The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The museum/library attracts 20,000 � 30,000 visitors and program participants each year, from all 50 states and many other countries.
The first Bohemians to Cedar Rapids arrived between 1852 and 1853. They settled in the current downtown area of Cedar Rapids, where everyone else was living. One of the first Czech organizations established was Sokol (est. 1873). The current building was built in 1908. Immigration was rather slow until 1871 when T. M. Sinclair built a meat packinghouse in Cedar Rapids. ~
Bohemian immigration to Cedar Rapids increased due to employment opportunities at the packinghouse. Sinclair, an Irish immigrant himself, was not afraid to hire immigrant labor, knew the Bohemians were well educated and hard workers, and they arrived with the skills necessary to help his packinghouse become a successful meatpacking plants. As a result, Bohemian immigrants arrived, confident they would find stable employment, and Sinclair�s meat packinghouse went on to become one of the most successful plants in the world.
There’s a BIG list of Czech Links where I found this chronology of Czechs in America, and the Bily Clock Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit in Spillville, Iowa.