AFoCR Leading Project to Reconconstruct Wilson Monument in Prague.
Copies of English language edition of "Nicholas Winton's Lottery of Life" now available.
T.G. Masaryk Statue Unveiled and Dedicated!
On a beautiful, sunny September day, over 1,000 people, including representatives of the Czech, Slovak and U.S. governments assembled to dedicate a memorial statue and park to the memory of worthy champion of democracy and human rights, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
The T.G. Masaryk Memorial Park and Statue unveiling and dedication ceremony took place on the afternoon of September 19. The newly created T.G. Masaryk Park is located on Massachusetts Avenue near Dupont Circle at the eastern end of “Embassy Row.” Czech Republic President Václav Havel, Former Slovak President Michael Kovác, the Honorable Madeleine K. Albright and U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Craig Stapleton actively participated in the dedication program. The U.S. Navy Band performed the Czech, Slovak, and U.S. anthems as well as some of President Masaryk's favorite songs, Tece, Voda, Tece and Ach, Synku, Synku.
Ms. Charlotta Kotik, great-granddaughter of T.G. Masaryk, officially unveiled the statue, using a sword that had been found by the Czech Legion in Siberia and given to President Masaryk. President Masaryk had later bequeathed the sword to the Klecka family of Baltimore in gratitude for their generous financial support of the Czech cause in July, 1918. The dramatic finale of the dedication program featured the placement of individual wreaths at the base of the statue by President Havel, President Kovác, and Ambassador Stapleton .
T.G. Masaryk, once again, stands tall in the city he often visited, lifting our vision to the ideals he so zealously pursued. In a time of particular strife, terror and bloodshed, the statue reminds us of President Masaryk's commitment to freedom, democracy, human rights and peace, and of his conviction that those ideals transcend time, geography, ethnicity and language. The statue also serves as a reminder of President Masaryk's personal testimony that a single individual can hold the torch of those ideals high enough for all to see and follow.
Masaryk Park, Washington DC
Dedicated March 8, 2003
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| AFoCR Executive Committee members with 3 foot replica of Masaryk statue at the Czech Embassy |
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| President Phil Kasik speaks at the Dedication ceremony for the completed Masaryk Park on Embassy Row. |
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| View of completed Masaryk Park |
Please click here for a Prague Radio online article about Czech teaching methods. This provides an example of how our AFoCR's Masaryk Educational Fund can help students in the Czech Republic who have the proven ability, but who may not have the opportunity to obtain higher education because of lack of funds or access to educational institutions.
The Cosmos Club welcomes a new neighbor. Please click here for the April, 2003 Cosmos Bulletin article on the T.G. Masaryk Park.
Read the article in the September 23 edition of the Washington Post.
