Introduction and Selected Greetings
edited by Maja Trochimczyk
Editor’s Introduction
On 16 May 1928, at the Hotel Commodore in New York City, The Kosciuszko Foundation organized a Testimonial Dinner for Ignacy Jan Paderewski. [1] The dinner celebrated the 10th anniversary of regaining independence by Poland and Paderewski’s widely-recognized and pivotal role in this historical event. The program of the dinner included speeches and musical interludes, with Maria Bogucka singing two songs by Paderewski, Piosenka Dudziarza[Piper’s Song] and Tylem Wytrwał, Tylem Wycierpiałem [Much have I endured, Much have I suffered], and Ellenor Cook, accompanied by Eugenia Folliard (piano) singing four Polish folk songs: Maciek; The Little Hare; Krakowiak;and The Tiny Hut. [2] The speakers included Samuel M. Vauclain—an industrial potentate who was a founder of the Kosciuszko Foundation; the Foundation’s current president, writer Henry Noble MacCracken who served as the Toastmaster; Jan Ciechanowski—Minister of Poland to the United States; two scholars—Arthur V. Sewall and Dr. John H. Finley; and Paderewski himself. [3] The texts of their addresses were published in a testimonial book including the program of the event and over two hundred congratulatory messages to Paderewski, sent by the representatives of American government and society, as well as by a multitude of Polish-American organizations. The book, entitled To Ignace Jan Paderewski; Artist; Patriot; Humanitarian, was issued in 1928 by the Kosciuszko Foundation and may be found in its New York archives. A copy in the holdings of the Polish Music Center at USC was used for this publication of documents selected from this volume.
As a celebratory project, the volume of Paderewski greetings has a notable predecessor: for the 150th Anniversary of the American Revolution the citizens of Poland signed a mammoth collection of 111 volumes of greetings including over 5,500,000 signatures (more than one sixth of the country’s population in 1926). The congratulatory greetings were initiated by two Polish-American organizations, the American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Poland (active since 1921), and the Polish-American Society, established in 1919 by Paderewski. The document included the signatures of representatives of Polish government, both central and regional, various religious and social organizations, educational institutions, including universities and schools. The project was an extension of a Polish custom of honoring eminent citizens with a commemorative album (Księga Pamiątkowa). [6]
Similar to the offering from the Polish nation to the Americans, though on a much smaller scale, the Paderewski volume includes congratulatory messages, poems, and speeches. The texts published in the 1928 volume present a range of voices praising Paderewski for the greatest political achievement of his life, i.e. the restoration of the sovereign state of Poland after over 120 years of the country being partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Paderewski’s role in this epochal undertaking is documented in a 1940 collection edited by Józef Orłowski, as well as most of his biographies that either praise or criticize his role as Poland’s first prime minister (1918-1923). [4] His elevated political standing and immense public recognition in the U.S. even after resigning from the government may be gleaned from the list of people who sponsored the testimonial dinner and who wrote congratulatory greetings for the inclusion in the book.
Several presidents of the U.S. sent in their messages: Calvin Coolidge (in the office at that time), Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as Ellen Bolling Wilson (who may have been an “acting president” during her husband illness in 1919-1921).[5] In congratulating Paderewski, a majority of American governors joined high ranking government officials, including the Secretaries of State, War, Labor, Agriculture, the Chief of Staff, the Mayor of New York, members of the Senate and the Congress, etc. All the branches of the American government were represented—the executive, legislative, and judiciary. Their tributes frequently took the form of personal, handwritten letters. Numerous messages came from philanthropists and musicians, as well as Polish-Americans and their organizations. Representatives of the American high society included musicians (Walter Damrosch, Josef Hoffman); benefactors and patrons of the arts (Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Frederic Juilliard); presidents and chancellors of universities (Columbia University, Cornell University, Catholic University of America, Wellesley College, University of Pittsburgh, Yale University); presidents of American organizations (e.g. the American Legion) and the clergy (e.g. the auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Joseph C. Plagent).
Polish-American organizations, charities, and publications usually sent in letters from the whole committees, signed by all the officers in the name of all members. The list of such organizations represented in To Paderewski includes: Macierz Polska [Polish Alma Mater]; Polska Rada Opieki Społecznej w Ameryce [Polish Council of Social Welfare in America]; Unia Polska [Polish Union] of Wilkes-Barre; Unia Św. Józefa [St. Joseph’s Union] of Pittsburgh; Zjednoczenie Kapłanów Polskich w Stanach Zjednoczonych [The Union of Polish Priests in the U.S.]; paramilitary youth organization Sokolstwo Polskie w Ameryce [Polish Hawks in America]; Zjednoczenie Polsko-Narodowe [Polish National Union]; Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko-Katolickie [Polish Roman Catholic Union] with its 200,000 members; Związek Narodowy Polski [Polish National Alliance] and its chapters in Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; South Bend; Związek Polaków w Ameryce [Union of Poles in America] of Cleveland, Ohio; Koło Polskie w Nowym Yorku [The Polish Circle in New York]; Polish Singers Alliance of America; Stowarzyszenie Inżynierów Polaków w Ameryce [Association of Polish Engineers in America]; Polish-American Society of Warsaw, Poland; Polish College in Athol Springs, New York; St. John Kanty College in Ezic, Pa.; Higher School of Holy Trinity, Chicago.
Finally, Polish-American publications are represented by: Czas; Dziennik Chicagoski; Dziennik Związkowy— Zgoda; Głos Narodu; Goniec Polski; Górnik; Gwiazda; Gwiazda Polarna; Rolnik; Jaskółka; Cultura from Stevens Point; Wis.; Jedność; Jedność Polonia; Kronika; Kurjer; Kuryer Codzienny of Boston; Monitor Clevelandzki; Wiadomości Codzienne (Cleveland; Ohio); Pittsburczanin; Przewodnik Katolicki; and Rekord Codzienny of Detroit.
The commemorative volume published a “high society” roster in the form of Paderewski dinner’s committee of sponsors, led by Herbert Hoover—Honorary Chairman. This list includes: Hon. Charles G. Dawes; Hon. James J. Davis; Hon. W. M. Jardine; Hon. Harry S. New; Major General Charles Summerall; Major General M. W. Ireland; Hon. James J. Walker; Gov. H. C. Baldridge; Gov. Frederick B. Balzar; Gov. Ralph O. Brewster; Gov. Norman S. Case; Gov. Theodore Christianson; Gov. George H. Dern; Gov. R.C. Dillon; Gov. Vic Donahey; Gov. Alvan T. Fuller; Gov. Howard M. Gore; Gov. L.G. Hardman; Gov. Roland H. Hartley; Gov. George W. P. Hunt; Gov. Henry S. Johnston; Gov. John E. Martineau; Gov. Angus W. McLean; Gov. A. Harry Moore; Gov. I. L. Patterson; Gov. Albert C. Ritchie; Gov. F. D. Sampson; Gov. Alfred E. Smith; Gov. A. G. Sorlie; Gov. H. N. Spaulding; Gov. C. C. Young; Gov. Fred R. Zimmerman; Pres. James R. Angell; Hamilton Fish Armstrong; Gen. W. W. Atterbury; Chellis A. Austin; Com. Wm. Seaman Bainbridge; Hon. Newton D. Baker; W. T. Benda; Karl A. Bickel; Hon. Michael F. Blenski; Maj. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss; Edward W. Bok; Chancellor John G. Bowman; Hon. Roland W. Boyden; Mrs. Alfred J. Brosseau; Emil S. Brykczynski; Rev. Felix Burant; Pres. Nicholas Murray Butler; Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge; Hon. Royal S. Copeland; Hon. Paul D. Cravath; Walter J. Damrosch; Hon. John W. Davis; Hon. Norman H. Davis; Clarence Dillon; Prof. Stephen P. Duggan; Pres. Livingston Farrand; Harry Harkness Flagler; F. P. Garpmj_barek; Virginia Gildersleeve; Pres. Frank J. Goodnow; Mrs. John H. Hammond; Mrs. E. H. Harriman; Maj. Gen. William H. Haskell; Pres. John Grier Hibben; Josef Hofmann; Pres. Hamilton Holt; Mrs. Elon H. Hooker; Col. Edward M. House; Hon. Charles Evans Hughes; Arthur Curtis James; Hon. Edmund K. Jarecki; Frederic A. Juillard; Hon. John Kleczka; Rt. Ref. Msgr. M.A. Kopytkiewicz; Leopold A. Koscinski; Joseph Kresse; Paul Kurdziel; Hon. Robert Lansing; Rt. Rev. William T. Manning; Martha Mazurowska; Hon. William G. McAdoo; Mrs. Robert G. Mead; Marie M. Meloney; Ralph Modjeski; Hon. Henry Morgenthau; John R. Mott; Pres William A. Neilson; Prof. George R. Noyes; Adolph S. Ochs; Rt. Rev. Msgr; M. J. Orzechowski; Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn; Pres. Marion Edwards Park; Mrs. Edgerton Parsons; Hon. John pmj_barton Payne; Pres. Ellen F. Pendleton; Gen. John Pershing; Prof. Charles Phillips; Lewis E. Pierson; Nicholas L. Piotrowski; Rt. Rev. Joseph C. Plagens; Hon. Frank L. Polk; Pres. Henry S. Pritchett; Prof. Michael I. Pupin; John D. Rockefeller; Jr.; John Romaszkiewicz; Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt; Hon. Elihu Root; C. F. Rozanski; Francois de St. Phalle; Hon. Herbert L. Satterlee; Hon. Joseph F. Sawicki; Ernest H. Schelling; Charles M. Schwab; Hon. Charles B. Sears; Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Shahan; Henry Sieminski; Prof. William N. Sloane; Julius F. Smietanka; B. L. Smykowski; John Philip Sousa; Com Edward W. Spafford; James Speyer; T. T. Starzynski; Vilhjalmur Stefansson; Mrs. Frederick Steinway; Very Rev. Msgr. Emil F. Stre; Benjamin Strong; Rev. Alexander Syski; Rev. S. Szpotanski; Frank A. Vanderlip; George E. Vincent; H. H. Westinghouse; William Allen White; Hon. George W. Wickersham; Mrs. Woodrow Wilson; Edward S. Witkowski; Col. Arthur Woods; Pres. Mary E. Woolley; Owen D. Young; and George A. Zabriskie.
The current selection of congratulatory greetings and laudations for the Polish Music Journal presents a range of examples and highlights messages from well-known musical personalities. Some greetings were chosen because of their language, permeated with characteristically old-fashioned lofty expressions. A message from the President of the country opens the quotations of letters from American politicians, followed by greetings from the philanthropists and the musicians. The order of publication in To Paderewski volume seems to be random, apart from the general arrangement in three groups: American politicians, American members of high society and musicians, Polish organizations and individuals. [7] The greetings are included below, in Part I of this collection. Part II of “Paderewski and the Tenth Anniversary…” contains three of the six speeches given during the commemorative dinner: remarks by Samuel M. Vauclain, one of the founders of the Kosciuszko Foundation, and writers Arthur V. Sewall, and John H. Finley, the latter one known as the editor-in-chief of the New York Times. Speeches by the Foundation’s president, Henry Noble MacCracken and Jan Ciechanowski, Polish representative in the U.S. are omitted because they do not contain much new, or particularly characteristic material. In contrast, the two literary addresses are of great interest because of their poetic content. Paderewski’s response to all the lavish praise is reproduced in Part III of this collection. Its title, “Remarks in Self-Defense” alludes to the oratory figure used in the opening of the speech, when Paderewski casts himself as a criminal on trial. I introduced this title, as well as the headings for the remaining speeches; in To Paderewski, the speakers are simply identified by name. In addition, I have provided all the texts with annotations, explaining the identities of persons and the, at times obscure, events to which the speakers alluded. Finally, the illustrations are drawn from photographs and copies held in the Polish Music Collection; their original sources are identified wherever possible.
The 1928 book of tributes and congratulations to Paderewski is a valuable document of its times, as well as a great, neglected source for scholarship in American history, Polish history and the history of music in the 20th-century. Paderewski’s unique place in American culture has not been yet fully examined; similarly, his contribution to Polish music still awaits its comprehensive scholarly study, for which only some of the groundwork has been laid by Adam Zamoyski, his American biographer (1982), Andrzej Piber and Małgorzata Perkowska (his Polish chroniclers, books of 1982 and 1990 respectively). [8]. Advancement in research is only possible when documents and sources are known and available; the selection of tributes to Paderewski published in The Polish Music Journal provides the first part of Paderewski documents to appear here. It is designed as one step towards a much needed full examination of Paderewski’s life, musical achievements, and historical significance.
Greetings to Ignace Jan Paderewski
On the Tenth Anniversary of the Independence of Poland
From the President, Calvin Coolidge [9]
The White House, Washington, April 7, 1928
My dear Mr. Paderewski:
It gives me pleasure to add my token of esteem to those which will come to you at the dinner of the Kosciuszko Foundation in your honor on May 16th. Your unselfish services on behalf of your country and your outstanding devotion to the advancement of humanitarian and cultural causes are worthy of all praise.
My best wishes for the future go to you.
Very truly yours,
[signed] — Calvin Coolidge
From James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor [10]
For years, Ignace Jan Paderewski has laid the peoples of the world under heavy debt to him for the harmonies of a sublime art that he brought to their minds and hearts. Butt his genius could not be confined to the harmonies of one art. He set himself to creating new harmonies amongst the peoples themselves, in the art of statesmanship.
It is a great thing to have sweetened human lives as Mr. Paderewski has done with his music. It is another and a greater thing to have put the nations in tune, as he has done in bringing Poland back to her rightful place in their choir.
America has long been under obligations to one great Pole for his help in founding this country. In helping Poland to restoration we may, in part, have paid that debt, but only to incur another, for the pleasure we owe this other great Pole we honor today. Artist, poet, patriot, we love him not alone for what he has done, but for what he is.
May his own life be long, and may all other lives continue long to be enriched by his art, but even more by the example he sets in his manhood.
[signed] — James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor
Washington, D.C., January 12th, 1928.
From Tasker H. Bliss, Chief of Staff [11]
With profound respect I inscribe my tribute of love and admiration to my friend, the ardent patriot and wise statesman, Ignace Jan Paderewski, on this Tenth Anniversary of the Independence of Poland. Poland and Paderewski!—identical names, each indelibly engraved on the heart of the other. During four years I had watched the career of this supreme harmonist, playing upon every chord of the human heart and soul, devoting all the resources of a divine art and all the powers of a wondrous eloquence, to the redemption of his loved country. To this he contributed his fortune, his great effort of organization, and, above all, his enthusiastic and devoted loyalty to this patriotic ideal. It was he that raised an Allied Polish army; and it was he that, even before the war ended, won the admission of the Allied powers that the creation of a united and independent Poland was an aim as well as a necessary consequence of the war. I first knew him personally at the Paris Peace Conference. There he made the name of Poland ring through the council hall of the nations. There he realized the great aim of his life and there he reached the starry heights to which the lode-star of his existence had been leading him;—not the creation but the revival of a proud, prosperous, and happy Poland. And therein the fruition of his toil and dreams, he won for his country her redemption and for himself an immortality of fame.
[signed] — Tasker H. Bliss, Washington, D. C.
From Franklin D. Roosevelt [12]
Do you remember the day when you came to my office in Washington to ask the Navy’s bid for the Polish soldiers in Siberia? You were an exiled patriot without a country—and much later you and I were in Paris—you as the head of a new-old nation. May you live long to appreciate in the full the love and respect of your fellow Poles in every part of the world.
[signed] — Your old friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt
From Edith Bolling Wilson (Mrs. Woodrow Wilson) [13]
I welcome this happy occasion to pay tribute to my honoured friend Mr. Ignace Jan Paderewski, the greatest artist who—with the world at his feet through the magic of his music—turned aside from his mission of melody to serve his stricken country as its responsible head in her hour of need.
This inspired patriot became the servant of his people, lighting his torch at the altar of sacrifice, where its steady flame will burn forever to the glory of his beloved Poland, and lend new luster to his name written deep in the hearts of all men.
[signed] — Edith Bolling Wilson (Mrs. Woodrow Wilson)
March sixth, Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight
From Norman S. Case, the Governor of Rhode Island [14]
The Polish people are a sturdy race and we are all proud of the fact that so many of them go toward making up our family of citizens. We live in a great and prosperous country, and they have done much in bringing about this prosperity. They should be proud to have, as their leader and representative of their race, a man of the caliber and integrity of Mr. Paderewski. He is not only a talented artist, but a statesman and diplomat as well. As Premier he did much toward the freeing of his native country. In this country where he has given so much of his talent in the past, we have always felt as if he were our own.
I wish that I might be present in person at this testimonial dinner, and in behalf of the citizens of Rhode Island, express to him the deep regard that we have for him. We, as lovers of freedom and music, have the highest regard for him, and I trust that he will be spared so that he may be with us for many years to come in order that our children may enjoy those privileges that have been ours.
[signed] — Norman S. Case, Governor.
Providence, R.I., March 13, 1928.
From C. C. Young, the Governor of California [15]
I am indeed happy to be privileged to join with others of our nation in extending a cordial greeting and paying a deserved tribute to Ignace Jan Paderewski upon the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the independence of his native land. It is peculiarly fitting that he should thus be honored, who played such a preeminent role in winning for Poland international recognition as an independent and sovereign State.
It was my pleasure some years since to hear Mr. Paderewski tell the story of his country’s struggles before a large audience in San Francisco; and I remember how we were all impressed by the sincerity, the quiet earnestness, and the simple eloquence of the speaker. As Father of his country, as its first Prime Minister, as an artist of international repute, as philanthropist and lover of mankind, this great Polish patriot and world citizen richly deserves the homage of all of us.
[signed] — C. C. Young, Governor of California.
From Howard M. Gore, the Governor of West Virginia [16]
To Ignace Jan Paderewski,
Greetings:
Known through the world as –
An artist, delighting thousands in many lands by the highest skill at the keyboard,
A patriot, giving his all in time of war,
A statesman, making secure the liberty and happiness of his beloved people,
An ambassador of good will between the United States and his native land.
On behalf of the people of this commonwealth who, like you, have cherished and defended Liberty, I express appreciation for your valuable services, and extend sincere good wishes for your health and happiness.
[signed] — Howard M. Gore, Governor of West Virginia,
Charleston, West Virginia.
From Robert Lansing, Former U.S. Secretary of State [17]
It is a pleasure as well as an honor to join with others in paying tribute to Ignace Jan Paderewski, my esteemed friend and former colleague, whose achievements as a patriot and statesman and whose magnificent genius as a master of harmony have won the applause of an admiring world and made his name immortal.
[signed] — Robert Lansing, 1928.
From Ellen F. Pendleton, President of Wellesley College [18]
Wellesley College sends its greetings to Mr. Paderewski, illustrious composer, finest patriot and statesman. Especially do we recognize his success in the cause of musical education in this country by his incomparable interpretation of the music of the masters, and by the unquenched zeal for the best in music with which he has inspired our young people.
[signed] — Ellen F. Pendleton, Wellesley College, March 1928.
From John D. Rockefeller Jr. [19]
Mr. Paderewski through his incomparable genius, has been a source of pleasure and inspiration to so many people that it is a privilege to bear testimony to the greatness of his spirit and the consummate skill of his art. A many-sided man of intensity of conviction, uprightness of aim, keenness and thoroughness of thought and richness of humor—he has endeared himself to hundreds of thousands of people whose rare privilege it has been to come in contact with him.
[signed] — John D. Rockefeller Jr.
From Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge [20]
To A King among Artists and a Prince among Human Souls, –
Paderewski,
From one who has revered him for nearly forty years.
[signed] — Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
From Frederic A. Juilliard [21]
To Ignace Jan Paderewski:
In appreciation of the man, musician and statesman whose generous and patriotic devotion reflects highest honor in his native Poland and had won for him the affection of the United States of America.
Juilliard Musical Foundation
[signed] — Frederic A. Juilliard, President;
February 15th, 1928.
From Walter Damrosch [22]
The Polish insurrection so brilliantly led by Kosciuszko in 1794, eventually ended in disaster, but his name continued to be the flag around which Polish patriotism centered, and the torch which he lighted was never quenched. But it was not until one hundred and twenty-four years later that this torch was again held aloft, when thanks to the victory of the Allies, Poland could once more demand the right to a national freedom.
That a great share in this work was carried out by Paderewski is now universally acknowledged. The world was astounded that a musician who had spent his public life for over thirty years in piano recitals and composition should demonstrate such remarkable gifts of statesmanship. The fact remains, however, that more or less subconsciously he had prepared himself for just such an opportunity. There was not a Pole living who knew the history of his people, their aspirations and their psychology, more intimately than he, or who more constantly nursed the hope of a reunited fatherland.
When the hour came, Paderewski threw into the cause, all the strength and irresistible charm of his remarkable personality. Small wonder that all America, hearing his describe the aspirations of his country in flaming eloquence, rallied to its support.
We as Americans are proud to think that the two greatest patriots of Poland gained much of their first renown in our country, Kosciuszko as an officer in Washington’s armies, and Paderewski as an artist. Largely because of these two men, Poland seems to us not merely a political combination, but a great people striving to express themselves racially and nationally.
[signed] — Walter Damrosch.
From Józef Hofman [23]
Heartfelt congratulations to my great countryman and fellow musician who has made Poland world-famous through his art and who has succeeded in gaining the political recognition of the world for our native land by virtue of his magnetic personality, vibrant patriotism and wise statesmanship.
In profound admiration,
[signed] — Josef Hoffman.
From the Polish Circle in New York, Zygmunt Stojowski, President [24]
Ignacemu Janowi Paderewskiemu—mistrzowi dźwięku co grać umie na sercach ludzkich jak na posłusznych klawiszach— wielkiemu artyście, który skarbiec sztuki rodzimej wzbogacił pieśnią nową, własną a silną i rozniósł szeroko po świecie sławę Polskiego imienia—gorącego serca Synowi Ojczyzny co nie wahał się, w przełomowej chwili, złożyć na Jej ołtarz świetnych swych darów i zbożnego trudu—narodowemu wodzowi co orlim wzrokiem przeniknąwszy otaczające mgły, ująćc potrafił ster nawy państwowej odważną a sprawną dłonią wśród burzy dziejowej tak, iż imię Jego złączonem jest na wsze czasy ze Zmartwychwstaniem umiłowanej Ojczyzny—
Koło Polskie w Nowym Yorku składa hołd głęebokiej czci i uwielbienia, serdecznego przywiązania i wdzięczności,
[signed] — Zygmunt Stojowski, Prezes
— W. Raczynski, Sekretarz
— Dr. M. Grunbaum, Skarbnik,
— Jan Moszczanski
— T. Marpisz [?]
— Rotenbralo-Lapowicz [?]
English Translation by Maja Trochimczyk:
To I. J. Paderewski,
– the Master of sound who can play on human hearts as on obedient keyboards,
– a great artist who has enriched the treasure trove of his native art with a new song—his own and powerful,
– the artist who carried around the world the fame of the Polish name,
– a Son of Homeland with a burning heart, a Son who did not hesitate, at a decisive turning point, to offer at Her altars his opulent gifts and pious efforts,
– a national leader who, having seen through the surrounding fog with an eagle’s foresight, was capable of grasping the steering wheel of the State’s ship with a courageous and capable hand amidst the storm of history in such a way that, as a result, his name is connected for all eternity with the Resurrection of our beloved Homeland –
The Polish Circle in New York offers a homage of profound respect and worship, of heartfelt affection and gratitude,
[signed] — Zygmunt Stojowski, president, W. Raczynski, Secretary, Dr. M. Grunbaum, Treasurer, and others
Notes
[1]. The volume, bound in leather, is entitled Ignace Jan Paderewski: Artist, Patriot, Humanitarian and bears the anniversary dates on the cover 1918-1928 (New York: Kosciuszko Foundation). There are no page numbers, the order of documents seems somewhat random, there are no indices for the volume or lists of authors of letters and contributors; the speeches in the final part of the documents are paginated in each typescript separately, starting from page one several times. [Back]
[2]. Soprano Maria Bogucka appeared in various opera programs in Poland and Czecho-Slovakia from 1900-1930, her travel to the U.S. has not been documented. American singer Ellenor Cook was known to perform in costumes; at the Paderewski Dinner she appeared in a Polish folk costume. In the 1920s and 30s she often performed in and around New York, solo or with her own company. [Back]
[3]. Henry Noble MacCracken, American writer (1880-1970) was the president of the Kosciuszko Foundation; Samuel Matthews Vauclain (1856-1940) was an industrialist and philanthropist, involved in railroad companies and their exports to Europe; Jan Ciechanowski , Arthur V. Sewall, John Huston Finley (1863-1940) was educator, editor, and author, since 1937 he served as the editor-in-chief of the New York Times. More information about them may be found in notes to Part II and III of this documentation. [Back]
[4]. See Józef Orłowski, Paderewski i Odbudowa Polski, vol. 2 (Chicago: The Stanek Press, 1940). [Back]
[5]. It is remarkable that Ignacy Jan Paderewski was an associate of four American presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.[Back]
[6]. See Zbigniew Kantorosinski, ed. ‘Emblem of Good Will’ A Polish Declaration of Admiration and Friendship for the United States of America (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1997). For a study of Polish-American organizations and press see John J. Bukowczyk And My Children Did not Know Me: A History of the Polish Americans (Bloomingtown, IN: Indiana University Press, 1987). A selected bibliography is included in the site by the Library of the University of Chicago, entitled “Poles in America Pathfinder” and found under the address: http://cpl.lib.uic.edu/001hwlc/litpolamerica.html. [Back]
[7]. The greetings are informally arranged into three groups (without either title sub-headings or page numbers): members of the American government, members of the American society, and members of the Polish American society (about 200 total). Some pages are on decorative paper, some are typewritten and signed, some handwritten. Each page has a printed heading: “Greetings to Ignace Jan Paderewski on the Tenth Anniversary of the Independence of Poland.” The final section of the book includes typewritten speeches reproduced in Parts II and III of the current selection. [Back]
[8]. The most extensive Paderewski biography in English is by Adam Zamoyski, Paderewski: A Biography of the Great Polish Pianist and Statesman (New York: Atheneum, 1982); recent research, based on archival studies has been conducted by Andrzej Piber, Droga do Sławy: Ignacy Paderewski w latach 1860-1902 (Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1982); and Małgorzata Perkowska, Diariusz Koncertowy Paderewskiego (Kraków: PWM, 1990). An interesting collection of essays from a Paderewski conference at Jagiellonian University was edited by Wojciech Marchwica and Andrzej Sitarz (Kraków: Musica Iagellonica, 1991). [Back]
[9]. Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) became American president in 1923 after a sudden death of Harding; he had been the vice-president at that time. [Back]
[10]. James John Davis (1873-1947) served as the Secretary of Labor and, later, in the U.S. Senate. [Back]
[11]. Tasker Howard Bliss (1853-1930) was the Chief of Staff in 1917 and later served on a foreign mission, directed by Edward M. House and coordinating the Allied effort. [Back]
[12]. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) became American president in 1932 and led the country out of the Great Depression through his New Deal social and economic program. [Back]
[13]. Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1872-1961), also known as Edith Bolling Wilson, and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, married Woodrow Wilson in 1917 and after his stroke in 1919 (until 1921) served as his care-taker and secretary, fulfilling, de facto, the role of the president. [Back]
[14]. Norman Stanley Case (1888-1967) served in the American army during World War I and later became the governor of Rhode Island. [Back]
[15]. C.C. Young, i.e. Clement Calhoun (1869-1947) served as the governor of California in the 1920s and 1930s. [Back]
[16]. Howard M. Gore (1877-1947) was the governor of West Virginia in 1925-1929 and had earlier served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. [Back]
[17]. Robert Lansing (1864-1928) served as the Secretary of State since 1915; his former duties included work as a lawyer in international arbitration cases. [Back]
[18]. Edith Fitz Pendleton served as the President of Wellesley College from 1911 to 1936; she was the first alumna to become the college’s president (she graduated in 1886 and later taught in the Mathematics department). The longest serving president, she is credited with protecting the college during the Depression. [Back]
[19]. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) devoted his efforts to philanthropic causes and donated over $500,000,000 during his lifetime; He helped his father establish several major philanthropic organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation.[Back]
[20]. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953) was a well-known patron of music; she endowed a recital hall at the Library of Congress, established a foundation commissioning new works from composers, including Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” (1944), Bartok’s Fifth String Quartet (1934), Stravinsky’s “Apollon Musagete,” and pieces by Ravel, Hindemith, Darius Milhaud and Leon Kirchner. See, Cyrilla Barr, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge: American Patron of Music (New York: Schirmer Music). [Back]
[21]. Frederick Juilliard was the son of Augustus D. Juilliard who established the Juilliard Foundation, a chief supporter of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. A.D. Juilliard was also instrumental in the creation of the Juilliard School of Music, founded by Frank Damrosch. [Back]
[22]. Walter Johannes Damrosch (1862-1950) was a German American conductor and composer, studied with his father and Hans von Bülow later to become a conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York Symphony Society (1885-1927) before becoming the conductor for the National Broadcasting Society’s Orchestra (1928-1942). [Back]
[23]. Józef Hofman (1876-1957), virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, one of the founders of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. [Back]
[24]. Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski (1870-1946) was a composer, pianist and teacher who studied with Władysław Żeleński in Poland and Leo Delibes in Paris. He was also in a select group of Paderewski students. Since 1906 he resided in the U.S. where he was an active member of the Polish-American community, assisting Paderewski in his charitable ventures, for which he was rewarded with the order of Polonia Restituta. [Back]