Dear Friend of the Polish Museum of America –

This year, November 11th marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the independence of Poland after 123 years of occupation by foreign powers. Polish pianist, statesman, and humanitarian Ignacy Jan Paderewski signed the Treaty of Versailles with US President Woodrow Wilson on June 28, 1919, putting the Polish nation back on the map of Europe. Chicago’s own Polish Museum of America has that pen – and countless other historic documents, photographs, and artifacts that tell the story of Poles in Poland and of Polish Americans in America’s Polonia. Our vast collections are so important in preserving Polonia and Poland’s history over its darkest periods that the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland is assisting the PMA in conserving many historically important artifacts and treasures.