The Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society is a private benevolent society founded in 1892 in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

, to support

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

and Slovak

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s to the area, as well as people of Czech and Slovak ancestry. The society is commonly known as "Bohemian Hall" after its clubhouse, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Description

The founders of the organization said that the purpose of the society is to encourage, support, and maintain

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n schools, dramatics, and libraries for Czech children and children of Czech heritage; to maintain a non-profit-making home social for Czechs and people of Czech ancestry in which the Czech culture may be taught and blended with American traditions and culture which makes the people better Americans. The organization has an annual revenue of $1,000,000 and employs a staff of approximately 14. The current president of the organization is Alan Svoboda. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying 20 photographs''
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Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden

The Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden has a big indoor and outdoor bar complex. The bar complex can hold 800 people and is open year-round. Food that the bar serves is Czech specialties. There is a

linden tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Bri ...

that was planted by

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

. There are old signs and flags from the Czech Republic inside the bar. There are beers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia like

Golden Pheasant The golden pheasant (''Chrysolophus pictus''), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

, BrouCzech,

Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Urquell (; ) is a lager beer brewed at Asahi Breweries' Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzeň (German name: Pilsen), Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell was the world's first pale lager, and its popularity meant it was much copied, and ...

Krušovice Krušovice is a municipality and village in Rakovník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Etymology The initial name of the village was Krušejovice. It was derived from the personal name Kr ...

Czechvar Budweiser Budvar ( ) is a brewery in the Czech city of České Budějovice (), best known for its original Budweiser or Budweiser Budvar pale lager brewed using artesian water, Moravian barley and Saaz hops. Budweiser Budvar is the fourth large ...

, and Staropramen. Most of the workers speak

and English. Most of the regular people that are there are middle-aged and elderly immigrants. The Hall hosts holiday parties, ethnic festivals, local jazz groups, Czech rock bands, and touring acts. The Bohemian Hall hosts the annual Czech and Slovak festival. The hall also has a Sokol club and a Czech and Slovak language school. The Bohemian Hall keeps the people linked, visually and materially, to the past.

Closure

Revenue was so low in the early 1990s that the hall threatened to close. A large group of people, not all Czech, started a "Save the Hall" meeting.

, the former president of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, was so moved by the outcome of the meeting that when he stopped by in 2000 he stayed for hours and held a conference.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Neoclassical architecture in New York City Buildings and structures completed in 1910 Buildings and structures in Queens, New York Clubs and societies in the United States Friendly societies Czech-American culture in New York City Sokol in the United States Slovak-American culture in New York (state) Astoria, Queens Ethnic fraternal orders in the United States Beer gardens in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York Beer in New York City