Celebrating America Independence in 1926
The year 1926 celebrated the 150th Commemoration of US Independence. On this occasion, the Polish government invited Polish citizens to sign the Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States.
"We, the people of Poland, send to you, citizens of the Great American Union, fraternal greetings, together with the assurance of our deepest admiration and esteem for the institutions which have been created by you."
The Declaration was signed by more than 5,5 million people representing almost a sixth of the Polish population. A collection of 30,000 pages in 111 manuscript volumes was compiled in Poland and delivered to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.
More than 21,000 elementary and secondary schools participated. Every school had one or several pages, sometimes with a nice calligraphy, group pictures, small drawings, or dried flowers. Fully aware of the symbolic value of their signatures, students have writen their names with much application.
Among the signatories are 5 young Ksiazyk pupils, 3 boy and 2 girls. The two little girls write their names “Książykówna”, which is an old tradition for unmarried young ladies. Stanislaw and Salomea were in the same school. Unfortunately, two children do not specify their first names.
Elementary School Adam Mickiewicz in Czarny Las (Silesian Voivodeship)
Szkola Powszechna im. Adama Mickiewicza w Czarnym Lesie (Śląskie Województwo)
Class III, Elementary School of Zegrze (Poznan)
Kl. III, Szkola Powszechna Żegrzu (Poznan)
Class V, Elementary School of Zegrze (Poznan)
Kl. V, Szkola Powszechna w Żegrzu (Poznań)
Secondary School Tytus Działyński in Poznan
Szkoła II Wydziałowa im. Działyńskich w Poznaniu
This collection is now available on the dedicated page of the Library of Congress. Maciej Róg, expert in genealogy remarks that “There are scans of all 118 volumes but yet without indexed names. Now, we need the human staff who will index all of them”. The Polish Association of Genealogy (Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne) has identified a list of names presented in the website genealodzy.pl. Under the coordination of Wiktor Tyburski, this organization has achieved a remarkable indexation work of 2,980 pages and 24,6108 names (nazwisko).