Acknowledgments

      THIS PROJECT COULD not have been completed without the kind help of many people who went out of their way to track down hard-to-find materials: the staff of the Polish Museum of America, including Jan Loryś, Halina Misterka, Małgorzata Kot, Leonard Kurdek, and Violetta Wóżnicka; Ewa Wołyńska of the Connecticut Polish Archives at Central Connecticut State University; Karen Rondestvedt, former director of the Alliance College Collection at the University of Pittsburgh; Jean Dickson and Brenda Battleson at the University of Buffalo; and the staff of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. Thanks also to Monsignor Roman Nir, Sister Angelita, and Krzysztof Tyburski of the Central Archives of Polonia, Orchard Lake, and to my colleagues at the Alumni Memorial Library of St. Mary’s College: being allowed to snoop freely among all those old Polish books has immensely enriched this work and my life.

      In Poland, Franciszek Lyra facilitated my research at the Polish National Archives. And Danuta Pytlak of the American Studies Department at the University of Warsaw not only searched Polish libraries for primary sources but reminded me through her own work that this project was opening a door that others would also walk through.

      I am grateful to those who opened their personal libraries to me and helped me with their professional expertise: Ed Martin, David and Gwidon Chełminski, Tamara Sochacka, Paul Valasek, and Regina Kościelska, as well as to the families of writers and publishers. Mark Yolles generously provided information about his father, Piotr. Basia Kocyan McCoy graciously opened her home and family papers to me as I researched her grandmother Melania Nesterowicz. Paul Paryski and Antony Plutynski enthusiastically shared material on their grandfather, Antoni Paryski.

      Among those whose belief in this project most heartened me are my colleagues and friends in the Polish American Historical Association: Mary Cygan, Mary Erdmans, Tom Gladsky, Tom Napierkowski, John Radzilowski, John Bukowczyk, Thad Radzilowski, Bill Galush, the late Stan Blejwas, Anna Kirchman, Thad Gromada, Tony Bukoski, Jim Pula, and Victor Greene. Matt Jacobson, Orm Øverland, Gonul Pultar, Melinda Gray, Dag Blanck, and Werner Sollors helped pave the way for a field in which my own work could fit. And Gill Berchowitz was an always patient and encouraging editor, even when she didn’t have to be.

      For financial assistance, I am indebted to those who supported this project in its first incarnation, as my dissertation at the University of Michigan: the Kosciuszko Foundation, the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women, the Rackham Graduate School, and the American Culture Program. Sincere appreciation also goes to Anita Norich, Bogdana Carpenter, June Howard, Rosemary Kowalski, and Bill Lockwood.

      Much love as well to those who throughout this long project kept me connected to my dancing self, especially to John P., Csiki, Erzsike, and Sala and Andrea.

      Finally, thanks to my family. In Poland, my love and gratitude to Ciocia Józia, Józef and Lucyna, and Jadzia. In the United States, to my mother, Gerry; to Mary and John; to my dear Grandpa Chalus; and to all the departed ones—especially my father, John—who somehow set me along this most unexpected path. Thanks too to the Feazells for their always cheerful support. But most of all, I am grateful beyond words to Matt Feazell, for everything.