Audio Recording Interview with Fr. Donald Bilinski, Polish Museum of America, Chicago, Illinois, part 3

Title

• Interview with Fr. Donald Bilinski, Polish Museum of America, Chicago, Illinois, part 3

Names

• Kalčik, Susan J. (Collector)

Created / Published

• Chicago, Illinois, June 6, 1977

Headings

• -  Polish Americans
• -  Ethnography
• -  Interviews
• -  Illinois -- Chicago

Genre

• Ethnography
• Interviews

Notes

• -  Fr. Edward bilinski (Polish Museum), part 3
• -  Part 3 of a 4-part interview with Franciscan Father Donald Bilinski, curator of the library at the Polish Museum of America, 984 N Milwaukee Ave.; how lack of space is a big problem for the library; discusses periodicals, with a focus on American titles, they have 22 but none are complete runs; they are working to organize their prints, there is much demand for these from the press, artwork and photos, this serves the non-Polish community; many Chicago Polish Americans are not aware of the museum; there is not enough publicity; they were given a big batch of stuff from a world's fair held in New York before WWII, and they were swamped, able only to concentrate on housing and preserving it, not putting it in order; this happened in about 1941; now some of the materials that were in that fair are being claimed by people who lent them, they want money for them, this has resulted in many court cases for the museum; the library does have control of their clippings files, this is work done by volunteers; the museum hours are form 1-4, and they have a good guide (docent) Monday through Friday but the guide for the weekends does not have good command of English; the museum includes an art gallery with 400 original pieces, done by Poles and Polish Americans; they acquire works on Polish subjects or by Polish artists, if they get something else, they trade it for if they can; the museum’s gallery is not for Polish American artists since there is a Polish Arts Club in Chicago that concentrates on this category; the museum and library has a [fund-raising] affair once a year, in different places, the event used to be at the gallery but many in their public do not like to come to this neighborhood in the evening anymore; the library is only open on one evening a week, Monday; since the museum does not sell paintings, Polish American artists are not so interested in showing there; they have 30 pieces from the Warsaw museum that came with the World's Fair lot, all classical; Father Bilinski prefers this to modern art; he was trained as an archivist but didn't use the training for a long time; he grew up in Chicago, though was not born here; he came to the museum 5-6 years ago, at that time, no one was doing much, the original director, Mr. Heiman, died in 1949 and things were left in the hands of a man who preferred other activities; he arranged for cultural events like concerts and the Polish dance troupes, in order to raise money, and tended to let the museum and archives go; they are currently publishing letters written by Kosciusko during the American Revolution; the museum is now supported by members; there is a four year old ladies auxiliary that runs the gift shop and an annual fund-raising affair, a dinner and theater party; the auxiliary also helps out when there is a temporary show in the gallery; they have had one man shows by various artists, e.g., the exhibit “Poles in Detroit," a display of Polish medals and medallions from Krakow, an exhibition of work by an artist named Zabrowski (Leszek Zebrowski ?) who did sketches of Polish scenes in America; one miniature painter, a woman who worked in flaming wax; each artist must leave a piece behind in exchange for the opportunity to show works in the gallery, this gives them a chance to be seen as most are unknown; in addition, the museum hosted a Smithsonian traveling exhibit on folk art, and invited artists to display and demonstrate reverse glass painting and wicynanki (paper cutting), these weren't from the Chicago area, the museum does not feature local artists but do feature work from Poland or other parts of the U.S.; the woman who did the wicynanki is from Connecticut, keeping up the tradition by publishing books on this, her books are sold in the gift shop; interruption in the recording; Bilinski shows books on crafts which are very popular, people use them or buy from gift shop, the shop is a convenience for people, a place where they can find such books, more of a service than a money maker; the museum had 7,000 visitors last year, tour groups come, especially consisting of senior citizens; there are five areas in the museum complex, the main hall is what was once a social hall, with an auditorium and stage, the choir loft is now used as the art gallery; there are two biographical rooms, the Kosciusko and the Paderewski, which are museum rooms; Mr. Heiman had been a friend of Paderewski so they have much memorabilia connected to him; interruption in the recording; discussion of books that sell.

Medium

• audiocassette, C-60

Call Number/Physical Location

• Call number: AFC 1981/004: AFS 20802a
• MBRS Shelflist: RYA 0800
• Field Project Identifier: CH77-T277-C

Source Collection

• Chicago Ethnic Arts Project collection (AFC 1981/004)

Repository

• American Folklife Center

Digital Id

• https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc1981004/afc1981004_afs20802a

Online Format

• audio