Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States is a collection of 111 volumes compiled in Poland in 1926 and delivered to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House to honor the 150^th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Richly illustrated with original works by prominent Polish graphic artists, the collection includes the greetings and signatures of national, provincial, and local government officials, representatives of religious, social, business, academic, and military institutions, and approximately five-and-a-half million school children.

At President Coolidge's behest, this unique gift was transferred to the Library of Congress, where it remained largely forgotten for some seven decades. In 1996 the collection was "rediscovered" serendipitously during the visit of Polish First Lady Jolanta Kwasniewska and other dignitaries from the Embassy of Poland.>

The Title Page says "To the American Nation from the Schools of Poland". The graphics are beautiful Art Deco type and borders. To see the Title page, click here: http://memory.loc.gov/intldl/pldechtml/pldeccap.html

The signatures are arranged by district, then by town, and then by school. In the District of Pilzno were listed schools from 35 different towns, including the town of Pilzno.

In the town of Pilzno were a total of 465 signatures from two different schools: 7 mio Klasowa Zenska, (the 7 Grade Girls School) whose Principal was Maya Rosenbergomic, and 7 lcl meska im wf. Jagiello, (the 7 Grade Boys School) whose Principal was Aleksander Josef Radomiercz.

Below is a photocopy of the pages of signatures from the grammar schools in Pilzno in 1926.

For more information, go to http://memory.loc.gov/intldl/pldechtml/pldechome.html

Used with permission of the United States Library of Congress. Submitted by Susana Leistner Bloch.

Roll over the thumbnails to view the images.