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Summary for: From Moravia to Texas: November events trace Czech emigrants’ American storiesThe journeys of Moravian families who crossed the Atlantic to build new lives in Texas will take center stage this November in a series of events around Kopřivnice.
The project Cesta do Texasu, or Journey to Texas, marks 170 years since the region’s first organized wave of emigration, according to organizers. Over time, thousands of people left the area in search of a new home overseas.
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Exhibitions, discussions, museum visits and film screenings will explore those connections in Kopřivnice, Trojanovice, Lichnov, Frenštát pod Radhoštěm and Mniší. Free bus transport will be provided for all events, with advance reservations required.
Following the emigrants’ stories
The program begins Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 5 p.m. with an exhibition opening at the pavilion on Nové náměstí in Kopřivnice. The evening will also include a discussion and a screening of the documentary Češi v Texasu (Czechs in Texas), at the local cinema.
On Thursday, Nov. 5, historian Drahomír Strnadel will lead a discussion about emigration to the United States at the Memorial to the Strnadel Brothers and Jan Knebl in Trojanovice.
The next stop is Lichnov’s Museum of Emigration on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Visitors can tour its permanent exhibition, Naděje má jméno Texas—“Hope Has a Name: Texas”—before joining a discussion.
A guided exhibition tour at the Frenštát pod Radhoštěm Museum follows Thursday, Nov. 19. On Saturday, Nov. 21, the project moves to the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene in Mniší for another program devoted to emigration.
Together, the events trace the overseas story through the communities people left behind, bringing local family histories into a broader account of migration.
A Hollywood connection closes the program
The series concludes Tuesday, Nov. 24, with a film club screening of Coal Miner’s Daughter at Kopřivnice’s cinema.
The musical biographical drama follows country singer Loretta Lynn, played by Sissy Spacek. Her performance earned her an Academy Award, but the screening also has a local connection: Spacek descends from the Špaček family of nearby Bordovice.
That link gives the closing evening a different perspective on the region’s American connections, moving from accounts of departure and settlement to the descendants of emigrant families.
Full schedules and transport information are available on the Journey to Texas website. Visitors wishing to use the free buses must reserve their seats beforehand.
