The society was organized mainly through the efforts of W. F. Severa, a prominent Bohemian of Cedar Rapids, and Professor Simek of Iowa University. To put the project in motion, Mr. Severa subscribed $2,500, a sum which has been so liberally contributed to by Bohemian societies and individuals that in the two years the society has been able to loan much more. Though in 1903-4 there were seven students at various western universities and this year the number has been increased to twelve, it is hoped that as the fund increases, both by contributions and repaid loans, the society will be able to broaden its scope.
The movement is further supported by another, the aim of which is to establish Bohemian libraries in the larger Bohemian communities. The public library of Milwaukee is to install one hundred books on history, literature, biography, The Preservation of Bohemian Culture.fiction and science and the free Library Commission of Wisconsin is considering the purchase of two sets of books, seventy-five in each, to be used as traveling libraries in the thickly populated districts of the state. In addition to these libraries, there is to be another of about a hundred books at the University of Nebraska, and a second traveling library under the management of the council of higher education. Mr. Severa voices the ambition of progressive Bohemian-Americans when he says: "We want our young men and women to enter American colleges and to work hand in hand with Americans on the path of progress, but we want them at the same time to respect the land of their fathers, to know their language and to be informed concerning their history and literature."
In the country the assimilation of Bohemians is not a problem which offers difficulties. The public school is everywhere so potent an Americanizer that it alone is adequate. There is, however, one other influence which if brought to bear, especially in the large communities, would be helpful. I refer to the Protestant faith. For the most part Bohemians conversant with their history as a people are naturally hostile to the Catholic church, and when the restraints which held them in their own country are removed by emigration, many of the most enlightened quietly drop their allegiance and, through lack of desire or opportunity, fail to ally themselves with any other. So strong is this non-religdous tendency among Bohemians (especially in the cities) that it has resulted in active unbelief and hostility to church influence. This spiritual isolation, with its resultant social separation, is doing great harm in retarding assimilation. The benefits to be derived from social intercourse within church would be especially marked as assimilative and educational factors.
Assimilation of American Customs.Aside from this matter of religion, the Bohemian falls into American customs with surprising readiness. This is the more remarkable when we consider the great difference between American and Bohemian country life. Nowhere in the old country are there isolated farms as here—the cultivated lands radiate. To a Bohemian immigrant then, American farm life must at first seem extremely dull and void of social pleasure.
A general impression that Bohemians are much like the Germans is not true. They are to begin with a very emotional people. In this they resemble more closely the Latin races, except that where the Latins are more or less consistently light-hearted, the Bohemians have an unconquerable tendency toward melancholy. They are excitable and have an unusual capacity for entering heartily into their pleasures; but, on the other hand, they are easily depressed and have not the cool-natured endurance of the northern German. Generally liberal money-spenders, hard-working and thrifty, they still have a fondness for good living, good clothes, and an occasional glass of beer, which makes it difficult for them to bear poverty.
But, perhaps, their most striking characteristic is their love of music and dancing. In the country, almost every village has a band of self-taught musicians, and the country dance is a time-honored institution. Their national music is peculiarly Slavonic and has in it the same undercurrent of strangeness and melancholy which one finds in their personal traits and again in their folk-lore.
