Polish Heritage Quiz 2 and Answer

[jimpres]

Ok the fist one was easy. Lets try this one.

Who are the following personalities and what is the connection between them:

a. The person considered to be America's greatest bridge builder;

b. The leading interpreter of Shakespeare on America's stage in the late
1800s;

c. The author of the Polish book "In the Land of Gold" writing about the
Gold Rush after his two-year visit to California.

Answer:

The bridge builder is the son of the actress. The author and the actress were friends and all three went to California with a small entourage to establish a Polish utopian colony near Disneyland (Anaheim) California.

The three people are:

Ralph Modjeski - www.polishamericancenter.org/Modjeski.htm

Helena (Opid) Modrzejewska -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Modrzejewska

Henryk Sienkiewicz - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Sienkiewicz

[rdywenur]

Wow from simple to knocking my brains out.

a = Ralph Modjeski
b = Helena Modjeski
c = beats me are you sure that is the name of the book.

[Jaga]

Jim,

it almost looks that you read our website sometimes. Here is the newest addition:
culture.polishsite.us/articles/art462.html
Tribute to the Bridge Builder Ralph Modjeski

look at some pictures

[jimpres]

Chris, The title is "W krainie zlota", keep digging

Jaga, no I did not visit the website, this question was actually submitted by another member of a list I am on.

[hollister]

This is as close as I have gotten so far
California as it is & as it may be; or, A guide to the gold region.
Felix Paul Wierzbicki (1815-1860) left his native Poland after participating in the doomed revolution of 1830. He made his way to America where he received a medical degree and practiced in Providence, Rhode Island. When the Mexican War broke out, Wierzbicki enlisted in the Army and was sent to California. Wierzbicki left the Army shortly after reaching the West and practiced medicine until the discovery of gold drew him to prospecting on Mokelumne Hill. In 1849, he returned to San Francisco, where he spent the rest of his life. California as it is (1849) was the first English-language book printed in California. It is a valuable guide to California for prospective settlers that includes a survey of agriculture, hints on gold mining, a guide to San Francisco, and a chapter on California's Hispanic residents and Native American tribes

[hollister]

Aaah!
The actual title helped it is none other than Henryk Sienkiewicz!

Image from Wikipedia
This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States (this especially applies in Canada, China (not Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan Area), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland). The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.

[rdywenur]

Holly I saw the Felix Wierzbicki articlke also but it said he stayed in US so that elimiated him. I also saw Sienkiewicz but the article did not lead me to believe this was him also. It only mentioned his writng of Quo Vadis and no mention of Zloty or Gold leading me to think this also was not him. I see that was a deeply hidden one and if I knew the word for land (krainie) maybe would have come across it . I did try to change the words in the title In the Land of Gold to Polish but used the word gminie.

[hollister]

Chris,
from the article I found:
"In 1876 he went to the USA with Helena Modrzejewska. He stayed for some time in California. During that period he wrote Listy z podróży (“Letters From a Journey”), which were published in Gazeta Polska (the Polish Gazette) and received wide recognition. He also wrote Szkice węglem (“Sketches in Charcoal”) in 1877. The trip to USA inspired him to write following works: Komedia z pomyłek (“A Comedy of Errors”, 1878), Przez stepy (1879), W krainie złota (1880), Za chlebem ( “For Bread”, 1880), Latarnik (“Lighthouse Keeper”, 1881) Wspomnienia z Maripozy (1882), Sachem (1883)."

There is not really anything to connect the title to the California Gold rush - but I am ASSUMING that it was Jim's question is referring to. We will have to wait for Jim to tell us if it is indeed the correct answer.

[rdywenur]

I believe you are correct Holly...the winner of C

[Jaga]

jimpres said:

Chris, The title is "W krainie zlota", keep digging

Jaga, no I did not visit the website, this question was actually submitted by another member of a list I am on.

Guys and all the others,

you should not forget about the Polish Culture Website and you should sometimes look here for inspiration to your quizzes:
culture.polishsite.us/
Check for instance the series of very interesting articles by Martin Nowak or Richard Poremski:
culture.polishsite.us/smpress.html



Holly,

[rdywenur]

Jaga I read the site before but there is lots of stuff to cover. Also the Culture site is too much to navagate in. I don't like the side board interfering with the website and can't expand it to full screen. Not good navigating.

[jimpres]

I'll post the answers on Monday. The Polish genius Genealogy list is doing well with the quiz.