have a clock tower but it was damaged during a storm and the whole idea of the clock tower was originally to be a Prague-style Orloj anyway.
“So we’re working with the folks who maintain the Orloj here in Prague and they’re going to be installing a Prague-style Orloj in Cedar Rapids.”
Is it going to be a replica of the one here, or something just similar?
“It’s going to be similar. I don’t think it’s going to be an exact replica. We already have our tower up, and I don’t think it’s going to be exactly the same.
“But it’ll be very similar. It will be digital, rather than the system that is used in the original; the mechanism behind it will be more modern, but it’s going to look very similar.”
What about the institution’s permanent collections? What are the things that you have on show all the time?
“We have a permanent exhibit, Faces of Freedom, and we’re actually going to be in the process of kind of refreshing that a little bit in the next couple of years. It’s been around for I think 12 years now.
“We’ve got so many neat artefacts. In fact we’re bursting at the seams, to be honest with you. We’re looking at trying to expand in the next couple of years, because we just don’t have enough room for everything.
“But in that collection we’ve got items from the Soviet era, we’ve got a really cool interactive portion where we bring kids in and show them the history of immigration by the Czechs and Slovaks to America.
“We have a suitcase where you have a whole bunch of things that you have to fit all into one suitcase – to kind of show them what immigrants had to go through; what would you pick, what would you not pick to put in your suitcase?
“We also have a replica of a boat similar to the ones that the immigrants would have come over on.
“And we also have a house outside the exhibit that is an immigrant home from Cedar Rapids that we picked up to the museum. It’s really neat to see what folks would have lived in when they moved to Cedar Rapids.”
I presume you have a lot of photos?
“Yes, a lot of photos. A lot of literature, of course, because of the library side of things. That’s another neat aspect to the museum – it’s a museum and library.
“So people can come and do research, they can come and do family history research, they can come and do scholarly work and research.
“We’re looking to expand that in the future as well, to have exchange students come over and do scholarly work.”
Who do your visitors tend to be?
“We have people from all over the world come to Cedar Rapids to see the museum. We have quite a good contingent there in Cedar Rapids, and then a lot of people come from all over the States; mostly, I would say, the States, but we do have a lot of international folks as well.”
Are they all people of Czech and Slovak extraction? Does anybody else visit?
“Not everybody that comes has a Czech or Slovak background. A lot do, obviously, but we really try to focus on telling the story of freedom and democracy, immigration, from the Czech and Slovak perspective.
“We focus on telling the story of freedom and democracy, immigration. It’s a story that most, especially Americans, can really relate to.”
“But really it’s a story that most, especially Americans, can really relate to. Because America is a country of immigrants and so a lot of Americans really gravitate toward that messaging.
“So you don’t have to be Czech or Slovak – that is kind of a misconception that we try to fight against, because a lot of people think that, but really when folks get in there they’re amazed at how much it really pertains to them as well.”
You’re involved in community outreach. What kind of community events do you hold?
“Actually we hold a whole host of different events. There’s everything from local Rotary meetings to Czech Village Association meetings.
“But also – this is really neat – tomorrow we’ll be hosting a naturalisation ceremony at the museum where folks will be sworn in as US citizens.
“We used to host it but the pandemic kind of took it away and this is the first one since the pandemic that we’re hosting again. And we’re really excited about that.”
Does interest in the museum and library remain steady? Or does it kind of decline over time? Every decade we’re a further decade away from the waves of migration.
“No. We’ve seen steady growth, in particular since Covid. People have kind of had a renewed sense of wanting to find out who they are, where they came from. So no, we’ve seen the opposite, actually.
“I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily exploding, but it’s not declining.”
Generally speaking, what state would you say your institution is in after 50 years?
“The museum is in a fantastic place, I would say. We’re always looking for new things to add to the collection. We can’t stay around without donations, so that’s something that we’re always hustling for.
“The relations we have with the Czech and Slovak governments, the Czech and Slovak peoples, are invaluable.”
“But the relations we have with the Czech and Slovak governments, the Czech and Slovak peoples, are invaluable. We’re really constantly building that.
“And then community backing – in Cedar Rapids we have a great community. So the museum is on a firm footing.”
One thing I neglected to ask you earlier: Why is it in the state of Iowa?
“At one time Cedar Rapids, Iowa had more Czechs per capita than any city in the world except for Prague. A lot of people don’t realise that.
“A lot of Czech immigrants came to America. They were looking for some land. They were looking for a place that reminded them of home – and I have been amazed since being in Prague at just how much the topography looks like Iowa. It really looks very similar, with the rolling hills.
“At one time Cedar Rapids, Iowa had more Czechs per capita than any city in the world except for Prague.”
“So a lot of Czechs, when they came to America, moved west and settled in Iowa. And Cedar Rapids in particular – we are the number corn processing city in the world, so very agricultural.
“Then we have some factories. There was the Sinclair meat packing plant, where a lot of immigrants worked. At one time the state of Iowa actually advertised in Czechoslovakia for folks to come over.
“That’s why it’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A lot of people ask that question. It’s because the community is there.
“We’re nestled in a portion of Cedar Rapids called the Czech Village area. And right across the bridge from the Czech Village is the NewBo area, New Bohemia.
“We kind of liken it to Charles Bridge here in Prague. We’ve got the bridge that separates the two different sides.
“But really I can’t think of a better place for the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.”
In the city are there Czech or Slovak landmarks? For example, churches or anything like that?
“Absolutely. There are churches. In the Czech Village and NewBo area there are churches, there are Sokols. Now a lot of the buildings have been repurposed, maybe they’re used for something different now than they were.
“But absolutely. There are Czech landmarks all throughout that area of Cedar Rapids.”.
