Bill Text: NY K00542 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim October 2019, as Czech-American Heritage Month in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-12 - adopted [K00542 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-K00542-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 542

BY: M. of A. Brabenec

        MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
        October  2019,  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  Andrew  M.  Cuomo  to  proclaim  October 2019, 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  Andrew  M.  Cuomo  to  proclaim  October 2019, 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 Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the  State  of
New York.