The Stavinoha Magic Gambler

One of our most treasured artifacts here in the Czech Heritage Museum & Genealogy Center is the “Magic Gambler” automaton. When wound up for music and a button for the mechanics is pulled, the device rolls miniature dice under the tiny brass dome. Part of the table drops down and then pops back up via a spring. The family of the donor, Joseph Stavinoha came in recently and matriarch Anne Cowan, great-granddaughter of Joseph, taught her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren about their family history and the Magic Gambler’s part in it.

Nadja’s Story

Nadja Klimesova Granzotti recently visited Czech Heritage Museum and amazed us with her harrowing personal story of immigration to the United States from Moravia, Czech Republic, then communist Czechoslovakia. She came to Washington D.C. as a child with her parents in 1952 and has been in Texas for more than 40 years.

Mrs. Granzotti donated a beautiful kroj to the Czech Heritage Museum. The kroj belonged to her mother and represents the village of Sardice, which is in Moravia on the Slovak border. Moravian villages typically have their own representative Kroje (plural form of kroj, pronounced “kroy or kroyeh) or costumes.

The Musical Legacy of Jerry Petter

“Melody George” Pavelka

Lamerle Zajicek

talks about the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet, as she paints Christmas ornaments at the Czech Heritage Museum.

The Zvolanek Family Collection

Masaryk University students visit the Czech Heritage Museum

Veronika and Pavel visited from the Czech Republic. This was a return trip to Texas for them; they studied at McLennan Community College in Waco a few years ago. This time, we helped them look for immigration records about their families. Stay until the end!