In August that year my mother came to visit me in Louisiana. I said, "hey, let's go see the Czech Museum." So off we went to find the museum. I found Libuse easy enough and I drove up and down Highway 28 East looking for any sign of a museum. There was none. But my mother saw a store called Melichar's. "That's a Czech name," she said, " I knew a family years ago with that name." So I stopped in and asked a clerk, "where's the Czech Museum?" A young man behind the counter said "go talk to the lady at the post office."
So off we went to find the post office. It's about a mile down the road. I told the postal clerk that I was looking for the Czech Museum and she got all excited. "Oh there's no musuem, just a hall and a cemetery." She said she was getting her lunch break in just a few minutes, and why don't we follow her to the Czech Hall. Her name is Cookie Chapman. Minutes later we were at the hall. There is a historic marker outside that briefly sets out the history of the Louisiana Czechs.
She had called her father and aunt, who quickly came by. My mother and her father started talking in Czech, and even sang an old childrens song together. Now, my mother was born in Queens, New York, and Mr. Tuma was born and bred in Libuse -- it was strange to listen to my mother's New York accent showing through her Czech while his Southern accent showed through his Czech. It was an obvious and astounding contrast.
Then Cookie had us follow her to the Czech Cemeteries. Both my mother and I were very surprised to see a "Ceskeho Narodni Hrbitov" sign over the gate, not to mention marker after maker, all written in Czech. Then we followed her up and down a few roads to see the other Czech historical marker at Kolin.
It was a very pleasant afternoon. While at the hall I asked, "but what about the Czech Museum." Mr. Tuma said to me, with a glint in his eye, "we don't have one, but we want one, we just don't know what to do, we're all old, we need someone young, and Czech, like you." I put that in the back of my mind too.
A few weeks later my mother said to me, "you know, I have all this Czech stuff, and I don't know what to do with it. Why don't you set up a museum and I'll give you the stuff." So I set about studying the issue. I went back to Cookie, and met with the Louisiana Czech Heritage Association, which asked me to investigate further. From that we began to hold town meetings at the Libuse Hall and I found a great interest in building a museum. As I investigated further I found more information. And more Czechs. Indeed, I found far more than anyone in Libuse or Kolin realized existed.
So I proposed to set up a 501(c)3 non-profit Louisiana Czech Museum. By August 1999 we had a legal entity, material donations, we held several exhibits and began to get donations. Throughout the past three years I have encountered an ever widening circle of Czechs in Louisiana. And I found an interest, accompanied by surprise, by various state agencies, and statewide organizations, as well as the Czech Government itself -- "Czechs in Louisiana? We had no idea!"
Like all small town projects we face the different personalities and the struggles for recognition and control. There are the disagreements about strategy and goals and time frames and the thousands of little details that go into a project like this. I found it amazing to hear that some decades old dispute or jealousy still had a hold on people, leading to conflict. And because I'm a fast talking native New Yorker wandering around rural Louisiana there were concerns about motives. Some even questioned me publically if I was Czech. When I started to speak Czech, pointing out the last name Hlavac -- well that pretty much settled that question.
So the project moves along in fits and starts -- but I keep researching and pulling together as much information on every aspect of our proposed museum. I am convinced, however, that a professionally organized museum under the standards of the American Museum Association's guidelines can and will be built. This museum will be built somewhere in Libuse -- because that's the historical center of Louisiana Czechs. But Czechs from around the state and the world are very welcome to join in creating what I like to call "the best little Czech museum in America."
Look through this site, and the official site of the Louisiana Czech Museum for more information, and to see where you can help.
For those wishing to join the process of building the museum you can contact me
at Jim Hlavac -- Louisiana Czech