At the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America (PIASA) Midwestern Conference on December 2, 1942, the Archives and Museum of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCUA) – now the Polish Museum of America (PMA), hosted a closed session for the Commission for Research on Polish Immigration. More than 80 years later, the Archivists of the PMA submitted a paper to the 9th PIASA Conference on Polish Studies, under the theme of Migration.

At the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America (PIASA) Midwestern Conference on December 2, 1942, the Archives and Museum of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCUA) – now the Polish Museum of America (PMA), hosted a closed session for the Commission for Research on Polish Immigration. During this session, Mieczyslaw Haiman, Custodian of the Archives and Museum of the PRCUA, agreed to serve as chairman of this Commission and offered the Museum to serve as its headquarters. Later that evening, during the Polish language public lectures session held at the PRCUA Library, Haiman presented his paper, “Kosciuszko in the Light of New Researches in American Archives.”

More than 80 years later, the Archivists of the PMA submitted a paper to the 9th PIASA Conference on Polish Studies, under the theme of Migration. It was hosted at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) on June 9-10, 2023. Written by Halina Misterka and Teresa Sromek, the paper, entitled, “The Polish Museum of America Archives: History and Collections,” was part of the panel on Ethnic Archives: Documenting and Preserving the History of Polonia.

The PMA is grateful to Renata Vickrey, University Archivist, Special Collections and Community Outreach Librarian, Elihu Burritt Library, CCSU, and panel chair, who graciously presented the paper on behalf of the PMA Archivists. Thanks also to PIASA for inviting the PMA to participate in its Polish studies conference.