The first Czech in New York was likely Augustine Herman (Czech: Augustin Heřman, c. 1621–1686), a Bohemian explorer, merchant, and cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam from 1640. Other individuals of Czech background arrived over the next two hundred years, but mass immigration only began in the nineteenth century. František Vlasák, who later changed his name to Francis W. Lassak (1793–1889), was a furrier who started his business in Manhattan in 1837, likely in cooperation with John Jacob Astor (1763–1848), the founder of the Astor Library, the predecessor of the New York Public Library. Slovaks began to arrive in New York City after the Revolution of 1848. The first concentration of Czech and Slovak immigrants was between Avenues A and C, from 8th Street to Houston Street on the Lower East Side, near Tompkins Square Park. Avenue B became known as Czech Boulevard. They also lived on the Upper East Side (Yorkville) and in the South Bronx (Morrisania). The First Hungarian-Slovak Sick Benefit Society was organized in new York in 1883. The most important center of Czech life, culture, and language is located in Astoria. The Bohemian Citizens Benevolent Society, established in 1892, raised the money to build the Bohemian National Hall on 24th Avenue, between 29th and 31st Streets, to which an outdoor bar and park were later added. The Bohemian National Hall on the Upper East Side has been an important center for Czech and Slovak culture in New York City since 1896. Slovak immigrants who came to the US after World War II founded the Slovak American Cultural Center. Two churches have served the community: the Jan Hus Church on East 74th Street for Czechs and the Saint John Nepomucene Church on East 66th Street for Slovaks. [Nolte, Claire E. "Czechs." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 338-339. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, ©2010].
Czech immigration passenger lists / by Leo Baca (1983-2000). It includes: v.4. New York, 1847-1869 -- v.5. New York, 1870-1880 -- v.6. New York, 1881-1886; -- v.7. New York passenger lists, 1887-1896.
For more images see the NYPL Digital Collections.
The oldest Czech item in the holdings of the New York Public Library is Expositione in apocalypsim by Haimo, of Auxerre. it was written in Bohemia (?), [1393?]
On the Czech collections of the NYPL, please see
Archival resources:
Webster Branch records 1904-2001. The Webster Branch of the New York Public Library traces its origins to the Webster Free Library, founded by the East Side House Settlement in 1894. In 1904 the library merged with The New York Public Library, and in 1906 moved into a new building at 78th Street and York Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. For several decades Czechoslovak immigrants were the primary patrons of the branch, which maintained significant holdings in the Czech language. In 1957 the bulk of these materials were transferred to the new Donnell Library Center. During the 1960s-1990s the social composition of the neighborhood changed, and the Webster Branch broadened its focus to serve the library needs of a more diverse urban community.
Private libraries donated to the New York Public Library