Polish-American Heritage Presentation

This event will be held on Thursday, November 16th at 6:00.

As the borders of Eastern Europe changed over time, the region and its members consistently identified as Polish people; however, their national history does not follow with the history of the Polish nation. With the Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth fell and separated the territory into the Habsburg Empire (Austria), Russian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia. The population of almost 8 million individuals then became nationalists of each of the respective areas. This, however, was not without keeping true to some cultural and heritage-based traditions.

As traditions and culture continued in these three empires, the people of Poland continued to practice their faiths, live in their towns (under a different flag), and eat similar food. This comes as a difficulty for genealogical researchers today as we start to trace our family lines in Eastern Europe and dive deeper into these border changes and identities of the Eastern European Poles.

Through this presentation, learn some tips and tricks, as well as how to use Polish databases to dive deeper into your heritage and what resources there are available to continue this journey across the ocean.