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
• 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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