Bill Text: NY K00668 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Resolution 668

Introduced

Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim October 2023, as Czech-American Heritage Month in the State of New York

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 15-3)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-07 - adopted [K00668 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00668-Introduced.html


Assembly Resolution No. 668

BY: M. of A. Brabenec

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        October 2023, as Czech-American  Heritage  Month  in
        the State of New York

  WHEREAS,  It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize and
pay just tribute to the cultural heritage of  the  ethnic  groups  which
comprise  and  contribute to the richness and diversity of the community
of the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and  in  keeping  with  its
time-honored  traditions,  it  is  the sense of this Legislative Body to
memorialize  Governor  Kathy  Hochul  to  proclaim  October   2023,   as
Czech-American Heritage Month in the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  Augustine Herman was the first documented Czech (Bohemian)
settler in North America; while working for the West India  Company,  he
came to New Amsterdam, now known as New York; and

  WHEREAS,  A  man of many talents, Augustine Herman became one of the
most  influential  people  in  the  Dutch  Province  which  led  to  his
appointment  to the Council of Nine to advise the New Amsterdam Governor
Peter Stuyvesant; one of his greatest achievements  was  his  celebrated
map of Maryland and Virginia commissioned by Lord Baltimore; and

  WHEREAS,  There was another Bohemian living in New Amsterdam at that
time, Frederick Philipse, who became equally famous; he was a successful
merchant who, eventually, became the wealthiest  person  in  the  entire
Dutch Province; and

  WHEREAS, In 1735, the first significant wave of Czech colonists, the
Moravian  Brethren, began arriving on the American shores; they were the
followers of the teachings of the Czech religious  reformer  and  martyr
Jan Hus and Bishop John Amos Comenius; and

  WHEREAS,  The  Moravian Brethren first settled in Savannah, Georgia,
and then in Pennsylvania, from which they spread to other  states  after
the  American  Revolution, especially Ohio; they established a number of
Moravian settlements, such as Bethlehem and Lititz in  Pennsylvania  and
Salem in North Carolina; and

  WHEREAS,  The  Moravians  made great contributions to the growth and
development of the United States culture, most  notably  in  music;  the
trumpets  and  horns  used  by  the  Moravians  in Georgia are the first
evidence of Moravian instrumental music in America; and

  WHEREAS, In 1776, at the time of the  Declaration  of  Independence,
more  than  two  thousand  Moravian  Brethren lived in the colonies; the
Moravian Brethren established a close relationship with President Thomas
Jefferson, who designated special lands to the missionaries to  civilize
the Indians and promote Christianity; and

  WHEREAS,   The   free   uncultivated   land  in  America  encouraged
immigration throughout the nineteenth century; most  of  the  immigrants

were farmers and settled in the Midwestern states; immigration reached a
peak in 1907, when 13,554 Catholic Czechs entered the eastern ports; and

  WHEREAS,  By  1910, the Czech population was 349,000, and by 1940 it
was 1,764,000; today,  1,615,000  Czech-Americans  live  in  the  United
States; and

  WHEREAS,  Czech-Americans  have  made  significant  contributions to
American society  as  doctors,  politicians,  musicians,  athletes,  and
teachers; and

  WHEREAS,  Czech-American,  Madeleine Albright was the first woman to
hold the office of United States Secretary of State; and

  WHEREAS, Another noteworthy Czech-American is Thomas Robert Cech,  a
Chemist  who  was the recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for
the discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA; and

  WHEREAS, Czech-American Heritage Month is a time  to  celebrate  the
aspirations  and  values that have been shared with the Czech people for
generations, and to recognize the countless contributions  of  Americans
and  New  Yorkers  of  Czech  descent  to  every aspect of society; now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize   Governor   Kathy  Hochul  to  proclaim  October  2023,  as
Czech-American Heritage Month in the  State  of  New  York;  and  be  it
further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York.