IN THE MORAVIAN FOOTSTEPS IN AMERICA
By Miloslav Rechcigl Jr.
Moravia can truly be proud of its great personalities like John Amos Comenius (Komensky),
Sigmund Freud, Johann Mendel, Leos Janacek or Thomas G. Masaryk. The achievements of the
Moravians are not, however, confined to the territory of Moravia only. A considerable number
of Moravians emigrated abroad where a number of them achieved considerable distinction. This
paper deals with prominent Americans who had their roots in Moravia.
The first mention of Moravians in America dates hack to 1536 in connection with a jeweler
from Brno, known as Andres Morava, living at that time in Mexico where he was accused of
heresy and sentenced to public penance, confiscation of property and expulsion from Spanish
Territory (1).
Jesuits
Some one hundred years later we have information about a Jesuit missionary Valentine Stansel
(1621-1705) from Olomouc, Moravia who lived in Brazil during 1651-1701. He was a professor
at Prague University and after coming to Baghia, he was employed by the Jesuit College there,
becoming its Rector and later coming to prominence as an astronomer (2).
When the Bohemian Province of the Society of Jesus was admitted in 1664 to missionary work,
it began sending to Latin America its missionaries, a number of whom originated in Moravia,
Among them we find such personalities as Mathias Kukulin of Mohelnice, Joseph Neumann of
Olomouc, Augustine Strobach of Jihlava, Jan Tilpe of Silesia, Vaclav Richter of Prostejov,
George Burger of Vyskov, and George Hostinsky of Valasske Klobouky. Their life in America
was full of difficulties and sufferings in impenetrable jungles, under most unfavorable climatic
conditions, and in constant danger by native Indians (3).
Moravian Brethren (4,5)
The first migration wave from Moravia to America was that of the followers of the Unitas
fratrum who were forced to leave their native land for exile to Lusatia in Saxony where they
found temporary haven on the lands of Count Nicholas Zinzendorf. When the political and
religious conditions in Lusatia worsened, the Brethren decided to seek a safer ground on the
American continent for preaching their faith and carrying out their missionary activities. In
memory of Comenius and their native land, they named their renewed Unitas fratrum the
Moravian Brethren Church. In November of 1734 the first group of ten Moravian Brethren left
for the American province of Georgia, followed by another group a year later. They did not stay
in Georgia long and in 1740 moved to Pennsylvania which offered more favorable conditions
for their lifestyle and religious activities. Other groups of Moravian settlers kept coming until
the end of the seventies when the migration ceased.
A prominent place among Moravian Brethren was held by David Nitschmann (1695-1772) of
Suchdol, Moravia (6). In 1750 he was ordained the first Bishop of the Moravian Brethren
Church by the hands of Bishop Daniel Jablonsky, the grandson of the famed John Amos
Comenius thus allowing a symbolic continuation of the ancient Unity of Brethren (7). On the
whole, the Moravian Brethren have made tremendous contributions to the United States, not
only along religious lines, but in the area of culture and learning, as a whole.
Mass Migration to America
The greatest migration from Moravia to America belongs to the period of mass migration from
the territory of Austro-Hungary, following the revolutionary year 1848, as a result of large
unemployment. Most of these migrants were of modest means, with limited education.
Notwithstanding their poor origin, already in the first generation of their descendants one could
find university graduates, some of whom made names for themselves (8).
The next sizeable migration from Moravia took place following the communist takeover of
Czechoslovakia in 1948 and again after the fall of Dubcek in 1968. These two migration waves
were basically of political character and included a large number of professionals and
Intellectuals.
Cultural Contributions
Literature and Journalism - Charles Sealsfield (1793-1864) was one of the first American writ-
ers who made his mark in the first half of the 19th century. While he was alive, little was known
about his identity. Only after his death it became known that he originated in Moravia and that
his real name was Karl Postl. He was a native of Popovice near Znojmo, a member of the Order
of the Holy Cross (Krizovnici), and an ordained priest. In 1822 he escaped secretly to America
where he changed his name to Sealsfield and made his living as a journalist. He wrote several
popular novels whose principal hero was not an individual person or a group of persons but
rather a whole natiGn, with its social life, public and private, with its economic, political, and
reh.gious relations, its past and its future (9).
The best literary representative of the twentieth century Moravians in America was Joseph
Wechsberg (1907-1983), originally from Moravska Ostrava. Despite his successful career as an
attorney, a law practice did not suit him and instead he decided to become a journalist. He trav-
elled extensively throughout the world and used his numerous experiences and adventures as a
basis for his books and articles. Among other, he was captured by Italian secret police, he was
held in Japanese prison, he lived through a horrihle earthquake on the Philippines Islands and
survived a typhus epidemic in Hongkong. At one time he worked on the Malayan rubber plan
ration and another time he witnessed the siege of Sangaja which he succeeded in filming (10).
During the Czechoslovak mobilization in May 1938, Wechsberg directed a machine-gun battery
on the Polish border. When he caine to Califoniia in 1939 he could hardly speak a word of
English. Nevertheless, during a very short time he was able to master the English language to
such a degree that he hecame a regular contributor to English periodicals. During World War II
he served in the American Army and was the first American soldier to reach Prague. The
Czechoslovak government rewarded Wechsberg for his services by bestowing on him the Order
Of White Lion.
After leaving the army, Wechsberg returned to writing and became a regular member of the edi-
torial staff of the prestigious periodical New Yorker. In addition he began publishing tens of
books which were well received by the critics and some of them were awarded literary prizes.
Many of his monographs were autobiographical and some dealt with Prague, e.g. Prague, the
Mystical City.
Music - Moravia has always excelled with its music and its musicians. It is therefore not surpris-
mg that Moravian natives excelled in this area in America, as well.
One of the first Moravian musicians who came to prominence in America was John Balatka
(1827-1899) of Bouzov-Doly in the Olomouc County. He studied at the Olomouc University
and later in Vienna. During the revolution of 1848 he sympathized with the young revolution-
aries and joined their Academic Legion. When the revolution failed he had to seek refuge in
the United States where he arrived in 1849 (11).
At first he lived in Chicago and later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He organized the first violin
quartet in Milwaukee which was first of its kind in the western part of the U.S. In 1852 he
founded a famous Milwaukee Musikverein.
Balatka organized, on regular basis, oratoria, symphonies and operas. His successes gained him
reputation throughout the country and led to mass music festivals, under his direction, in
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Later on he became in charge of a
new Philharmonic Society in Chicago and in 1862 was named conductor of the Music Union
and the Oratorio Society. During the last phase of his career he founded the Balatka Academy
of Music Art and became its director.
One of the most popular and most respected music artists of the twentieth century in America
was undoubtedly Artur Schnabel (1862-1961) who was born in the Moravian village of Lipnik.
He was considered a prodigy from his earliest childhood when he was able, without any training
whatsoever, to reproduce piano music which his sister learned during an entire lesson (12).
He spent the first twenty years of his career in Berlin where he performed as a soloist. His fame
quickly spread over the entire European continent. In 1930 he was invited to America to
participate at the Brahms Festival. This was the beginning of his extraordinary popularity in the
United States. After the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Schnabel moved to London.
Every year he then performed in the U.S. with great success. His popularity in the U.S. as an
interpreter of Beethoven's music was demonstrated in 1936 in a series of concerts in Carnegie
Hall devoted to Beethoven's sonatas. Schnabel is credited as the first artist who recorded the
complete Beethoven sonatas. He also excelled as a composer.
The greatest propagator of Czech music in America was another Moravian known to everyone,
the world renown pianist Rudolf Firkusny (1912-1994) who spent more than half of his life in
the U.S. He devoted his artistic career to the propagation of Czech music abroad, frequently
introducing unknown Czech composers. He was a marvelous interpreter of the works of
Bedrich Smetana, Leos Janacek, and Bohuslav Martinu. One of his accomplishments was the
acceptance throughout the world of a long forgotten piano concerto by Antonin Dvorak. He
championed compositions of his contemporaries, such as Emil HIobil, Boleslav Vomacka, Aiois Haba, Pavel Borkovec, and Jaroslav Jezek. Following the successful Velvet Revolution,
Firkusny received a triumphant welcome in his native Czechoslovakia where he had not per-
formed for over forty years, because of his unflinching op position towards the communist regime (13).
The most successful composer of Moravian origin in America was clearly a Brno native Erich
Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). At the age of eleven, he composed a fabulous ballet which
gained such popularity that it was performed at one time simultaneously on forty different
European stages (14).
His reputation as a composer spread to such a degree that his contemporary critics started to
compare him to Mozart. From 1936 he lived in Hollywood where he focused his energies on
film music compositions. During a relatively short time he became the most popular as well as
the most successful film music composer in the U.S. He wrote compositions for twenty films, of
which "Anthony Adverse" (1936) and "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) brought him
the highest recognition from the American Film Academy, hy awarding him an Oscar twice.
Among the younger Moravian composers in America, Hugo Weisgall (1912-) ranks high. He is
a native of Ivancice, who has lived in the U.S. since 1920. He is particularly known for his
operas, orchestral pieces, and chamber music (15).
Among the opera singers stood out a Brno native Rudolf Berger (1874-1915) who had his debut
in the Metropolitan Opera in 1914. He remained with the Metropolitan until the end of his
life. His repertoire included 76 roles as a baritone and 18 roles as a tenor (16).
One of the most prominent tenors in the world was Leo Slezak (1873 - 1940), a native of
Sumperk, Moravia. He first appeared in the U.S. at the Metropolitan Opera in 1909 in the role
of OtheUo. He remained with the Metropolitan until the end of 1913. He sang in the U.S. alto
gether in 72 performances in 10 different roles (17).
Among the great female opera singers in the U.S. was a soprano Maria Jeritza (1887-1982),
whose original name was Marie Jedlickova, born in Brno. After the Emperor Franz Josef heard
her for the first time, he was so enchanted by her voice and her charm that she was immediately
engaged by the famed Viennese Opera House. After her debut in the Metropolitan Opera in
1921, she remained in the U.S. permanently. She was well known for her roles as Sieglinda,
Elisabeth, Santuzza, Fedora, Octavius, Tosca and Turandet (18).
Dramatic Art - In the area of dramatic art the primacy belongs to Walter Slezak (1901-1983),
son of the already mentioned celebrated tenor Leo Slezak. Walter Slezak was an unique charac-
ter actor whose unusually varied repertoire included dramatic portraits of a menacing heavy or a
bumbling idiot, often in the same performance, romantic roles, comedies, music performances,
and even operatic roles. He made his debut in America in December 1930 in New York City in
the musical "Meet My Sister" which became a big hit. Then followed a series of other successful
musicals on Broadway and Slezak became a real star. He spent most of his career in Hollywood
where he acted in a number of important roles, both tragedies and comedies. In March 1953 he
returned triumphantly to Broadway in the comedy "My Three Angels". His master portrait of a
charming embezzler and forger was the reason why the comedy was played in 345 performances.
Slezak was equally successful on TV In 1956 he made his opera debut in the Strauss opera "The
Gypsy Baron" at the Metropolitan Opera. His splendid performance marked a personal triumph
for Walter Slezak because his father, the celebrated tenor Leo Slezak, had always wanted him to
hecome an opera singer (19).
Another example of an outstanding dramatic artist of Moravian origin is Sissy Spacek (1949-)
whose name is clearly suggestive of Czech origin. She is a native of Texas whose grandfather
emigrated to the U.S. from Moravia. She started as a guitar player and rock singer. In 1973 she
had a small role in an independently financed, low-cost movie "Bedlands". Against all expectations the movie was a big success in the New York Film Festival which opened the door to Sissy Spacek in the film world. She then performed in a number of other films as well as on TV and her popularity grew. Her dramatic performance in the film "Carrie" made her a movie star over night. In 1971 this film was chosen as the most successful film of the year and the National Society of Film Critics chose Sissy Spacek as the "best actress of the year". Her movie career climaxed in 1980 with her master performance in the title role in the "Coal Miner's Daughter" which brought her the highest movie award - an Oscar (20).
Visual Arts - In this area, among American Moravians, the primacy belongs to a sculptor Albin
Polasek (1879-1965), of Frenstat pod Radhostem. He lived in the U.S. since 1901 and initially
was employed in various shops making monuments, in Dubuque, la. and then in La Crosse,
Wis. His unusual artistic talent gained him several scholarships and prizes and led to a stay in
the American Academy in Rome. He spent most of his career in the Chicago Arts Institute
where he held the position of professor and chairman of the sculpture department (21).
His style leaned toward classicism and for his inspiration he went to Rome and Italy. During his
productive career of fifty years he received numerous recognitions, awards, diplomas and prizes.
In 1934 he exhibited his works in a special exhibit in Frenstat. His works included his statue of
"Radegast" first shown at the Radhost fair in 1931, and the group of statues commemorating the
dead, in front of the Frenstat's school. Polasek was the creator of the famous monument to
President Wilson in front of the Wilson Railroad Station in Prague which was dedicated on the
occasion of the anniversary of the first decade of the Czechoslovak Republic. This monument
was unfortunately destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. Polasek was also the creator of
the first Czech medal honoring Freedom which was coined in the U.S. For his work and services
on behalf of Czechoslovakia he was awarded the Czechoslovak Order of White Lion.
Among architects, two individuals of Moravian origin stand in the forefront. The first is
Richard Joseph Neutra (1892-1970), a Viennese native, whose mother was born in Bzenec,
Moravia. He is recognized for introducing the international style in American architecture. He
believed that architecture should be the means for returning the human beings to harmonious
living with nature and with ~ne another and wanted his buildings to reflect the lives of their
owners (22).
Another important architect of Moravian descent was Victor Gruen (1903-1980), also a native
of Vienna, whose father came from Breclav in Moravia. He pioneered the regional shopping ers
and revitalization of city core areas. He played a significant role in planning the suburbs and in
developing garden architecture in the US. (23).
The Humanities - Among the humanists first place belongs to Francis Dvornik (1893-1975),
who was born in Chomyz in Moravia, near Hostyn. After being ordained as a Catholic priest,
he continued in his studies which brought him an advanced theology degree in the Old
Testament from the Olomouc University, and later another diploma in history from the
Sorbonne in Paris (24).
He began his academic career at Charles University where he attained in 1928 the post of full
professor of church history. Six years later he was promoted to Rector of the Theology Faculty.
After the fall of France he left for England where he wrote his important book The Making of
Central and Eastern Europe. In the fifties he was named full professor of Byzantine history at
Harvard University. Consequently he moved to the U.S. and until th end of his life he lived at
the Harvard University's Center at Dumburton Oaks in Washington, D.C.
He wrote an enormous number of important works in the field of Byzantine history and the
early Slavic history and is credited for placing history of the early Slavs into a new light. He
placed the original seat of the Slavs on the territory extending in the south up to the
Carpathian Mountains, bordering in the north with the Baltic Sea, in the west reaching up to
the river Labe, and in the east bordering with the rivers Bug and Dnepr. He also showed that
the mission of Sts. Cyril and Methodius was not as significant on religious grounds as was its
cultural importance because it created the first Slavic alphabet and codified the first legal
norms. With reference to Czech history, Dvornik in many ways extended and corrected the
works of Palacky and other Czech historians.
His contemporary and close friend was a Czech historian Otakar Odlozilik (1899-1973), who
was born in Kostelec in the Hana region of Moravia. His doctoral dissertation dealt with the
"Beginnings of the Hussite Movement in Moravia". He began his academic career at Charles
University in the history department, where he succeeded the renown Vaclav Novotny. When
the Nazis came to power, Odlozilik left for exile in the US. (25).
After the war he returned to Charles University but the communist takeover in 1948 forced
him to leave for another exile to the U.S. He first taught history at Columbia University in
New York City. Later he accepted the appointment of full professor of Central European history
at the University of Pennsylvania. He focused his research on the history of Czech reformation
up to the times of John Amos Comenius. His research culminated in the monumental publica-
tion about the Hussite King, George of Podebrady and his role in the contemporary European
revolution.
In the field of American archeology, a Silesian native Benno Landsberger (1890-1958) of
Frydek excelled. He held the position of full professor of Assyrian history at the prestigious
Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Landsberger laid the foundations for the study
of modern Assyriology and with his linguistic studies he succeeded freeing it from its dependence on the Arab and Hebrew languages. He attempted to characterize Mesopotamian culture on the basis of language, cult, laws, literature, and economic and social culture rather than
depending on the Bible. His genius found expression not only in his linguistic works but also in
his penetrating and original analyses of critical questions of Mesopotamian history and chronology. Special significance for the Semitic history have also his works in comparative semantics and lexicography (26).
The field of linguistics is well represented by Isaac Bacon (1914-) who obtained his university
education at Masaryk University. In the U.S. he first taught at Colorado University until his
appointment to full professorship of linguistics at the Yeshiva University in New York. He was
an expert on German languages, especially "Hoch deutsch". In the last twenty years of his
career he held the position of the University Dean (27).
Among philosophers mention should be made of a Viennese native of Moravian origin
Heinrich Gomperz (1873-1942), who was professor at the University of Southern California
(28). Another philosopher, Stephen Korner (1913-), a native of Moravska Ostrava, spent a
substantial part of his academic career at Bristol University in England. Since 1970 he has
been, however, associated with Yale University, where he held the position of professor of philosophy. He was an authority on philosophy of science (29).
Social Sciences - Foremost among the social scientists from Moravia in the U.S. was unquestionably Josef Alois Schumpeter (1863-1950) from Trest, near Jihlava. He lived in the US
since 1932 where he held the position of frill professor of economics at Harvard University. He
wrote his first important study in 1908 about theoretical aspects of national economics which
laid the foundation for the interpretation of the general theory of economics. Then followed his
classical work Theory of Economic Development in which he discussed the question of dynamicity, entrepreneurship, the role of bank system, and the creation of credit. In 1939 he developed his famous theory about business cycles. Schumpeter also made invahable contributions in the field of economic history. His "History of Economic Analysis" which he left in manuscript form is considered as definitive intellectual work. More than any other theoretical economist, Schumpeter was aware of the fact the economic reality is only a part of the total reality and is credited for increasing our understanding of non-economic events. These thoughts are also reflected in his synthetic work Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942) in which he argued that capitalism will eventually be destroyed through its own success and be replaced by some form of public control (30).
Felix Lazarsfeld (1901-1976), a Viennese native, whose mother Sofie Munkova, was from
Opava, excelled above others in American sociology. Generally known as the leading genius in
his field, Lazarsfeld attained reputation all over the U.S. for his research on public opinion,
especially by the application of statistical methods in the study of the relationships between
communications and American election customs. He came to the U.S. in 1933 and in 1937
became the director of the radio research department at Princeton University, supported by the
Rockefeller Foundation. In the forties the project was transferred to Columbia University.
When his department was incorporated into the Bureau for Applied Social Research, Lazarsfeld
became its director (31).
Lazarsfeld wrote a number of significant studies in the field of quantitative sociology. His reputa-
tion in the field was apparent by his election to Presidency of the American Sociological
Association and later also of the American Association for Research of Public Opinion, and his
membership in the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Science and Technology - In the field of sciences the greatest achievement was attained by a
Brno native, Kurt Godel (1905-1978) who is considered the greatest logician since the times of
Aristotle. His work was as epoch-making as that of Albert Einstein, even if the ramifications
have not been as visible in the general public. His work shook the very foundations of the twen-
tieth century mathematics. He translated the symbols of symbolic logic into numbers in a sys
tematic way and showed that it was always possible to construct a number which could not be
arrived at by the other numbers of his system. To put it in another way, he demonstrated that
the totality of mathematics cannot he brought to complete order on the basis of any system of
axioms. Godel had thus ended the search for certainty in mathematics by showing that it did
not and could not exist (32).
In physics excelled another Brno native, Arthur Erich Haas (1884-1941) who held the position
of full professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame since 1936. He was an authority on
theoretical physics, atomic theory, quantum mechanics and quantum chemistry. His research
laid the foundations for the modern atomic model of N ils Bohr (33).
Another Brno native George Placzek (1905-1955) was a member of the famed Institute of
Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He was a world authority on neutron scattering and absorp-
tion in matter (34),
The third significant physicist is Walter Kohn (1923-), originally from Vienna, whose family
roots were in Moravia. He first lived in Canada but since 1946 he has lived in the U.S. He was
first employed by the Carnegie Technological Institute in Pittsburgh and in the last twenty
years he was full professor of physics at the University of California in San Diego. His contribu-
tions have primarily been in the area of e~ctronic theory of matter and the collision theory
(35),
Among Moravian engineers in the U.S. who especially excelled was a Brno native Gustav
Lindenthal (1850-1935). In the U.S. he was considered as a nestor of civil engineers. His exten-
sive projects brought him acclaim as one of the greatest master builders of bridges. In 1917 he
designed the Hell Gate Railway Bridge in New York City which at that time was the largest
steel arch in the world. He also designed the Queensboro Bridge over the East River and was
consulting engineer for railroad tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers. His designs were
characterized by originah'ty, bold execution, and differed from most of the designs of his con-
temporaries by his unique selection of complex structural materials, as well as his unique inter-
pretation of stress (36).
in the twentieth century the best representative of Moravian Americans in the engineering
area was a Texas native Frank J. Malina (1912-1988), whose parents came to the U.S. from
Moravia. He was one of the first who pioneered rocket technology at the time when this tech-
nology was still in its beginnings and was primarily the subject of science fiction. In 1920 he
returned with his parents to Czechoslovakia who had the desire to stay there permanently. The
unusual talent of their son Frank in scientific subjects made them reconsider, believing that the
U.S. would offer their son better education than schools in the young Czechoslovakia. Already
as a student, Frank Malina succeeded launching an experimental rocket using a jet. During the
war he worked at the California Institute of Technology as the chief engineer on the jet propul
sion research project. At that time he co-founded a new pioneering Aerojet Engineering
Corporation, of which he became the first director, treasurer and chief executive officer. The
firm later became the nation's first manufacturer of rocket engines. In 1944 he also co-founded
with Theodore B. Karinan the famed American Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
California, of which he also became director. Many of the basic inventions in the field of rock-
et technology had their beginnings in this Uboratory under Malina's direction (37),
Malina deserves great credit for the development of rocketry, using both the fluid and the solid
fuels, as well as for the structural improvement and the safety of the rockQts so that they would
not explode during their launching. Malina is also credited for the idea, the construction, and
testing of the first Ame rican successful high-orbital rocker, WAC Corporal, which was launched
in New Mexico during 1944-1945. From 1947 till 1957 Malina worked in UNESCO
in Paris where he held the position of advisor and chief of scientific research.
In 1953 he resigned from UNESCO and turned his attention to visual art. He opened an art
studio in Paris and became a proponent of kinetic art. Today he is considered internationally as
one of the great pioneers in using light and motion in art. Malina's art was exhibited in many
famous art studios around the globe. His works are represented in museums and art collections
in the most prestigious places world over.
Conclusion
It should be noted that the present survey is not complete by any means. It is only illustrative of
some of the achievements that have been attained by selected individuals. On the whole, it is
apparent that the Moravians in America have made significant contributions and that Moravia
and its people can be proud of their countrymen abroad.
Notes
1. R. Grigulevic, Dejiny inkvizice (Praha, 1973), p.243. Cited by J. Polisensky, in: Dejiny Latinske Ameriky (Praha: Svoboda, 1979), p. 127.
2. See Stancel, in: Ottuv Slovnik Naueny (Praha: J. Otto, 1905), vol.23, p. 1040.
3. An excellent account of the work of Czech Jesuits in Latin America is given by Otakar
Odlozilik, "Czech Missionaries in New Spain", The Hispanic American Historical Review 25
(1945), pp. 428-54. For additional information see Vlastimil Kybal, Po ceskoslovenskych stopach v Latinske Americe (Praha: Ceska akademie ved a umeni, 1935).
4. For more information on Moravian Brethren, see the author's studies, "The Renewal and
Formation of the Moravian Church in America", Czechoslovak and Central European Journal 9
(1990), pp. 12-26; and "Moravian Brethren from Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia: Their Arrival
and Settlement in America", 13ohemia 32 (1991), pp.152-65.
5. The first Moravian to actually settle on the territory of the U.S. was Jeurian (probably Jiri)
Fradell who preceded the arrival of Moravian Brethren by some 90 years. The Archives of the
Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam (New York) contain a record of his marriage to
Tryn Hersker , dated Febinary 26,1645.
6. A good biography of Nitschmann was written by Edmund de Schweinitz, "David
Nitschrnann, First Bishop of the Renewed Brethren's Church", Transactions of the Moravian
Historical Society 2 (1886), pp. 168-74; see also Dictionary of American Biography, 7(1934), pp.
529-30..
7. There is some evidence indicating that Comenius actually considered at one time emigrating
to America himself. According to American scholar Cotton Mather, Comenius was offered
Presidency of Harvard University which he apparently turned down. See Mather's Ma~nah.a
Christi Americana (first edition 1698; reprinted New Haven, 1820).
8. Good introduction to the study of mass migration from the Czechlands to America is given
by Josef Polisensky, in: Uvod do studia dejin vystehovalectvi do Ameriky. I. Obecne problemy dejin ceskeho vystehovalectvi do Ameriky 1848-1914 (Praha: Univerzita Karlova, 1992); and II. Cesi a Amerika (Praha, 1996).
9. Karl J, Atrndt, "Charles Sealsfield, The Greatest American Author", American Antiquarium
Society Proc. 74 (1954), pp. 249-54; American Glorious and Chaotic Lands: Charles Sealsfield
Discovers the Young United States. Edited by E. L. Jordan (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1969); Jerry Schuchalter, Frontier and Utopia in the Fiction of Charles Sealsfield (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1986). See also Dictionary of American Biography, 8 (1935), pp. 532-33.
10. For Wechsberg's biography, see Current Biography Yearbook 1955, pp.638-40; and Who Was Who in America, 8 (1985), p.418.
11. For Balatka's biography, see National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1909, vol.10, p. 197. See ako J. Schlicher's article, "Hans Balatka and the Milwaukee Musical Society", Wisconsin Magazine of History, 27(1943), pp.40-SS.
12. On Schnabel, see Cesar Searchinger, Artur Schnabel (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
1973). Artur Schnabel also wrote his autobiography, under the title My Life and Music (New
York: Dover, 1988). See also Dictionary of American Biography, Suppl. 5 (1977), pp.607-08.
13. For Firkusny's biography see Current Biography Yearbook, 1979, pp.136-39.
14. For Korngold's biography see Rudolf Stephen Hoffmann, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Wien: C. Stephenson, 1972) and Brendan G. Carroll, Erich Wolfgang Korngold 1897-1957. His Life and Works (Paisley, Scotland, 1984). See also David Ewen's American Composers (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1982), pp. 381-83.
15, For information on Weisgall, see David Ewen's American Composers, op. cit., pp.717-20.
See also Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. 8th ed. (New York: Maxwell Macmillan,
1992), pp.2027-28.
