Bohemian National Home is a historic building in Detroit, Michigan. The brick building sits at the corner of Tillman Street and Butternut Street in the residential section adjacent to the 3000 block of Michigan Avenue. The building is an imposing presence in the neighborhood of small, late 19th-century houses and cottages, measuring seventy feet on Tillman and one hundred feet on Butternut.
Bohemian period (1914–1962) According to the building permit issued March 20, 1914, the Bohemian National Home (Cesky Norodni Dum, as written in stone on the front of the building) was built by a group called the Bohemian Society.Detroit Department of Buildings and Safety, Building Permit No.842, March 20, 1914, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library. The building's original floor plan included a full ballroom with a stage and balcony; a "green room" with an access stairwell directly to the stage; a small gymnasium with brass tie downs for gymnastic equipment; a full shower and bathroom; a full service barroom with ladies’ and men’s bathrooms; a full commercial kitchen; two multipurpose rooms; and a caretaker's apartment. Arts and Crafts references appear, most notably, in the three-panel oak doors throughout the interior of the building.
The original Bohemian immigrants came to Detroit to escape Prussian oppression and economic hardship in their homeland. A dozen recent arrivals formed the first Detroit lodge, in 1874, under the auspices of the Bohemian Society of America. This national organization first organized in 1854 in St. Louis, Missouri. The original Detroit lodge bore the name of Karel Havilicek Barovsky, a Czech hero of the 1848 revolution against the Habsburg dynasty. In 1890, the Detroit Bohemian Turners Society built Detroit's first Bohemian hall at the corner of Erskine and St. Antoine, on the near east side. A flag-bearing procession of the various Bohemian organizations who would use the facility commemorated the opening. By 1910, however, the east side hall had become too small to accommodate the growing community. The original plans for a new west side hall, and the announcement of a fund-raising drive to finance the project, appeared in the Detroit Times on August 19, 1910. The existing building at Butternut and Tillman is a scaled-down version of the $30,000, three-story building originally planned, but it proved sufficiently large to house the Bohemian community until the post World War II era.James K. Anderson, "Brotherhood Movement Vital to City's Nationality Groups," The Detroit News, November 28, 1954, sec. B7."Bohemian Turners Will Have New $30,000 Club House," Detroit Times, August 19, 1910."Dedicated a New Hall: The Bohemians of Detroit Now Have a Handsome Public Resort," Detroit Free Press, July 20, 1890."Detroiters to Tour their Native Land: After Exile from Bohemia They Return for a Visit," The Detroit News, June 2, 1921. In 1962, a newly formed organization called the Detroit Lithuanian Home Association purchased the building.J. Dvorak to Detroit Lithuanian Home Association, L, January 25, 1971, Papers of Detroit Lithuanian Home Association, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
Lithuanian period (1962–1996) The period from 1920 to 1950 saw very little increase in the population of Lithuanians in Detroit. In 1951, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Wayne State University conducted research in preparation for two international festivals at Belle Isle. The study of ethnic groups in Detroit found that the Lithuanian community still numbered about 10,000, as it had in the 1920s. The Lithuanians were still in their original three settlements, but had lost two of their original churches as they continued to move to other parts of the city. Saint Anthony on the west side was the only original church still operating in 1951, although two new churches had been built in new communities to replace the two that were lost. The American Lithuanian Choir was one of the best known choirs in the city and two radio stations continued broadcasts in Lithuanian.Wayne State University Department of Sociology and Anthropology, "Ethnic Groups in Detroit: 1951", TD, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library. In sum, the Detroit Lithuanian community had survived the period of nativism and low immigration with its unique culture intact. Detroit, provided, therefore, a natural choice as a location to resettle Lithuanian immigrants displaced by World War II and the Soviet occupation of their homeland.
In early November 1953, four Lithuanian men met at the Alytaus Bar at 3415 Michigan Avenue. One of the men was the owner of the bar, Peter Podolski, who lived with his wife Rose in the apartment located above the bar. The other men were Viktoras Perminas, Joseph Kowalski and Alex Conrad, an attorney. Throughout the month, the men met regularly as they developed plans for a private Lithuanian club. The Alytaus Bar was already used as an informal Lithuanian center, helping newly arrived Lithuanians secure employment at the Star Tool and Die Company located directly behind the bar. The building adjacent to the bar was known as a "camp", providing temporary food and lodging to the displaced Lithuanians."Darius and Gireno Club Constitution", TD, 27 November 1953, Papers of Darius and Gireno Club, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library; Mr. Leroy Estrada, interview by author, Tape Recording, Detroit, Michigan, 14 July 1995. So a more formal organization to help these immigrants adjust to American life and simultaneously, take advantage of the new energy in preserving Lithuanian culture, was a natural development in the Michigan Avenue neighborhood.
The club was dedicated to the memory of Steponas Dariaus and Stasys Gireno, two Lithuanian-American pilots who attempted a heroic flight in 1933. After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean from New York, the two pilots attained martyr status when they were shot down by the Germans before reaching Lithuania.Kudirka, "The Lithuanians", 7. On November 27, 1953, an assumed name was filed for the Dariaus and Gireno Club, or the D and G Klubas, as it was commonly known to its members. The clubs initial registered office was listed as 3417 Michigan Avenue; the apartment of the Podolskis. The constitution of the club set forth its purpose as:
The perpetuation of Lithuanian history and language; The study and perpetuation of Lithuanian culture and literature; To engage in athletics and sports; To get together at intervals in diverse past times such as dancing, concerts and like and; To assist and give aid to Lithuanians who recently came to the USA so that they may become acquainted with the customs, habits and language of America and so that they may understand and respect the United States Government and its Constitution."D & G Constitution", Burton Historical Collection.
The founders of the club seemed especially concerned with the fifth purpose of the constitution and required each new member to sign a pledge form which stated that the individual did:
solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I do not advocate the overthrow of the government by force or violence; that I am not a member of any political party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force or violence; that I am not directly or indirectly affiliated with and or associated in any manner whatsoever as a member of any subversive organization as prepared and released by the Committee on Un-American Activities, US. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. dated May 14, 1951."Dariaus and Gireno Anketa", TD, The Darius and Gireno Club Papers, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
These two documents make it clear that this new wave of Lithuanian immigrants was decidedly anti-Communist. Although the influence of McCarthyism was prolific in America at the time, the displaced Lithuanian immigrants had personal experience with the Soviet Communists and seemed to embrace the principles of the Committee on Un-American Activities naturally, without any urging.
There in no record of a permanent location for the Dariaus and Gireno Club, other than Michigan Avenue address, until a new organization is formed in 1962 called the Detroit Lithuanian Home Association. The new group was actually formed, according to a 1966 Annual Report, for the expressed purpose of buying a building to provide "a central home for all member organizations." The only business reported for that year, and previous years of reports, was the purchase in 1962, of the Bohemian National Hall.Jonas Gaizutis, "Annual Reports", TD, 1965–66, The Detroit Lithuanian Home Association Papers, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
Although the annual reports submitted to the government present a simplistic version of the purpose of the new organization, the Constitution and Bylaws of the group reveal more specifics. Article I of the document states:
We Lithuanians, representing numerous clubs, organizations, associations and groups desiring to promote, foster and facilitate the propagation, retention and understanding of Lithuanian culture, language and tradition for the purpose of enriching and contributing to American and Lithuanian ideals, do hereby establish the Detroit Lithuanian Home Association as a non-profit and self-supporting corporation. The association shall acquire and operate a building which shall be available to all Lithuanians and organizations loyal to the United States and the concept of a free and independent Lithuania and on such terms and conditions as shall be determined by the association. The association shall have the right to buy other real and personal, to make contracts and agreements and to borrow funds which shall promote and make possible the furthering of the above stated objectives and also to help make this association self-supporting. The association shall also have the right to lend money on a non-profit basis to other Lithuanian organizations who are members of the Detroit Lithuanian Home Association."DLHA Constitution and Bylaws", TD, Detroit Lithuanian Home Association Papers, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
Despite the redundant language of the document, it is clear that the goal of the association was to act as a non-profit umbrella group for Lithuanian organizations loyal to America and a free Lithuania. Some of the member organizations which used the hall were: The Detroit Lithuanian Organizations Centre, The Detroit Chapter of the Lithuanian Journalists, The Detroit Chapter of the Lithuanian American Committee of the USA, Inc., The Lithuanian Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Lithuanian Sport Club "Kovas", and the Baltic Nations Committee of Detroit, Inc.A.O. Deksnis to Lithuanian Home Association, LS, 30 June 1967, Detroit Lithuanian Home Association Papers, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library."Various correspondence", TD, The Detroit Lithuanian Home Association Papers, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library. A letter of thanks from the chairman of the Baltic Nations Committee indicates that many of these groups used the facilities free of charge, depending on the purpose of the use. For a Commemoration of Mass Deportations, the Baltic Nations Committee paid only two dollars and fifty cents to cover the cost of paper table cloths.