Czech heritage in Chicago: a school, a restaurant and Cermak's legacy

Chicago was once considered one of the largest Czech cities in the world, but today the Czech heritage is recalled mainly by street names, a small school and a couple of businesses. About 50 children attend the school on Saturdays, while the streets of the former Czech neighborhood of Pilsen now mostly echo with Spanish.

The school that was saved

“We teach about 50 children split into four classes. They come every Saturday. Every day we also run Czech courses for adults, here or online,” says Klára Moldová of the T. G. Masaryk School.

When she arrived from Czechia 14 years ago, the school, which is more than a hundred years old, was on the verge of closing. It was run mostly by elderly members of the Czech community, and the building was due to be demolished. Moldová, now deputy honorary director at the age of 92, managed to raise enough money for the necessary repairs.

The small brick school, with its garden and a gate bearing a “Beware of dog” sign, still stands today as a Czech island in the predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Cicero. The energetic teacher is optimistic about the future. She covers most of the school's needs through fundraising among fellow Czechs, and, she says, the move to online teaching has helped a great deal. “We just try to work with what we have,” she says calmly.

Pilsen in Mexican colors

Most Chicagoans probably come across the Czech heritage without realizing it, through local names. Not far from the school runs the busy thoroughfare Cermak Road, named after Anton Cermak, a native of Kladno who rose to become mayor of Chicago. In 1933 he died of wounds suffered in an assassination attempt on the then president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Cermak Road also crosses the Pilsen neighborhood.

Today Spanish is mainly what you hear here, and posters on the streets call for resistance to ICE immigration agents. Most of the passersby we asked knew nothing about the Czech origin of the neighborhood's name or did not want to stop in front of the camera. A student named Francis does know something about Pilsen's history. “Czech immigrants came here to the U.S. first, but over time various circumstances pushed them out of this area. Later, Mexican immigrants looking for work began moving into Pilsen,” he answers with surprising confidence.

Svíčková and tacos

The Klas pub in neighboring Cicero, which for about a hundred years was the unofficial center of Chicago's Czech community, is gone too. Efforts to preserve authentic Czech cuisine in the city continue, for example at Café Prague on Chicago's northwest side.

A distinctly American version of Czech cooking is also served at the Bohemian Restaurant in the southwestern suburb of McCook. Owner Lynn Soris has no family ties to Czechia. The restaurant has operated since 1991; she bought it five years ago and decided to preserve at least some of its Czech flavor.

“I like the idea that it is not a chain but something truly unique. It suits me. I am glad I can support a place like this, because there are not many left,” says Soris. She says she tries to combine American and Czech cuisine.

Around Prague guide on the topic: Fuze at Masaryčka: a new brewery restaurant in Prague that opened under a Zaha Hadid roof

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz