Agora by Magdalena Abakanowicz

Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois is the location of a large set of sculptures entitled “Agora” by Magdaelna Abakanowicz, from Warsaw, Poland. There are 106 headless torsos that are larger than life size. Abakanowicz was born in 1930 and was affected by World War II and the aftermath says she grew up “. . . in times which were extraordinary by their various forms of collective hate and collective adulation. Marches and parades worshipped leaders, great and good, who soon turned out to be mass murderers. I was obsessed by the image of the crowd. . . I suspected that under the human skull, instincts and emotions overpower the intellect without us being aware of it.” https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_s_publicartagora.html

Michal Kaszucki Died July 5 1879

Michal Kaszucki (my 2nd great uncle) died July 5 1879 in Tomaszów Lubelski. He was 40 years old and unmarried. His parents were Andrzej and Salomea Kaszucki (my 3rd great grandparents) who were both deceased. His brother Jozef (my 2nd great grandfather) and Anton Romanowicz, were both declarants of Michal’s death. Michal had 7 siblings, including his brother Jozef. The boys were all baptized in the Greek Catholic faith (like their father) and the girls in the Roman Catholic faith (like their mother.) His death record was recorded through the Orthodox, rather than the Greek Catholic church. I believe this was a different “version” of Eastern Orthodoxy based in Russia that was rejecting the influences of the Greeks.

Did Anthony Raczkiewicz Know about the KK in Grand Rapids?

Anthony Raczkiewicz: Did he know about the KKK in GR? As a child, I can’t remember having interest in their far away relatives or the neighbors and friends they had. I wish I could ask how they were all inter-connected and how many people they knew that came from the same area to settle in Grand Rapids. I would also like to know how he met my grandmother, Pauline. I have many questions about what he thought about events that were happening at that time in history. I wish I could ask him how it felt to experience the economic and ethnic prejudice that was part of the city and part of the times. One significant sign of this prejudice was that the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were energizing their work in Michigan, with Grand Rapids as a central hub. The KKK are commonly known for targeting hate against African Americans but they also are against several other groups, including Catholics. ***** This anti-Catholic sentiment was highlighted by a visit from the Ku Klux Klan to Grand Rapids on July 4, 1925. On that day, the Ku Klux Klan marched through the west side waving American flags. The west side of Grand Rapids was an area heavily populated by Polish immigrants. The timing for the 4th of July, which is a U.S. holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence and is a celebration of nationhood. ***** Anthony was a married immigrant laborer with one child at the time. Fifteen thousand KKK came to Grand Rapids for the rally. Weeks before they set up camp near the Bridge St. hillside on the outskirts of town. A symbol was seen from this hill and across town from Belknap hill, the night before the rally. Staging for their parade was at LIncoln park and then they went down Bridge St., turned on Ottawa downtown and came back up Fulton St. to a rally at John Ball Park. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2012/02/retrospectives_the_klu_klux_kl.html The Poles at this time were easy targets. ”The problem of language and a comparatively late arrival on the local scene delayed Polish participation in municipal politics. Too, there was aneed for civic education among their own kind since peasants from a partitioned Poland, especially those from the Austrian and RussianPartitions, were exposed only to minimal education and to virtually noparticipation in local governance. They had no exposure to democratic traditions. English and citizenship classes were only marginally successful. . . ” ***** The Rise and Fall of the Grand Rapids Polonia, Edward Skendzel, 1993 ***** https://dutchamericans.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/1993_07_skendzel.pdf ***** photo credits: https://www.facebook.com/groups/264767850370094/permalink/1735920166588181

Pauline Raczkiewicz (my grandmother) died July 3, 1990

EdY/0UQEtY1FljUH3vWzKwOLsU0XT_1KAShSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s756/210580644_1476695509338000_2035418886421860071_n.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; ">

Yvonne (Raczkiewicz) Basham's birthday is July 1

Happy birthday to Yvonne (Raczkiewicz) Basham (my 1rst cousin.)

Jakub Raczkiewicz is 22 June 30

Happy birthday to Jakub Raczkiewicz (my 2nd cousin 1x removed.)

Antoni Raczkiewicz (my 2x great grandfather) died young (1 July 1868)

Antoni Raczkiewicz (my 2x great grandfather) died young (1 July 1868), a few months after his 26th birthday. I do not know the cause of death but there was an outbreak of cholera in Russia that year. The witnesses were Jan Skurcz, 27 and Andrzej Bonczko/Baczko?, 40, who were both farmers in Sabaudia. Antoni also was a farmer in Sabaudia. Antoni’s parents, Michal Raczkiewicz and Anna nee Dominik, were still alive. Antoni came from a family of ten children. Antoni left behind his widowed wife, Marianna nee Grabek. They had two children, Jan and Marianna. Marianna died in infancy and Jan later became my great grandfather. His wife, Marianna nee Grabek remarried a year and a half later to Tomasz Kedra. They had two children: Jozef and Katarzyna. Marianna died when the children were eight and ten years old and Jan was 17. The father of Jozef and Katarzyna, Tomasz, remarried three months later to Anna nee Raczkiewicz (daughter of Jan Raczkiewicz & Katarzyna nee Pisarczyk.) -------------------------------------- It happened in Tomaszów on July 3,1868 at 8 o’clock in the morning Appeared Jan Skurz, age 27, and Andrzej Bonczko?, age 40, both peasants living in Sabaudia < it’s the village in gmina Tomaszów Lubelski>, and stated that on 1st July of the current year at 8 o'clock in the evening died in Sabaudia Anton Raczkiewicz, peasant, 26 years old, born and lived in Sabaudia, son of still living parents Michal and Anna, nee Dominik, married couple Raczkiewicz, leaving behind his widowed wife Maryanna nee Hrabko. After eye-witness confirmation of the death of Anton Raczkiewicz this document was read aloud to the illiterate declarants, and signed only by Us