Oh, if only these walls could speak - Czechoslovak Society of Arts ...

Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
The Home of John J. Kovarik
“Home” to Dvorak’s Opus 96 and Opus 97
Steven A. Klimesh, Spillville, Iowa
Introduction
Oh, if only these walls could speak! They would overflow with day-to-day family
conversations from a time 130 years in the past. They would release the ethereal sounds of a
Masters soul and they would provide insight into the genius of Antonin Dvorak. They would tell
inspiring stories of a community whose values focused on God, education, self sufficiency and
hard work; stories of a people who were near or at the poverty level. People who came to
Spillville, Iowa with little more than their bare hands and a determination to successfully meet
the challenges they encountered on the Iowa frontier. They would articulate all that was the fabric
and spirit of the early Czech settlers of North America and Spillville in particular. And yes, they
would relate humorous stories of innocent children, as they grew to become young men and
women. Oh, if only these walls could speak! If only they could share their experiences!
This is a story about a parochial school building, constructed in 1870, its past, and present
and uncertain future. It is also a story about several Spillville citizens that lived and worked in
that building and several guests that visited there.
A few brief comments relative to the Czechs attitude about education are in order before
the story of the 1870 school building begins. Peasants though they were, the Bohemian settlers
had a relatively high literacy rate and recognized the need for education. Of the several
nationalities that came to America from the Hapsburg dominated nations, Bohemia provided the
lowest percentage of illiteracy and the highest percentage of skilled workers. The Czechs were
accustomed to sending their children to school and once their homesteads were established, they
established schools.
In 1849, a German, Joseph Spielman, would be the first settler in the area that would later
become Spillville, Iowa. The influx of Czech settlers began in 1854. From the very beginning,
the Czech community was fortunate in that one of their own, Martin Bouska, was a teacher.
Classes were taught in his home, in a room that served as a storeroom, beginning in the mid
1850’s. Classes were taught in Czech, the native language of the youngsters. The children
learned to write on pieces of slate. The schoolroom was unheated. It had a dirt floor. Logs were
used as seats. There was no paper or blackboard. Bouska taught until he left the community in
1866. Then, for the next three years the Czech children in Spillville would depend on the public
“country” schools for their education. Bouska’s home and Spillville’s “first school building” is
on permanent display in Spillville on the grounds of the Bily Clocks museum.
As the number of settlers, German, Czech, Swiss, Norwegian etc. increased, public
“country” schools were established throughout the county. Each civil township was considered a
school district. Funding came in part from the sale or rental of each of the townships sixteenth
section of land that had been set aside by Congress for school purposes. Spillville’s first public
“country” school building was erected on a 50 foot square lot in 1862. Classes in the public
schools where taught in English, a language the Czech settlers had not yet learned. This school
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
remained in service for about 12 years. It was replaced by a larger facility in 1873. This school
was then enlarged in 1885. A new public school was erected in 1903.
In 1870, the parishioners of St. Wenceslaus parish constructed the community’s first
parochial school, the underlying subject of this paper. This building would be constructed on
part of the ten acres of land deeded to the parish by Roman Expelier and his wife in December of
1859. The parishioners would construct two more parochial schools on this land, one in 1900,
which would be razed in 1954, and one in 1953. And so the story of the 1870 parochial school
building can now begin.
1868 to 1893 – John Joseph (J. J.) Kovarik
As previously stated, upon the departure of Martin Bouska in 1866, Spillville’s Bohemian
speaking children relied on the public schools for their education. In April 1868 a more
“satisfactory” education process for the Czech Catholic citizens and children of Spillville would
present itself when an 18 year old John J. Kovarik completed his voyage from Vsetec, Bohemia
with his arrival in Spillville. He would immediately become involved in St. Wenceslaus parish
life, becoming the church organist and the teacher in the parish school. He would serve as the
parish teacher for nearly a quarter of a century.
J. J. Kovarik settled with his parents on a farm about two miles west of Spillville. Since
the parish had no school building in 1868, classes were originally held in the parish rectory.
Space limitations were a problem there, and so during the winter of 1869 – 1870, Kovarik taught
the children in a room above a saloon owned by Thomas Dvorak.
In 1870, John married Elizabeth Riha. It was also in 1870 that a substantial parochial
school building was constructed. There was one large classroom on the ground floor, and the
remainder of the building was used as living quarters for the Kovariks. The Kovarik’s would
have seven children; six would reach adulthood. The first born, Joseph John Kovarik, born in
1871, would in later years be instrumental in bringing Antonin Dvorak to Spillville.
As a teacher, Mr. Kovarik had the distinct advantage over his contemporaries in the
township schools of being able to instruct in all three of the languages spoken by his pupils;
Czech, German and English. In a letter dated December 3, 1971, J. J.’s daughter, Anna Mary
Kovarik, wrote:
“In his records dad states that the average number of pupils in the school was 60
and during the winter season (added – when the children were not needed on the
farm for planting or harvest) the number increased to 110. With this in mind, and
knowing that the ages of the children varied from 6 to 12 or older and that the
teaching had to be done in three languages, the English, Bohemian and German,
one realizes what an enormous task this was.”
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
The curriculum was restricted to the basics, but the children were not short changed.
Kovarik worked hard to give his pupils more than a cursory education and his list of exceptional
students who would go on to prominent positions is a long one. Notable are:
• The Very Reverend Prokopius Neuzil: He became a teacher, then a priest and at age 26
founded St. Prokopius College in Lisle, Illinois. He later helped to establish the
Benedictine Abbey Press. He also served as Abbot of the Abbey.
• Dr. Alois F. Kovarik: He continued his education, earning a doctorate in physics at the
University of Minnesota and later became a Professor of Nuclear Physics at Yale
University. During World War I, he was a member of an important federal government
panel studying counter-measures against German submarines. Dr. Kovarik also
participated on the Manhattan Project during World War II. The significant product of
this effort was the atomic bomb.
• James S. Mikesh became an author and theologian who taught at Yale and at Harvard.
In 1893 J.J. Kovarik gave up his teaching post to devote more time to his music. He
moved to New Prague, Minnesota in 1899 where he continued his music career as a music
teacher, orchestra leader and choirmaster. John J. Kovarik died in 1939 at age 89 in New Prague,
MN. In a New Prague newspaper article written by Frances Boardman and published shortly
after Kovarik’s death, Boardman stated that Kovarik “… left behind him the deathless results of
an influence immeasurably good and honest and wise and kind. Among his children and
grandchildren and other relatives are names that figure importantly in the American world of
music and science.”
1871 to 1894 – Joseph John Kovarik
One very notable pupil of John J. Kovarik was his son Joseph. John’s true love was
music, in which he instructed his family thoroughly. With a solid foundation in music learned
from his father, at age 13, Joseph went on to attend music school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At
age 18 Joseph began his studies at the Prague Conservatory of Music in Prague, Bohemia.
Joseph was a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 41 years. He was also a
violin and viola instructor at the National Conservatory of Music in New York City and at the
New York College of Music in New York City. The Russian conductor Vasili Safanov declared
that Joseph Kovarik was the best violist he had ever heard.
Without question, one of the most important facets of Joseph’s life had to be his
relationship with Antonin Dvorak. It was while he was at the Conservatory in Prague that he met
and became a close friend and companion of Dvorak, the famous Czech composer. The
momentous event took place one day in 1892 while Kovarik was reading an American paper in a
Prague music store. Dvorak entered the store, and, seeing that Kovarik was reading an American
paper, asked if he were American. Upon learning that he was, Dvorak asked if Kovarik would
consider accompanying him to America where he was to take charge of the New York
Conservatory of Music. Kovarik agreed and later became Dvorak’s close friend, traveling
companion and personal secretary in America.
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
Dvorak, traveling with several family members and Joseph Kovarik, arrived in New York
on September 28, 1892: St. Wenceslaus Day. During the next several months Dvorak, a “country
gentleman”, became homesick. He was planning to spend his four-month-long vacation at his
country home in Vysoka, Bohemia, but, fascinated by Kovarik’s vivid descriptions of Spillville,
Iowa and its people, the composer changed his mind and made arrangements to spend the
summer of 1893 in Spillville. This pleased Kovarik since he had not seen his family in five
years.
In his book THEY CAME TO THIS PLACE, Cyril Klimesh writes that Dvorak arrived in
Spillville on June 5 , 1893 and
“On his first morning in Spillville, Dvorak was up at dawn, roaming and
exploring the paths around the village. A little later, when Kovarik’s mother…
caught sight of the Master at 5 o’clock in the morning, walking up and down in
front of the school, she got a great fright as she thought something unpleasant
must have happened whereon the Master replied: ‘Nothing happened – and yet a
great deal. Imagine, I was walking there in the woods along by the stream and
after eight months I heard again the singing of birds! And here the birds are
different from ours, they have much brighter colors and they sing differently too.
And now I am going to breakfast and after breakfast I shall come again.’”
The above suggests that Antonin Dvorak did not live in the home of J. J. Kovarik. Some old time
Spillville citizens however maintain that he did spend the first few nights with the Kovariks after
his arrival in Spillville.
What is certain, however, is that Antonin Dvorak spent many hours in the Kovarik home.
It is also certain that Dvorak composed two significant works while in Spillville: Opus 96:
“Quartet in F Major” (affectionately named the “Spillville Quartet” by Dvorak himself), begun
and completed in June of 1893, and Opus 97: “Quintet in E Flat Major”, a work that reflects
Indian melodies, completed on August 1 st 1893. It is also certain that the first presentations of
Opus 96 and Opus 97 were in the Kovarik home, the 1870 parochial school building. The
musicians for these first “concerts” included several members of the Kovarik family, and Dvorak
himself. The most probable location of the performance would be the school room since this
room would have served as a social center for the community and is where J. J. would have
conducted band practice, choir practice and periodic sing fests.
Concerning Opus 96 and Opus 97 Cyril Klimesh, in his book THEY CAME TO THIS
PLACE, states:
“As soon as these compositions were completed, Dvorak asked the Kovarik family
to join him in playing them. Joseph Kovarik wrote: ‘The whole family was
mobilized for it. Dvorak played the first violin, my father the second, my sister
the viola and I the cello. We went at it full steam. It wasn’t easy, but we finally
succeeded. And for the string quintet, my brother (John) came from Chicago.
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
We felt it to be glorious to play Dvorak’s chamber pieces, and he himself was able
to hear them immediately after composing them. The whole family was delighted,
even if it was a drudgery. Our house echoes with Dvorak’s music.’”
The effects Spillville and its environs had on Dvorak are often and well documented.
Who can say how the events of music history might have unfolded had Joseph not met Antonin
Dvorak and brought him to Spillville.
Joseph Kovarik died in 1951.
1893 to 1976 – Other Notable Teachers and the Teaching Nuns
In 1893, Father Thomas Bily obtained the services of the Sisters of St. Benedict of Lisle,
Illinois. The Sisters would instruct the parochial school children until 1898. For the next two
years the students would be taught by three layman; Dr. W. Ivory, Francis Tinker and Hynek
Dostal. Little is known about Dr. W. Ivory or Francis Tinker, who also served as Spillville’s
dentist.
However, a great deal is known about Dr. Dostal. Hynek Dostal was born on December
29, 1871, in Borsice, Moravia. After receiving his elementary education in his hometown, he
attended college at Uherske Hradiste in 1884. He continued his education at institutions in
Prerov, Olomouc and Nemecky Brod. After a short period of army service, he resumed his
studies at the academy in Pribram and later graduated from law school at the University of
Prague. Dr. Dostal received his doctorate in letters from the University of Tiberia.
Hynek intended to take a position in Vienna when he received a telegram from his brother
Joseph. The telegram urgently requested him to come to America and teach at the Czech
parochial school in Spillville, Iowa. So Hynek, like many of his countrymen, left his homeland
for a new life in America. Then, in 1900, Archbishop Keane of Dubuque issued an order stating
that nuns must teach all parochial schools. Forced out of his job, Hynek moved to Chicago where
he was associate editor of the daily paper, Narod.
The full life story of Dr. Hynek Dostal is an incredible one and much about this famous
Czech patriot and immigrant can be found on the World Wide Web at
http://homepage.mac.com/williamszone/dostal/dostal.html. Among the notable aspects and
achievements of his life after teaching in Spillville were:
• In 1901, Msgr. Hessoun offered Hynek Dostal the position of editor of "HLAS". HLAS
was the first Czech-Catholic newspaper in America. HLAS was founded in 1873 by
Msgr. Josef Hessoun of the St. John Nepomuk parish in St. Louis. The word HLAS
means "voice” and the paper served as a voice to unite the Bohemian-American people
under the banner of Catholicism. His appointment as editor would encompass the rest of
his life and provide a means to help liberate his homeland. Dr. Dostal, along with his
wife, created another periodical, Ceska Zena, which translates to "Bohemian Lady."
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
• On May 31, 1918 The Pittsburgh Agreement was signed. In the agreement, the American
Czechs and Slovaks for the first time in a public, written paper, pledged support for a
common country. At the same time, the agreement affirmed the independent nature of the
two republics. Thomas Masaryk's signature on the document made it an official
declaration of the Czechoslovak National Council. Directly below and to the right of
Masaryk's signature is that of Hynek Dostal. The signatures confirm that Thomas
Masaryk and Hynek Dostal had a professional relationship, if not a personal one
In 1929, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported on the meetings between Dostal and
Masaryk that took place at the "HLAS" print shop in St. Louis ten years earlier “"Dr.
Hynek Dostal was associated with Dr. Thomas G. Masaryk in the work of liberating the
Czechs and the Slovakians from Austrian rule and in 1919-1920 was largely instrumental
in the creation of the present Republic of Czechoslovakia. He worked for that cause in
both America and Europe. Dr. Masaryk, now president of the new republic, twice visited
St. Louis to confer with Dr. Dostal; so it may be said that, in a sense, the map of Europe
was changed by zealous liberators who met in a small room on South Eleventh Street in
St. Louis, near the center of the Bohemian settlement.
• In June 1928, Dr. Dostal received notification from Pope Pius XI that he had been made a
Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. The Order of the Knighthood of St. Gregory
the Great was instituted by Pope Gregory XVI on September 1, 1831. It is the highest
honor that a layman in the Catholic Church can attain. It represents recognition by the
Holy Father of special virtue and unusual labors for the Church of God and country. A St.
Louis Globe Democrat Article dated September 18, 1934, announced the Knight of St.
George award being presented to Hynek. During his lifetime Hynek Dostal received many
awards including the Knight of St. Gregory, Knight of St. George, Commander of Fort St.
Rufina, Doctorate in letters from the University of Tiberia, the Pro Pontifice et Ecclesia
and Pro Fide et Ecclesia medals.
• On September 23, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a proclamation that made
Hynek Dostal Czechoslovakian consul in St. Louis
In 1900, a four-room brick school building was erected and dedicated. The 1870 school or
“Old School” was remodeled and became a residence for the teaching Sisters. The Sisters of St.
Francis of Milwaukee, Wisconsin replaced the Benedictine Sisters and taught until 1914. It was
in 1914 that the teaching responsibilities were taken over by the School Sisters of Notre Dame of
Fenton, Missouri. The Orders Motherhouse was in Horazdovice, Bohemia. The School Sisters
later moved their headquarters to Omaha, Nebraska. The Notre Dame’s would teach the youth of
St. Wenceslaus parish for the next 62 years, or until 1976.
The early schools lacked many of the fine points enjoyed by today’s institutions. In spite
of uncomfortably furnished buildings, the lack of teaching materials and an inadequate supply of
books, the teachers, through discipline and a devotion to their work, managed to turn out young
men and women well qualified to take their place in society.
In 1954, a new grade school opened and the school built in 1900 was razed. Under the
guidance of the Sisters of Notre Dame, the school flourished. Normal staffing by the Sisters
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
consisted of four teaching nuns and one or two housekeepers. In 1960, there were 187 children
enrolled. Then, in the mid sixties and into the seventies the number of pupils declined. The staff
of teaching nuns was reduced as a result of the declining enrollment in the school, and, as a result
of a declining number of teaching sisters due to declining vocations. Finally, in May of 1976, the
Motherhouse of the Sisters of Notre Dame notified the parish that they could no longer staff the
school. Teaching duties then fell to lay teachers.
For short time periods after 1976, the “Old School” served as a home for some of the lay
teachers and as a home for the parish custodian. For the most part, however, it served as a
storage facility for the next 25 years.
1917 to 1955 - The Boarders
One of the most unique uses of the “Old School” was that of “boarding house”. This was
made possible when, in 1917, a major renovation of the buildings interior took place. The
building was reconfigured so that local farm children could be brought to school on Monday
morning, learn their lessons, live in the “Old School” or “convent” as it was getting to be known,
and return to the farm on Friday after classes. Boarding of the local children continued until
1955.
Imagine, if you will, as many as 30 boys and girls living together with 4 teaching nuns
and 2 housekeeping nuns. What would it have been like? What values would the children have
learned from this experience?
The year was 1947 and Lester Humpal, a local Spillville resident and clever young farm
lad who spoke only Czech, something not uncommon in the Spillville area as late as the mid
1950’s, was “on the run”. He was following the winding curves of the Turkey River. He was on
the run from the square building topped with a cupola’s cross; on the run from the intimidating
nuns who only spoke English in class; on the run from the convent where his family had left him.
Lester thought he was home free, but a farmer caught him three miles from the school and
took him home. His father dragged him back to the convent, where he spent eight school years
during his young life.
The time in the convent with the nuns, and other youngsters, although traumatic at times,
provided a foundation that lasts a lifetime. Lester says he learned values. Values like discipline,
responsibility and teamwork. Values he carries to this day. Lester is now 62 and working to save
the “Old School.”
Lester understands the boarders formed a second family, a home away from home. They
worked together, and the oldest ones helped the littlest ones with their chores. The youngsters
also took full advantage of the 90 minutes of free time allotted the children each day after school.
They would don their “roughin’ clothes” to play softball or tag. “There weren’t any cliques,
everyone was equal.”
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
Consider a “playground” with only your imagination for creating games and sport. How
can you use an old water pump for amusement? What games of skill could be devised?
According to one boarder, Joe Spalla, the challenge was to see how many times an individual
could pump the handle without getting stung by the resident wasps. The record for pumps is held
by Joe - 6. However, it is a tainted record, since he sustained 10 stings in the process. On the
positive side, the day Joe set this “record” he received the only steak he ever got during the 8
years he boarded at the “convent”; unfortunately the steak was not cooked or ready for eating; it
was raw and applied to the stings.
The 1870 “Old School
The school stands on 10 acres of land deeded to the parish in December 1859 by Roman
Eggspuehler (a Swiss immigrant) and his wife Magdalene. Magdalene was the daughter of
Spillville’s founder Joseph Spielman.
There are several facts about the 1870 building worthy of note. They include:
• Research recently completed by myself validates that the St. Wenceslaus “Old School”, or
the home of J.J. Kovarik, and, “Home” to Dvorak’s Opus 96 and Opus 97, is the oldest
standing Czech Catholic School in the United States. It is also worthy to note that this
same research has determined that the St. Wenceslaus Church is the oldest standing Czech
Catholic Church in the United States.
• The Old School is an excellent example of vernacular (native to the country) masonry
construction.
• The foundation of the building is native limestone.
• The walls, fully 20 plus inches thick, are two parallel native limestone walls with “rubble”
fill in between. Construction of this type was an insulation technique.
• A mystery remains as to whether or not there were two front entry doors on the school at
one point in time; a north entrance and a south entry; one for the boys and one for the
girls. All known photos show the current one door facing east configuration. However,
recent bell tower foundation stabilization work revealed strong evidence that at least, a
south facing door was in place at one point in time.
The Future of the 1870 “Old School” Building
The future of the “Old School”, the “convent”, the J. J. Kovarik home, or the “Home” to
Dvorak’s Opus 96 and Opus 97 is in doubt as of June 2003. The Saint Wenceslaus parish has
little use for the structure. In 2001, the parish council recommended the building be razed. At
that time, a small group of individuals formed the Saint Wenceslaus Heritage Society. The
Mission Statement of that group is in part to “…seek to retain, restore, and maintain the religious,
architectural, historical and ethnic integrity of the St. Wenceslaus Church and its properties”.
While incredibly structurally sound after 130 years, there was some recent deterioration of
the foundation and walls associated with the bell tower. The Heritage Society was successful in
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
correcting these problems in 2002 with a project “partially supported with funding from the
Resource and Protection (REAP) Act through a Historical Resource Development Program
(HRDP) grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa”. The building is again, structurally
sound.
The major task facing the Heritage Society for 2003 is the installation of a new metal
roof, similar to one that was in place from the 1880’s through 1915, and installation of new
gutters and downspouts.
The Heritage Society is also working to have the St. Wenceslaus properties, the church,
the rectory, the adjacent cemetery and the “Old School” or home of J. J. Kovarik and “Home” to
Opus 96 and 97 designated as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. In
December 2002, the Heritage Society made application for a Certified Local government (CLG)
grant, to be used for completing the required applications and forms for nominating and placing
the St. Wenceslaus facilities on the National Register of Historic places. This effort was
sponsored by the Winneshiek County Historic Preservation Commissioners and endorsed by the
Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors. The application was denied in January 2003.
However, not to be deterred, the Heritage Society continues to work to have the properties
designated as a Historic District. And, to that end, the Heritage Society and The Winneshiek
County Historic Preservation Commissioners have assembled a group of dedicated individuals,
companies and organizations that will be pursuing the effort and providing a great deal of work
on a pro bono basis.
In the “History of Czechs in America” Jan Habenicht wrote:
“The whole extended countryside with the little towns of Spillville,
Protivin, Lourdes, Fort Atkinson, and Little Turkey, the railroad station at Jackson
Junction and other communities is inhabited by Czechs.”
“This territory, so thick with Czechs, has its own special character. Thanks
to their thrift and persistence, these Czechs reached much influence….”
“We can learn from this what it takes to save our Czech heritage here in
America. The Czech school, Czech church, national self-confidence and
economical influence, determined by persistence and thrift.”
In Spillville, Iowa we are blessed with having the oldest, still standing Czech Catholic
Church (1860) in the United States and the oldest, still standing Czech Parochial School (1870) in
the United States. The “Old School” represents the very essence of our Czech culture and
heritage. It also has an undeniable place in music history and the life of Antonin Dvorak. These
facilities are priceless. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to ensure these tangible
signs of our forefathers’ drive, determination, accomplishments and values survive the 21 st
century and beyond.
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Selected Papers from the 2003 SVU North American Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 26-28 June 2003
I wish to recognize and thank Cousin Cyril M. Klimesh and the past and present
parishioners of St. Wenceslaus parish for their assistance and input is developing and
documenting the material presented in this paper.
Steven A. Klimesh
Box 127
105 Pleasant View Drive
Spillville, Iowa 52168
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