Deborah M. Majka
ACPC PRESIDENT - 1993 - 1999The hallmark of my tenure as President may be described in terms of recognizing that the American Council for Polish Culture is a Polish-American cultural organization whose members are primarily Polish-Americans and whose mission is to recognize the quality of the Polish contribution to these great United States of America!
During my Presidency, I've been privileged to meet many outstanding Poles and Polish-Americans but the opportunity to meet and break bread with the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John M. Shalikashvili, the recipient of ACPC's First Career Achievement Award during the 1995 Convention in Las Vegas, remains a memory I will long cherish. To our knowledge, participation in ACPC's Convention Awards Banquet was General Shalikashvili's first and only appearance at a Polish American event. That he agreed to be present at all, given the fact that he had to fly to London that very evening for talks on Bosnia, confirmed that ACPC is an important organization in the Polish American community, worthy of recognition by a high ranking official of the United States Government. Ali present at that historic occasion will long remember General Shalikashvili's recounting his boyhood experiences in Warsaw at the outbreak of WWII as well as the evocation of those experiences and feelings on his first return to Poland as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
During my Presidency, ACPC sponsored its first Youth Leadership Conference, under the capable Chairmanship of Dr. Maria Chrypinska. This conference, now an annual event, recognizes the need to motivate and prepare our Polish-American youth to assume their rightful leadership roles in their respective communities, in local and Federal Government as well as in our Polonian organizations. During the week-long conference, these student leaders and potential Polonian leaders, have daily opportunities to network with other Polish and Polish-Americans from across the U.S. They attend sessions on ethnic student, civic and political activism and lectures on Polish and Polish-American culture and history from noted experts. The participants also experience hands on lessons in Polish folk arts, dance and song and may practice their Polish language skills daily! The first youth leadership conferences took place at George Washington University in our nation's capital. The 1998 conference will take place at St. Mary's College, Orchard Lake, Michigan, and will run concurrently with ACPC's 50th Anniversary Convention, from July 7-12, in Troy, Michigan.
With our emphasis on recognizing the quality of the Polish contribution to these United States, and the need to motivate our young people, ACPC was successful in establishing an additional scholarship award in the amount of $2,000, which was donated by the trustees of the Skalny Foundation of Rochester, New York. While the ACPC Scholarship award provides for student participation in Summer studies programs at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, this scholarship award, to be given in memory of Louis and Nellie Skalny, is offered to students enrolled in Polish Studies programs at U.S. Universities. The first recipient of the Louis and Nellie Skalny Scholarship Award is Mrs. Kinga Maciejewska, a student at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, who is pursuing first an MA and then a Ph.D. in Polish literature.
As ACPC continues to fulfill its mission of reaching out to the Polish-American and non-Polish American community, we have prepared a traveling exhibit of 30 Polish posters, executed by world-renowned Polish Poster artists. This exhibition has been on display in many of our affiliate communities as well as at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in celebration of May 3 Polish Constitution Day and to coincide with the visit of Prime Minister of Poland Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
To expand our horizons and to assist our affiliate organizations with their programs and projects, ACPC contributes the $2,000 First Prize to the winner of the Jozef Hofmann Piano Competition, which is cosponsored by the University of South Carolina, the Etherredge Symphony Orchestra, both in Aiken, SC, the location of our affiliate, the Polish Heritage Assn. of the Southeast, and ACPC. Similarly, ACPC contributes the $500 First Prize in the Professional category to the Adam Styka Memorial Art Competition and Exhibition, cosponsored by the Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia, the Pauline Fathers of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Doylestown, PA, and ACPC.
ACPC has spearheaded a fundraising campaign, with the Polish American Congress and the Polish Legion of American Veterans, to restore the Casimir Pulaski Monument in Savannah, GA. Of the $365,000 needed to restore the monument, $265,000 has been raised to date; $90,000 having been contributed by the City of Savannah. The research and perseverance of Mr. Edward Pinkowski, historian, has resulted in the discovery of what are believed to be Pulaski's remains, contrary to the commonly held belief that Pulaski was buried at sea. DNA testing will positively identify those remains. With the hope that the monument restoration will be completed by 1999, ACPC plans to hold its Annual Convention in Savannah, GA, in 1999, to celebrate the successful restoration of the monument and the identification of the bones as those of Pulaski!
As I prepare this summary of ACPC's accomplishments during my Presidency, and as we rapidly approach the 21 st century, ACPC will shortly announce the establishment of its website, address www.polishcultureacpc.org. Pledges are being accepted for contributions for the equipment and manpower necessary for ACPC to utilize our ACPC room and establish an office in our Washington Center. As a result of the efforts of our Legal Counsel, Stefan Lopatkiewicz, and the excellent bookkeeping skills of our Treasurer, Gregory Biestek, ACPC has been approved to participate in the United Way Combined Federal Campaign.
In closing, I feel it is important to note that as President of the American Council for Polish Culture, I am an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of our American Center of Polish Culture in Washmgton, DC, and have faithfully attended all Center Board Meetings. Moreover, I maintain that ACPC must be represented at the Polish American Congress. Thus I participate in the National Directors' Meetings, travelling around the U.S. at my own expense. Finally, an integral part of my mission is to visit as many ACPC affiliates as possible for the affiliates are the life blood of ACPC, who continue to build upon and enhance the foundation upon which this organization is based
From: American Council for Polish Culture, Our Second Quarter Century, 1973-1998. Edited by Anna Chrypinska 1998.