Poland-related Community Groups in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Directory

Cultural / Social / Sports

The American Center of Polish Culture Address:

2025 "O" Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20036-5913

Executive Director:

Dr. Monika Krol
director@polishcenterdc.org

Phone:

(202) 785-2320

Fax:

(202) 785-2159

E-mail:

director@polishcenterdc.org

Web:

polishcenterdc.org

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Friends of the Polish Library in Washington, D.C., Inc.Address:

Polish Library
1503 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

President:

Richard Zbigniew Okreglak, Ph.D.
rzo@jhu.edu

Hours of Operation:
Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Thursdays 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Saturdays 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Phone:

(202) 466-2665

Email:

mailbox@polishlibrary.org

Web:

polishlibrary.org

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The Jan Karski Institute for Tolerance and Dialogue

Address:

5205 Sangamore Road
Bethesda, MD 20816

Executive Director:

Dr. Kaya Mirecka Ploss

Phone:

(301) 320-3668 or (301) 320-5688

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Polish American Arts Association of Washington, D.C., Inc. (PAAA)

 
Address:

P.O. Box 9442
Washington, DC 20016

President:

Jane A. Morse

PAAA is an affiliate of the American Council of Polish Culture and belongs to the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division.

Phone:

(703) 437-9212 or (703) 451-7498

Web:

paaa.us

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Polish-American Society of Washington, D.C.Address:

 

President:

Teresa U. Buckoski
(301) 805-1973

Polish-American Society of Washington, D.C. is Polish National Alliance (PNA) Lodge 848.  It belongs to PNA Council 203 and the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division.

Phone:

Teresa U. Buckoski
(301) 805-1973

Email:

 

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Polish Club of College Park Address:

 

President:

Mary Ann Jarvis
(301) 262-2441

Polish Club of College Park is Polish National Alliance (PNA) Lodge 3191.  It belongs to PNA Council 203 and the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division.  In the year 2002, the Polish Club of College Park absorbed the Polish Club of Rockville.

Phone:

Mary Ann Jarvis
(301) 262-2441

Email:

 

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Polish Happy Hour Meeting monthly at various pubs, clubs or lounges around the Washington metropolitan areaChief Organizer:

Greg "Grzes" Witczak

Email:

DC@PolishHappyHour.com

Web:

polishhappyhour.com

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Polish Theater  --  Click here

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Political / Lobbying / Public Relations

Polish American Congress Washington Office

This is the Washington office of the Chicago-based national umbrella organization known as the Polish American Congress.

Address:

1612 K Street NW  Suite 410
Washington, DC 20006

For information about PAC's local chapter, see below.
Phone:

(202) 296-6955

Fax:

(202) 835-1565

Email:

pacwash@www.polamcon.org

Web:

polamcon.org

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Polish American Political Action Committee of Maryland

A new initiative to organize Polish Americans and friends of Poland in Maryland into a political force

Address:

10949 Whiterim Drive
Potomac, MD 20854-1777

 
Phone:

(301) 299-7647

Fax:

(301) 299-7647

Email:

drozd15@comcast.net

Web:

polpac-md.org

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SIEC

A highly effective e-mail newsletter focused on Poland and Central Europe, founded and edited by Dr. Michael Szporer

For a free subscription, send your request to Dr. Michael Szporer at mietek@erols.com. In addition to managing the Siec, Dr. Szporer works as a university professor, writes and translates, studies Central and Eastern European affairs and always volunteers on a number of Poland-related projects.  A former Solidarity advisor, he is now the Washington Director of the Foundation for Free Speech and a founding member of the American Polish Advisory Council (APAC).  Read a longer bio of Dr. Szporer in the "About APAC" section of APAC Web site.  Dr. Szporer lives on Capitol Hill.
For more information about the Siec newsletter, click on "News" on the apacouncil.org Web site.

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Medical

Polish American Health AssociationWeb:

pahausa.org

President:

Edwarda M. Buda-Okreglak, MD, FACP
embrzo@jhu.edu

Polish American Health Association belongs to the Federation of Polish Medical Organizations Abroad, Inc., is an affiliate member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Inc. (PIASA), a supporting member of Polish Society of Hemophilia Patients and an organization member of the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division.

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Religious

Friends of John Paul II Foundation, Inc. -- Washington, D.C., ChapterAddress:

9700 Rosensteel Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

President:

Mary Flanagan
1721 Forest Lane
McLean, VA  22101
Phone:  (703) 536-7085
Email:  mflan90753@aol.com

Strictly speaking, not a Polonian organization, but it was founded by a Polish American and is run predominantly by Polish Americans, not to mention the fact that the foundation itself is named after a Pole.

Web:

jp2friends.org

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Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady Queen of Poland and St. Maksymilian KolbeAddress:

9700 Rosensteel Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Pastor:

Father Stanislaw Hajkowski, S. Chr.

Phone:

(301) 589-1857

Fax:

(301) 589-4401

Email:

polish.parish@wdn.com

Web:

www.tux.org/parafia

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University Groups

The George Washington University (GWU) For more information, please contact Monika Bulatewicz at Kitka007@aol.com. Undergraduate student Monika Bulatewicz has reestablished a Polish group at GWU.

Congratulations, Monika!

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Veterans Groups

Polish Legion of American Veterans
Staff Sergeant J. Jagiello Post 191
  Commander:

Eugene Pawlikowski

Polish Legion of American Veterans Staff Sergeant J. Jagiello Post 191 belongs to the Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division.

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Polish Saturday Schools

Embassy school  

The school offers a supplementary curriculum (program uzupelniajacy) which combines with the education gained at regular American schools.  The emphasis at the Polish school is on the Polish language, Polish history, Polish geography etc., anything that the pupils would not learn at U.S. elementary, junior high or high schools.  Students at the Polish school also take math, social studies etc., like in U.S. schools, but all in Polish. The school also offers courses in Polish for speakers of other languages (for children), the Polish equivalent of ESOL or ESL classes that are offered for immigrants at American schools.  Parents can also sign up their kids for the optional after-school Catholic religion classes that are conducted, also in Polish, by a priest from the local Polish parish.

Although the school's full formal name is the Educational Consulting Center at the Embasssy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, the kids and parents simply call it "the Polish School."  The Polish Ministry of Education oversees and approves the Polish school's curriculum, books, teachers and administrators, just like in any Polish school in Poland.  The textbooks and workbooks are the same that are used in schools in Poland.  Technically, the Educational Consulting Center at the Embasssy of the Republic of Poland in Washington is part of one large group of schools with locations throughout the world and the head office in Warsaw.

Some parents enroll their children at the Polish school just to have the kids learn to speak, read and write Polish fluently and to expose them to Polish culture.  However, by virtue of its affiliation and coordination with the Poland-based public school system, the Polish school in Washington allows its students to earn regular Polish school credits and diplomas.  The learning program is structured in a way that will help a student adjust to the school curriculum in Poland should the student move or return to Poland.

Obviously, students attending the Polish school are children of Polish Washingtonians, though some children are from families whose heritage is not only Polish.  Some of the parents work at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, but the majority of parents have no affiliation with the embassy except for the school.

The Polish school has its own Parents Council (Rada Rodzicow), the equivalent of American parents-teachers' associations (PTAs).  Moreover, the parents' community is much broader than the Parents Council.  The routine of delivering the kids to the school every Saturday morning and picking them up from school in the afternoon has grown into the lives of many Polish (or partly Polish) families in the Washington metropolitan area.  On the occasion of the weekly trip to the Polish school, the parents refresh old friendships and make new acquaintances.  Shortly speaking, like any school, the Polish school helps sustain the social bonds within the community and helps the community grow in many ways.

For the kids, it is an additional burden of homework and class time; however, judging by their comments and the looks on their faces, it is also fun.

Catholic school

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Umbrella Groups

American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC)

 
Address:

Mrs. AnnaMae Maglaty
Membership Chairman
American Council for Polish Culture
35 Fernridge Road
West Hartford, CT 06107

President:

Richard M. Wiermanski of Edgwater, Maryland
Rwierman@aol.com

ACPC serves as an umbrella organization for Polish cultural organizations in the United States.  "Since 1994, the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) has been sponsoring the Youth Leadership Conferences (YLC) in Washington, D.C. for students of Polish background, ages 17 - 24, who are interested in civic and political activism," says the ACPC Web site.

The Polish American Arts Association of Washington, D.C., Inc., is the Council's local affiliate organization.  The Polish American Society of Virginia is also an affiliate organization.  In addition, the American Center of Polish Culture and Friends of John Paul II Foundation, Inc., both based in Washington, are the Council's supporting organizations.

Phone:

Richard M. Wiermanski
(410) 798-7512

Email:

Richard M. Wiermanski
Rwierman@aol.com
Web:

polishcultureacpc.org
Polish American Congress (PAC) Washington Metropolitan Area Division

An umbrella organization for several local Polish groups
Phone:

Ted and Irena Mirecki at
(703) 241-1149
President:

Thaddeus Mirecki
ted@mirecki.us

Correspondence Secretary & Membership Committee Chair:

Irena Mirecki
irenami@aol.com

Both at
4041 41st Street North
McLean, VA 22101

Email:

Ted Mirecki at
ted@mirecki.us

Irena Mirecki at
irenami@aol.com
Web:

pacwashmetrodiv.org

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