It was fifty years ago yesterday when the Bohemian language was heard from a stage in Chicago for the first time. This event marks not only the beginning of Bohemian theatricals, but also the beginning of activities toward the development of Bohemian national life in Chicago in general. It cannot be denied that the Bohemian amateur stage work has carried on successfully the important mission of uniting and centralizing our national life in Chicago for years,and that the actors of those days merit sincere thanks and a profound recognition of their efforts. The present anniversary is a particularly suitable occasion for the expression of our thanks.

Amateur actors have done a great deal for the Bohemian cause in Chicago. The value of their work will be fully recognized when we realize that the Bohemian theater was practically the only source of entertainment and education for 2the small Bohemian community in Chicago in those days. Around it was formed a group of all the self-sacrificing national worker who devoted much of their time and effort to the promotion of everything that was good, useful, and genuinely patriotic. It was they who laid the foundation for the continued, undreamed-of development of the spiritual life in the Bohemian community in Chicago; and it is they who deserve credit for the continuous functioning of one permanent Bohemian stage during the past twenty years, and also for the two more recently established and prospering Bohemian theaters.

Fifty years ago the Bohemian theater started with the performance of "Pan Strejcek" (Uncle), a comedy by Bendix, translated by J. K. Tyl (Bohemian playwright of the first half of the eighteenth century). The performance took place in the German Hall on the southwest corner of Canal and Van Buren Streets, in the immediate vicinity of the then small Bohemian settlement. It was not a large hall and had no theatrical facilities. The men and women who took the initiative in putting on this show had a task on their hands, 3the difficulty of which our present day amateurs can hardly imagine. The first director, Mr. Jan Praus, got together a small number of theater enthusiasts who started their self-less work at the beginning of January. However, the task was not easy. There was no adequate stage, no scenery, not even a sufficient theatrical library on hand from which to select a suitable play for the first night. There was no other way to meet the initial expenses but to undertake a collection of voluntary contributions from a small group of patriots. Soon, however, a play was selected, the roles distributed--mostly to people who had never acted before--and rehearsals were in full swing. What they lacked in experience was made up by good will, enthusiasm, and love of art.....

The culmination of all these efforts--the performance itself--was a huge success marked with enthusiasm both on the stage and in the audience. [Translator's note: Here follow the names of the actors, and the article continues in giving the titles of the subsequent performances with remarks concerning their merits, etc.]

On these modest beginnings, important and widespread national activities were built. During the very first year, the first Bohemian hall in Chicago was erected, the old Slovanska Lipa (Slavonic Linden Tree) at Clinton and Van Buren Streets. This early building had a decent stage. There was not more than $300 in the treasury at that time, an the building cost $3,500. But our patriots overcame all such obstacles easily. In two years the debt was paid, and the first Bohemian hall in Chicago was perhaps also the first one to be free of debts. In those days it was the center of all national life, and it will be of interest to note that the historical Bohemian-Slavonic convention of fifty delegates of all the Slovanske Lipy in existence at that time was held here....

In 1867 the old Lipa at Van Buren Street burned down, and in 1869 building activities were started on a new hall at Taylor Street between Canal and Beach Streets. This latter street has long since been absorbed by the tracks of railway companies. The hall was the property of the Slovanska Lipa, and the Telocvicna Jednota Sokol (Sokol Gymnastic Union) was a branch of the Lipa until 1871. Thereafter it became independent. The first performance in the new hall was "Sobeslav, Knize Selsky" (Sobeslav, The Peasant Duke). In 1871, 5on the day of the great Chicago fire "Sirotek Lowoodsky" (The Orphan of Lowood) was being given....when a little girl--later one of the foremost amateur actresses--came running into the hall shouting, "Fire"! She announced the terrible catastrophe which befell our city. The Lipa was saved, but later on it met a similar fate--it was destroyed by fire just twenty years ago last Christmas; and today it is difficult, even for the oldest settlers, to find the site of the second Bohemian hall in Chicago.

The hall of the Cesko-Americky Sokol (Bohemian-American Sokol) on De Koven Street, the Slovanska Lipa of our days, was built in 1869. It is now the oldest Bohemian public building in Chicago. It probably is not a very great mistake to say that the Cesko-Americky Sokol hall is perhaps the oldest piece of existing Bohemian property in this city. It was dedicated July 1, 1869, and since then it has been used, almost without interruption, for amateur theatricals. A handful of theatrical pioneers still keep faith with their old love and give plays occasionally in the old hall, notwithstanding the fact that it is almost entirely out of reach of the Bohemian center and does not 6meet with modern theatrical requirements. Perhaps it is out of piety toward the cradle of the Bohemian theatre, so to speak, that the Sokol hall is still the headquarters of the old amateurs, and that it is the site of this year's anniversary celebrations.

The Slovanska Lipa and the Cesko-Americky Sokol hall were the scenes of many a theatrical success. They educated innumerable amateurs who in turn were founding new theatrical societies which, some twenty-five years ago, were at the height of their worthwhile activities. Here we must mention the amateur theatrical society Thalia which was founded in 1874 and was active without interruption until the time of the final decline of amateur theatricals in the Pilsen district. In 1889 Thalia celebrated its fifteenth anniversary and presented on that occasion Subert's "Probuzenci"(Those Who Have Awakened) under the direction of C. V. Jerabek. Many an old Bohemian amateur participated in this performance. Another exceedingly active group was that of "Kolar" [name of a Bohemian patriot of the first half of the eighteenth century who 7was particularly interested in the theater as a means of reviving the dormant national consciousness in Bohemia] which started in the old hall at 20th and Brown (now Sangamon) Streets and then moved to the Cesko-Americka Svobodomyslna Skola (Bohemian-American Free Thought School). For several years the Kolar group was active as an independent body, but later it merged with Thalia, the combination being known as the Thalia-Kolar society.

Also the Ceske Narodni Ochotnicke Druzstvo (Bohemian National Amateur Association) was founded some twenty-five years ago. Its leadership in the theatrical field is well known. Of equally long existence is the society of Boleslav Jablonsky [again a name of an old patriot]. Also our amateurs in the Town of Lake district have done and are still doing a good deal of useful work. The Tyl society and other successful, though smaller, groups should also receive mention here. There are a number of active Bohemian amateur theatrical societies still in existence in Chicago, but their activities at present are limited. However, they have not perished, and it is to be hoped that they will at least keep on in communities where they are needed most.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of Bohemian theatricals in Chicago was celebrated in 1888 in the hall of the Telocvicna Jednota Sokol on Taylor Street.....

Since then, of course, many changes have taken place. Amateur societies are dwindling, but they have not disappeared altogether. The old enthusiasts still cling to the stage with as much devotion as they did in their youth. They all look forward to another chance to perform--perhaps for the last time--and our public will be glad to see them, if for no other reason than to show our appreciation for their splendid work in promoting the Bohemian cause in Chicago.

[Translator's note: The article is accompanied by photos of three prominent amateurs: B. Klimt, F. P. Barcal, Jos. Nedoma.]