The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City . It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish -American intellectual and artistic exchange.
9-536: The Polish American Scholarship Committee was established in 1923 by Dr. Stephen Mizwa to bring students to universities in the United States. Mizwa worked with the president of Vassar College , Henry Noble MacCracken, who had visited Poland. The two expanded the Scholarship Committee's mission to promote cultural and educational exchanges between the United States and Poland. In December 1925,
18-575: A full scholarship. In 1920 he graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa , and the following year he received a master's degree from Harvard University . In 1921, aged 29, he became an assistant professor of economics at Drake University . In 1923, at the request of the Polish government, Dr. Mizwa organized the Polish American Scholarship Committee, among the first exchange programs with renascent Poland . Five of
27-479: A wide range of activities, including films, concerts, exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and seminars. It uses its website to provide information on events, collections and topics of interest to those who interested in Poland. The Kosciuszko Foundation has regional chapters in: Stephen Mizwa Stephen Paul Mizwa , Stefan Piotr Mierzwa (November 12, 1892, Rakszawa – January, 1971, Houston )
36-664: The American liberation cause. The headquarters are in a limestone neo-Renaissance three-story mansion built in 1917. The building was designed by Harry Allan Jacobs for James J. Van Alen, whose in-laws, the Astors , lived down the block. The second-story ballroom functions as a gallery, as well as a lecture and concert hall for chamber-music and solo recitals. The foundation provides scholarships and fellowships to Polish students, scholars, and artists. They were invited for research or educational stay by an institution of higher education in
45-483: The Scholarship Committee changed into the new Kosciuszko Foundation. The Foundation is named in honour of Tadeusz Kościuszko , a Polish general and patriot, who after unsuccessful battles in uprising for Polish freedom, migrated to North America and fought in the American Revolutionary War . The organization was founded in 1925, on the eve of the 150th anniversary of Kosciuszko's enlistment in
54-686: The United States. Several programs are also targeted at Polish musicians. Grants for U.S. citizens include research and study opportunities in Poland. The foundation organizes cultural events for the Polish community. It is the largest public institution in North America dedicated solely to Polish art. Exhibitions are held that draw from the permanent collection of oils, watercolors, prints, drawings, ceramics, sculpture, tapestries and photographs. An annual Chopin Piano Competition showcases young talent. The foundation sponsors and publishes
63-460: The biggest Polish-American and American-Polish dictionary, known as Kosciuszko Foundation Dictionary and published in a book and CD-ROM format. The recent version, titled New Kosciuszko Foundation Dictionary , was issued in 2003. Its editor-in-chief was a renowned Polish professor of the English language. The foundation's Washington office provides a venue for local Polish-American events through
72-518: The first eight students sponsored by the program came to the United States to study business administration and economics at prestigious American universities. The Polish American Scholarship Committee was the embryo of the Kosciuszko Foundation subsequently established in 1925, a scholarly and cultural institution that Mizwa would head for several decades. When Mizwa gained financial support from Samuel M. Vauclain , president of
81-503: Was the founder and long-time president of the Kosciuszko Foundation , a Polish-American scholarly and cultural institution headquartered in New York City . Stephen Mizwa came to the United States in 1909, aged about 17. His first goal was to reach Northampton, Massachusetts , where an earlier Polish immigrant, Joseph Stonina, lived. Though accepted at Princeton University , Mizwa entered Amherst College , which granted him
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