can any one tell me any thing abouth the chyckloslavakian culter and if i even spelled that right?

Question

ill take any info any one can give me
see im writing this play for American Literature abut the Great Migration at Ellis Island. and my main charactor is Chycloslavackian and i know nothing about the culture or if i even spelled Chycloslavackian right.
it would be nice if i could get this info bu March 20th at the latest because its due the 23rd and i need to give myself some time to actually right the thing.
thank u

Answer 1

[1] You are not spelling it right. The full word that you want is Czechoslovakian. You can abbreviate that to Czech ... which makes typing a lot easier!

[2] Regarding Czech culture at the time of Ellis Island as an immigrant's first stop in America ...

[a] There are at least 3 Czech words that have been adopted into the American-English language: they are Polka, Pilsner, and Robot. I don't know how you'd use Robot in your play; but to have your immigrants dancing the Polka and drinking Pilsner (wonderful beer!) should fit right in.

[b] The Czechs who came to America in the late18th / early 19th Century were mainly poor people. But they often had more useful skills than immigrants from other parts of Europe. So they were able to get better jobs, in places making products like garments and cigars; and, of course, in breweries.

[c] The main reason that they came was to escape from poverty at home in Czechoslovakia. But they faced a big language barrier when they arrived here: very few of them could speak any English. So, normally, the first generation Czechs had a very hard life in America; but their children usually prospered.

[d] By the year 1900, there were large Czech communities in 3 major American cities, New York, Chicago and St. Louis; and they had opened up Czech restaurants, breweries, banks, cafes and stores. There were also many thousands of Czechs who had moved onto farms in America, in places like Iowa and Wisconsin.

[e] If you want to be inventive in your play, you could have two of your Czech immigrant characters be the grandparents of Ray Kroc. He is the man who founded the McDonalds hamburgers chain.

[f] Or maybe Anton Cermak, who came to America as an infant; became Mayor of Chicago in 1931; and then was assassinated (maybe by mistake) while helping Franklin Roosevelt with his election campaign in Miami.

[g] Most Czechs coming to America were Catholics, although a huge number of them abandoned Catholicism after they arrived, because they associated the Catholic Church with oppression back in Europe from their Austrian Hapsburg rulers.

[h] Music was a very important part of Czech culture. There is an old Czech saying: “Whoever is Czech is a musician.” The Czech immigrants formed choirs, orchestral ensembles and brass bands to play their traditional hymns and polkas.

[i] They also loved gymnastics, and formed many "Sokol" gymnastic clubs in cities like St. Louis.

[j] A wedding was a very big deal for Czech-Americans, involving up to a full year of planning and preparing. There had to be a Czech band. The bride’s family raised additional chickens, turkeys, geese and an extra calf or hog just for the purpose of this lifetime occasion of their daughter. All was roasted and served to the wedding guests at the reception following the ceremony. The other dishes which were served at the reception were cooked pork, homemade bread, sauerkraut and pastries. Women and men wore their best clothing for this special occasion, many of them put on the Czech folk costumes (called kroje).

[k] If you want to browse through some typical Czech dolls, decorated eggs, etc. go to the link below.