The Library of Congress > Chronicling America > Pokrok.

Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1770-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Title:
Pokrok. [volume] : (Chicago, Ill.) 1867-1878
Alternative Titles:
  • Progress
Place of publication:
Chicago, Ill.
Geographic coverage:
  • Chicago, Cook, Illinois  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
  • Cedar Rapids, Linn, Iowa  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
  • Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
  • Racine, Racine, Wisconsin  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
Publisher:
Josef Zreadlovský
Dates of publication:
1867-1878
Description:
  • Began in 1867; ceased in 1878.
Frequency:
Triweekly <1873-1878>
Language:
  • Czech
  • English
Subjects:
  • Czech American newspapers.
  • Czech-American newspapers.--fast--(OCoLC)fst00886452
  • Czechs--Illinois--Newspapers.
  • Czechs--Iowa--Newspapers.
  • Czechs--Ohio--Newspapers.
  • Czechs--Wisconsin--Newspapers.
  • Czechs.--fast--(OCoLC)fst00886455
  • Illinois.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01205143
  • Iowa.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01205835
  • Ohio.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01205075
  • Wisconsin.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01204595
Notes:
  • Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • Description based on: Roč. 1, čís. 37 (26 ćerv. 1868).
  • Editors: Josef Pastor, <1867>; František Boleslav Zdrubek, <1867-1871>, Ján V. Capek, <1871-1874>; Václav Snajdr, 1874-<1878>.
  • In Czech; some notices in English.
  • Published at Chicago, Ill., 1867; at Racine, Wis., 1867-1869; at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1869-1871; at Cleveland, Ohio, 1871-1878.
LCCN:
sn 83035546
OCLC:
10038659
ISSN:
2376-9009
Succeeding Titles:
Related Links:
Holdings:
View complete holdings information
View
First Issue Last Issue

Pokrok. [volume] August 15, 1874 , Image 1

Browse:

Calendar View

All front pages

First Issue  |  Last Issue

Pokrok

The Pokrok ("Progress") was created by Charles Jonas in 1867 in Chicago to disseminate religious and politically liberal ideas, targeting the portion of Czech-Americans who were not Catholic. It was only in Chicago briefly before being moved first to Racine, Wisconsin, then Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and finally settling for the remainder of its life in Cleveland, Ohio. In Chicago, the Pokrok was edited by Josef Pastor and in Cedar Rapids by František Boleslav Zdrůbek. In 1871, Zdrůbek purchased the paper from Jonas and moved the paper to Cleveland, a city with a rapidly growing Czech population, where it was edited by Ján V. Čapek until Václav Šnajdr took over the paper in 1873.

Václav Šnajdr was born in Bohemia and came to the United States in 1869 to fundraise for Berlin-based newspapers. Instead, he became a newspaper editor in Racine, Wisconsin, and Omaha, Nebraska. Šnajdr moved to Cleveland in 1873 and worked as editor of the Pokrok until its collapse in 1878, after which he started Dennice Novověku ("Star of the New Era"). In the papers he oversaw, Šnajdr expressed anti-clerical views and championed arts and literature by Czech immigrants. His editorials gained the national attention of Czech intelligentsia. A rationalist and free-thinker, Šnajdr wrote For a Better Understanding of Robert Ingersoll and Ladislav Klacil: His Life and Teachings. Šnajdr sold his newspaper interests to Svět Publishing in 1910, where the Dennice Novověku continued publishing until 1915.

The Pokrok was one of the largest and oldest Czech papers in the United States and was seen as the best way to reach Czechs across the nation. Its circulation averaged around 1,500 across Ohio and surrounding states, and was published in both weekly and triweekly editions; the weekly was eight pages and the triweekly was four pages. Content included local news, as well as national and international news from such cities as San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Berlin, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro. The Pokrok also discussed natural disasters, politics, accidents, and crime, and included columns for announcements and weddings.

Provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH