User:Regi429/Canadian Polish Research Institute

Canadian Polish Research Institute is a non-profit organization that gathers people of Polish origins who are interested in research on the history, culture, language and social changes of the Polish ethnic minority in Canada. The chief task of the Institute is to collect and preserve all documents concerning the life and work of Polish immigrants in Canada, eventually creating an adequate source base for research.



History
The founder of the Canadian Polish Research Institute was Dr. Wiktor Turek. A first meeting organized upon the initiative of the Toronto Branch of the Canadian Polish Congress was held in Toronto on September 12, 1956. Mr. A. Janicki, the president of Toronto Branch of the Canadian Polish Congress was the chairman of the meeting. Thirteen people took part in the meeting and were entitled to voice their opinions on the organization of the Research Institute because of their personal involvement, qualifications and experience. They were: B. Boreysza, B. Heydenkorn, A. Janicki, P. Jordan, G. Kaczanowski, T. Lubaczewski, A. Lagowski, J. Lopuszański, B. Makowski, A. Malatyński, T. Sawaszkiewicz, P. Staniszewski and W. Turek.

“There was a profound need, felt for a long time amidst Canadian Polonia” – explained the chairman, “for calling to life a research body that would be responsible for the study of problems connected with the development of a Polish ethnic group in Canada, which is one of the component groups of Canadian population and one of the contributing forces in the creation of a common Canadian culture”.

In 1986 the Institute celebrated the 30th anniversary of its existence. It was celebrated by a symposium “Protecting the Polish Cultural Heritage”. Participants, both Polish and Canadian, were interested in the history and development of ethnic groups, as well as preservation of cultural heritage by these groups. Myron Momryk represented the Public Archives; Eugene Martel represented Ontario Archives and Krzysztof Gebhard was from the Saskatchewan Archives. Also present was Mary Stevens, director of the East European and Slavic section of the University of Toronto Library. The Canadian Polish Research Institute is one of the many Polish cultural centres established by post-World War II immigrants. It has survived for more than 50 years.