I have finished my teaching career and now with great energy
I am able to take a real look into our Cervenka and Vondra/Wondra Family
History. I must thank at the start the contributions of my Vondra
research partner Rita Sporrer. Together we have found the family link
from Nebraska to Chicago and the Wondra / Vondra family. We are family
through the Jan Wondra family line. I will begin to post research pieces
that together Rita and I feel create a solid family history tie.
What I ask of the reader is to remain open minded about the
information that is being shared. Try not being judgmental or critical of
the past but rather stepping back and seeing the conditions that impacted the
people of the time and the choices that they made.
I ask you to find the courage within our family ancestors
for the journey they took to come to America and survive here. It was
their sacrifices and determination that is the reason we are here in this great
county. Times were hard and hard choices needed to be made in order to survive.
History notes "Born in
the 1880s, the life expectancy of these individuals at birth was 41.7 years for
white males and 43.5 years for white females; for black males, life expectancy
was 30 years, and for black females it was 34 years." The Irish
Times reports, "If you lived in the time of the 1916 Easter Rising, your
name was far more likely to be John or Mary and if you managed to avoid the
prospect of death in childhood, you would probably succumb by the age of 53
with a good chance of bronchitis or tuberculosis being the cause. It
was a world in which children as young as three were sent to industrial schools
while families squeezed into almost 24,000 one-room tenements in Dublin
alone." According to the social security index "Between 1954 and
2004, Czech life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1954, and highest in
2001. The average life expectancy for Czech in 1954 was 39, and 80 in
2004."
The Wondra/Vondra family came to America in 1864, first to
Nebraska and then some moving to Chicago, IL. Information available from
Ancestry Research tells us "In 1880 there were 20 Czech families living in
Illinois. This was about 51% of all the recorded Czech's in the USA. Illinois
had the highest population of Czech families in 1880." Also "In 1880, a less common occupation for
the Czech family was: Works At Lumber Yard. Farmer, Miller and Retired
Glover were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Czech. The most common Czech
occupation in the USA was Farmer. 29% of Czech's were Farmers." Many
of our ancestors were farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths and bakers.
In Chicago many men later went into real estate and politics.
Education was always a centerpiece
of the Czech culture. “ Higher education forms the highest level of the Czech
education system. Czech higher education dates back six hundred years. In 1348 Emperor Charles IV founded a
university in Prague, which is the oldest academic institution in Central
Europe. It is now called the Charles
University.“ Read more at: http://www.studyin.cz/higher-education-system/. Proudly in the Wondra/Vondra family the women
were supported to attend school and graduate. Today this continues
as many women hold advanced postgraduate degrees and professional careers.
Sports were an extend part of the family education as family
sport clubs were part of the community life. The Sokol is the
gathering for competition. My father translated its meaning "to
fly" as gymnastics were the foundation performances. “Sokol” is the Czech word for falcon: a
symbol of strength, beauty, harmony and freedom.
"The Sokol movement
(Czech: [ˈsokol], falcon) is an all-age gymnastics organization
first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in
1862 by Miroslav
Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of "a strong mind in a sound
body". The Sokol, through lectures,
discussions, and group outings provided what Tyrš viewed as physical, moral,
and intellectual training for the nation. This training extended to men of all
ages and classes, and eventually to women." For more information (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokol).
Our Vondra family name was initially Wondra. The
change in spelling for the Jan Wondra family of Chicago began about 1895 when
Jan married Rozălie Bares. Their marriage documentation is Jan Wondra and
so is Jan's death certificate. But their son Miles (Milos) is
Vondra. He later moved to Colorado.
