The Archives of Czechs and Slovaks Abroad (ACASA) consists of several thousand books, brochures, periodicals, anniversary publications, almanacs, and personal papers of Czechs and Slovaks who have lived outside of Czechoslovakia for some portion of their lives. Much of the material found in the archives was published in North America in the past 150 years, although titles from the countries of eastern and western Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere are also well represented. Esther Jerabek's Czechs and Slovaks in North America: A Bibliography (New York, 1976), provides a guide to much of the older material found in the archives and a detailed inventory of the collection is currently in progress.
ACASA contains a wide variety of books on the general and local history of Czech and Slovak emigration, such as those written by Jan Habenicht, Tomas Capek, and Jaroslav Bubenicek. Information on the achievements of socially active immigrants can be found in the substantial collection of anniversary publications of fraternal, social, political, religious, cultural, and sports organizations. Among its many journal and newspaper holdings, ACASA has a nearly complete run of the almanac Amerikán Národní kalendar (1875-1958), and Jerabek's bibliography provides an index to many of the memoirs and articles found within its pages. Likewise, a wide variety of periodicals such as Hospodár (1891-1992) provide information on the history of Czech and Slovak settlements throughout North America.
The Archives of Czechs and Slovaks Abroad is divided into two parts. The first ("Inventory I") collects primarily personal papers, manuscripts, and other archival materials in addition to serials. Currently, there are some books also represented in these boxes. The second part is a collection of books, which is available in the library catalog and housed in the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center.
To make a request to use the manuscript collections please consult the inventory below and send an e-mail to the Slavic & East European Studies Librarian at the provided contact information on this page. Please include the items you would be interested in accessing and a time frame for when you would like to schedule your visit. Please provide a week between your initial request e-mail and your visit. To make a request to use the book materials, please use the library catalog to find items and consult the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center site for guidance about making a request.