No matter how distant the time may be when a thorough history of Bohemians in America will be written, anybody who ever attempts this difficult task and tries to accomplish it ably and impartially will have to devote a large chapter to the development of our social organizations. That the Bohemian element in the United States is growing rapidly is a fact which we see constantly in our daily life. It is definitely proved by the activities of the huge organization of fraternal benevolent societies, but particularly convincing documents are the membership reports of our various lodges and unities.

First of all, a most gratifying phenomenon is the almost miraculous growth of the largest organization of our women, the Jednota Ceskych Dam (Bohemian Ladies' Unity). Its many years of existence and its most successful national and humanitarian work has earned a place for this organization among the very first of our social bodies. Yesterday it celebrated the passing of an important milestone--the acquisition of its twenty-thousandth member.

It is only natural that our ladies decided to commemorate this occasion in an appropriate manner, and even those of us who had been most optimistic in our expectations were by no means disappointed by the banquet which the ladies gave in the hall of Sokol Havlicek-Tyrs last night. It was a brilliant event, a celebration unusually elaborate for our circumstances. The Sokol hall on Lawndale Avenue was filled to capacity by rows of long tables, around which hundreds of members of the Jednota and their friends assembled and enjoyed the evening in an atmosphere of informal fellowship.....

The evening was spent reminiscing and exchanging fond memories of the modest beginnings of the organization, through the years of its useful life up to the day of its present triumph.....

The program of the evening, consisting of a long series of speeches and toasts, started shortly after nine o'clock. It was opened by the chairman of the banquet committee, Mrs. Marie Liska, who....introduced the first speaker of the evening, the president of the grand lodge of Illinois of the Jednota Ceskych dam, Mrs. Anna Stolfa.....

Also the following speech of Mrs. Karolina Rychlik was filled with sentiments of appreciation, good will, and good wishes for the future of the Jednota. Mrs. Rychlik is one of the oldest members of the Jednota, and perhaps the only one living of the original founders. This year she holds the office of president of the grand lodge of Ohio....and in appreciation of her great merits for the Jednota, she was presented with a beautiful ring by Mrs. Stolfa.....

The intervals between speeches were filled by the music of Mr. Rudolf Rubringer's orchestra playing national tunes.....The banquet was attended by delegates of various fraternal organizations from New York, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri.....

Among the letters of congratulation was one from the Sdruzeni Svobodomyslnych Skol (Federation of Bohemian Free Thought Schools) and Mr. E. St. Vraz.....