Introduction

In spite of limited resources the Polish Institute after 61 years of existence, continues to be a viable, national, academic organization and fulfills its mission of advancing knowledge about Poland’s millennial intellectual and cultural heritage in America’s pluralistic and democratic society. Our headquarter, a five story town house (mortgage free) on the East side of Manhattan, gives us a visibility and prestige in the capital city of the world, New York. It is from this base that we can operate and radiate our influence. It is in this building that we have our administrative offices, headed by my Deputy, Janina G. Kedron, and her small staff, composed of Mariusz Bargielski, Julia Czestochowski, Krystyna Baron and a few volunteers. It is this building that we have our library, archives, editorial office of the Polish Review, which attract scholars and students doing research on some aspect of Polish studies. Our greatest reward is to see the many books and articles later published in which our archives and library are cited.

The Polish Institute depends heavily on a few individuals who administer this organization and are willing to subsidize it with their time and labor “above and beyond the call”. In addition it depends on a hard core of loyal and generous members who pay their dues, make periodic donations and remember the Institute in bequests. This membership is unfortunately aging and shrinking, although efforts are being made to rejuvenate the Institute. More needs to be done, however. Our operating budget has been steadily decreasing to less, and less than $200,000. as we try to reduce our expenses and at the same time maintain the level of services. We try to keep up with technological improvements. A website is maintained by our staff member, Mariusz Bargielski as well as a data base of our members and subscribers. A new promotional brochure was printed as well as a “Planned giving” handout. The “state of the Institute” can be described as good, but this is no reason to be complacent. We are still far from being financially secure and we are still in need of new members. The following are a list of highlights and achievement during the past academic year.

Annual Meetings

Since 1978, that is 25 years ago, our Annual Meetings have followed the example of American societies and in the process have become major multi-disciplinary conferences devoted to Polish studies. It is a significant achievement which brings our members and other interested scholars together, face to face, not only to share their research and views, but to renew friendships and establish needed networks. I dare say that our 2003 Montreal Annual Meeting, international in scope, held in cooperation with our sister organization, the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences in Canada and the Canadian Foundation for Polish Studies, will be one of our most successful assemblies.

Publications

PIASA is very proud of its academic quarterly journal, The Polish Review, published continuosly since 1956. More will be said later by its editor, Dr. Joseph Wieczerzak. But I am pleased to inform you that efforts have been made to improve the graphic quality of the journal. With the June 2003 issue, The Polish Review, will be produced electronically under the direction of Dr. Charles Kraszewski, Associate Editor, and staff member Mariusz Bargielski.

A new publications project “PIASA BOOKS” has been inaugurated this past year. It will be the “scholarly publishing arm” of our Institute that will publish book dealing with the history, literature, and culture of Poland. The project was proposed and developed by Dr. Charles Kraszewski who was appointed its Series Editor. So far, two books have been published: Polish Language Learning Framework by Leonard Polakiewicz et al. and Political Thought in Renaissance Poland: An Anthology in Englis by Harold B. Segel. PIASA BOOKS plans to publish two books a year in paper back and “on a print in demand” basis. Members are urged to promote and support this new project.
In addition, the Polish Institute has supported with small grants the publication of books on Polish topics published by University of Rochester Press and Ohio University Press, where Dr. John D. Bukowczyk, is the Series Editor. A modest grant was given to support a documentary film “Nazi Persecution of Polish Christians” by Barbara K. Herbich.

Archives and Library

One of the greatest assets of the Institute is its Archives and Library which continues to attract scholars and students from all parts of this country as well as Poland. To increase the use of these facilities we have communicated with 16 major centers of East European Studies and urged them to send their graduate students and faculty to do research.
For the fourth consecutive year we have succeeded in having a professional Visiting Archivist at our Institute who provides professional services to researchers. This year PIASA is fortunate to have the services of Tomasz Galazka, from the Gdynia State Archives. His presence has made a big difference at our Institute. Arrangements have already been made, to have a Visiting Archivist from Poland, for the next academic year, beginning in the fall of 2003. He will be Tomasz Hajewski from the Katowice State Archives. This arrangement was made possible by the support of the Kosciuszko Foundation that provided the scholarship and the cooperation of the “Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwow Panstwowych” in Warsaw that made the nomination. The Archival Information Center a link on our website continues to provide an essential research tool for Polish studies scholars. The Library under Krystyna Baron’s direction continues to service a number of clients mostly students from nearby colleges and universities. Because of lack of funds, slow progress is being made in the recataloguing of our collection in accordance with the Library of Congress system. The Library receives books from publishers in Poland and from authors who have used PIASA archives e.g. Beata Dorosz on Jan Lechon and Andrew Kier Wise on Alexander Lednicki.

Programs/Events/Exhibits

Our town house on East 30th Street gets many individual as well as group visitors, from nearby and from a distance. Of course, many visitors are from Poland. After seeing our facilities, they usually go away very much impressed. Special programs attract good audiences. A very interesting meeting and reception was held on August 20, 2002 by UNITAR (United Nations Institute on Training and Research). UN representatives of a dozen countries and faculty members from Seton Hall University had an opportunity to tour the Institute and learn about its activities. On the initiative of Board member, Dr. Hanna Kelker, a series of lectures on “Science and Medicine” were held at the Institute: Nov. 15, 2002 Arri Sendzimir; January 10, 2003 Dr. Jerome Lowen-stein, and February 8, 2003, Dr. Krystyna Wisniewska.

On April 24, 2003 PIASA in cooperation with the CUNY Academy on Humanities and Sciences presented the “Third Annual Distinguished Lecture” in honor of Prof. Feliks Gross. The lecture “Science and Ethics: A Marriage of Necessity and Choice for this Millennium” was delivered by Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Roald Hoffmann, of Cornell University. PIASA has thus demonstrated that is indeed an “Arts and Sciences” organization.

Other events included a major Art Exhibit by Eleonora Kupenow that opened on February 15, 2003 and an Author’s Evening of Marek Nowakowsk from Warsaw. There was also an Evening with actress Alicja Bachleda Curus that organized for Polish students in the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area.

Cooperation and Contacts with AAASS and other Organizations

The Polish Institute continues to be affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) which is based at Harvard University. It newsletter “NewsNet” regularly publishes items about our Institute. Once again, PIASA was visible at its National Convention which this year took place in Pittsburgh, Pa. from November 20 to November 24, 2002. Together with the Polish Embassy , the Polish Institute sponsored an exhibit booth which provided an opportunity to promote its publications including The Polish Review. An informat-ional meeting was held for members and friends.
The Executive Director reached out by mail to 16 University Centers of East European Studies and offered cooperation on a reciprocal basis. Several positive responses were received and followed up. Promotional materials together with complimentary copies of the Polish Reviews were sent out to interested centers. Bill Johnston, Director of the Polish Studies Center of Indiana University, visited the Institute in December 2002 and had extensive talks with the Executive Director on future cooperation.
On the recommendation of Board member, Dr. Donald Pienkos, PIASA’s Board of Directors held its meeting on October 26, 2002 in Milwaukee Art Museum. This coincided with a sympo-sium on “The Role of Art in Creating a Polish National Identity” organized in connection with the impressive exhibit from Poland “Leonardo Da Vinci and the Splendors of Poland”. The evening before Board members visited the new $5 million Polish Center of Wisconsin, and had an opportunity to meeting leaders of the Polish American community in Milwaukee. The Board looks forward to other such opportunities to reach out to its natural constituency, the Polonia.
The staff of the Institute responds to the many requests that come via mail and “e mail”. Many of them deal with information about our archival collections. Another type of request is the one that was received from the Knights of Columbus National Museum in New Haven, Ct. The museum needed photos and documents for its exhibit on “John Paul II, The Pope of Peace” which the Institute was able to lend. Contact has been established with the “New Atlantic Initia-tive “ a project of the American Enterprise Institute, led by its Executive Director, Radek Sikorski. PIASA is pleased with the cooperation received from major discipline based organizations like the American Historical Association, American Political Science Association, AAASS, etc. in announcing its Annual Meetings etc. in newsletters and websites.

Close and cordial relations continue between PIASA and the Kosciuszko Foundation led by its President, Joseph E. Gore, and Chairman of Board of Trustees, Witold Sulimirski. The Visiting Archivist Program from Poland would not be possible without the support of the Foundation. PIASA cooperates with the Pilsudski Institute of America and with Polonia Technica and the Educational Commission of the Polish American Congress. The latter two organizations use our space for their meetings.

Contacts with Poland

PIASA puts a high priority on developing a cooperative relationship with Polish Academic organizations. It has good relationship with both Polska Akademia Umiejetnosci (PAU) in Krakow and with the Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN) in Warsaw. PIASA publishes annual reports of PAU in The Polish Review; PAU reciprocates by publishing our Annual Report in the “PAU Rocznik”. The Institute was deeply saddened by the death of the President of PAN, Prof. Miroslaw Mossakowski, late last year. He was a good friend of PIASA who was chiefly responsible for the formal agreement of cooperation which was signed a few years ago. We look forward to continuing this relationship under the leadership of the new President of PAN, Prof. Andrzej Legocki. A very good and cooperative relationship continues with Poland’s National Archives, (Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwow Panstwowych) under the leadership of Dr. Daria Nalecz.

Last December, PIASA’s Board ratified a new formal “Scientific/Scholarly Cooperation Agree-ment” with a major regional Polish academic organization, “Towarzystwo Naukowe Plockie”. The Executive Director visited Plock late last June at the invitation of Dr. Zbigniew Kruszewski, President of the Society. He was impressed with the resources and facilities of the Plock society and opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Fundacja Na Rzecz Nauki Polskiej (Foundation for Polish Science) has renewed its dues paying affiliate membership with PIASA. This is a great honor and a form of recognition for our Institute. The Executive Director had an opportunity to meet its President, Prof. Maciej Grabski, in June of 2002 and thank him for support. A consultation was held by the Executive Director with the Director of Poland’s Biblioteka Narodowa in Warsaw, Michal Jagiello. Plans were discussed to establish cooperation between the PIASA Library and the Biblioteka Narodowa.

The Executive Director served as a consultant to Bozena Garus Hockuba who directed and produced a documentary film on Polonia in the U.S. and Canada “Poland, Outside of Poland” which was shown on TV Polonia in Poland and by satellite all over the world. The documentary will be presented and discussed during the Montreal Annual Meeting. The Institute was represented by the Executive Director during the State Visit of the President of Poland, Alexander Kwasniewski, at the White House on July 17, 2002. Cooperation between PIASA and the Polish Embassy in D.C. continues. We jointly sponsor “ The Ambassador Kazimierz Dziewanowski Memorial Dissertation Award” as well as exhibits at the annual national convention of the AAASS.