by Grace Dumelle, Genealogy and Local History Assistant

Tucked away on a side street in Cicero, Illinois is a treasure trove of materials relating to Eastern European heritage and the impact of its peoples' immigration to Chicago, the Midwest, and beyond. It's the library of the Czech and Slovak American Genealogical Society of Illinois (CSAGSI).

You'll find church anniversary books, biographical compilations, pamphlets, maps, journals, high school yearbooks and so much more. Of course there are reference copies of the essential publications of CSAGSI, also held at the Newberry, such as the Denni Hlastel Obituary Index and Index to the 1872-1899 Death Records of St. Procopius Church, Chicago, Illinois. See the Newberry's pathfinder for Bohemian research here (www.newberry.org/genealogy/bohemian.html).

Flipping through the pages of the 1933 World's Fair Memorial of the Czechoslovak Group, I found a full-page story with photos about Leader Department Store, a place where I spent my allowance growing up in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Though the text was in Czech, I learned there were three locations, begun by a gentleman named Eduard Oplatka. The photo of the 18^th & Paulina location I frequented showed awnings on the ground floor and a vertical sign almost three stories tall - details that were long gone by the time I knew the place.

Materials like these enrich the history of many city neighborhoods and suburbs such as Cicero and Riverside. Judith Mason, Volunteer Coordinator, told me she's uncovered many Irish names while indexing a Czech newspaper. The Irish worked as foremen and pressmen for the newspaper and sometimes joined Czech organizations. There are probably similarly interesting discoveries to be made in the library resources for Czech and Slovak areas in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and other parts of the world. To see what the library holds, go to the CSAGSI web site www.csagsi.org and click on the Table of Contents on the left. Then go to "Genealogical Resources." The first link in this section takes you to the library holdings in various categories.

Researchers sit at communal tables and enjoy the help of CSAGSI volunteers, who offer strategies, find materials, and translate text. Patrons often chime in with suggestions based on their experiences. You may find the kibitzing distracting to your research, or you may relish the friendly atmosphere.

Besides waits for the single copier ($.10/page), other slight drawbacks are that the materials are hard to locate on the shelves. They are grouped according to subject (e.g. immigration) but are not filed in any discernable order; they do not have call numbers. Also, the facility is only open nine days a year, on the second Saturday of the months September through May, from 10 am to 2 pm.

There's no fee to use the library, located on the second floor of the T. G. Masaryk School, 5701 22^nd Place, Cicero, 60804.  Free street parking is available. You can also take the Pink Line to its terminus at 54^th & Cermak and walk four blocks west and one block south. The next Saturday dates are April 10 and May 8, 2010. Top off your research with a visit to nearby Klas Restaurant and Rosicky's Bakery on Cermak Road, for a true ethnic immersion!