Before the 19th century, few Czechs immigrated to the United States. “The first major wave of immigration occurred in 1848 when the Czech “Forty-Eight” fled to the United States to escape Habsburg political persecution” (Molinari 498). Most Czechs immigrated to Chicago in the 1850s, but they also immigrated to New York, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Milwaukee around the 1870s. Czech immigration to Chicago began in the 1850s, after the railways connected the city to Cozine, a state on the east coast. Molinari states that unlike other ethnic groups, Czechs were more likely to travel to the United States with their families (499). “Upon arrival, many Czechs Americanized their surnames” (Molinari 500). When they migrated to America, the customs and traditions they brought with them were their food, celebrations, and language. Kolace is a well-known Czech desert. A kolace is a square-shaped sweet bread filled with cheese, prune compote, apricots or other fruits. Czechs celebrated many holidays such as Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve (New Year's Eve), Epiphany, Valentine's Day, Pentecost, Watering Day, St. Joseph's Day, Mother's Day and Rogations. The language of the Czechs is a Slavic language. It has a declination system based on seven cases. The language was created by Jan Hus, a religious reformer. As Molinari says, “Czech is a phonetic language; each sound is pronounced as it is written, with the accent always on the first syllable” (503). My great-great-grandmother traveled to the United States when she was 13 with her mother and brothers while her father came a few years before. They grew up in Burlington, Iowa, where she soon met her husband and moved to Chica...in the middle of a newspaper...and work lined up. My family has not preserved our language, customs, religion, or clothing, but my family still prepares food, especially desserts. I have not visited my native country, but I would like to do so in the future. Works Cited Cozine, Alicia. “Czechs and Bohemians.” Czechs and Bohemians. The Chicago Electronic Encyclopedia, nd Web. March 1, 2014 Ember, Melvin and Carol R. Ember. "Czech Republic." Countries and their cultures. Flight. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. 598-613. Print.Gall, Timothy L. and Jeneen Hobby. “Czechs”. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. 2nd ed. Flight. 5. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Cengage Learning, 2009. 143-47. Print.Molinari, Christine. “Czech Americans.” Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. By Robert Dassanowsky and Jeffrey Lehman. 2nd ed. Flight. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 497-510. Print