Polish American Museum

The Polish American Museum located at 16 Belleview Avenue in Port Washington, New York, USA, was founded on January 20, 1977. It features displays of folk art, costumes, historical artifacts and paintings, as well as bilingual research library with particular focus on achievements of the people of Polish heritage in America.

Nearly everything in the museum, which is housed at the old Port Washington library, was donated by members of the community: from the war memorabilia, army uniforms, Polish medals and weapons, to the books about Poland in both English and Polish. Barbara Szydlowski, president of the museum, remarked that many Polish immigrants made their way to Nassau County about a century ago to work in North Shore estates, but their descendants are dispersed. "We're trying to do more on the history of Poles on Long Island," she said, "but it's very hard because the population is so scattered." The Museum puts a strong emphasis on famous people of Polish ancestry with a portrait of Pope John Paul II displayed prominently along with that of Tadeusz Kościuszko wearing the uniform of Brigadier General of the American Revolutionary Army, and Kazimierz Pułaski as General Commander of the Cavalry under George Washington. There is a room dedicated to Polish Nobel Prize laureates including Marie Curie and Lech Wałęsa. In the music room there are plaster replicas of Frédéric Chopin's death mask and of his left hand, brought in from Warsaw by a museum member. One of the most poignant items on display is the blue-and-white striped jacket of a concentration-camp inmate, a Polish prisoner who was held by the Germans in World War II, donated by a patron who survived as many as seven different camps in 1944–1945, which is now a part of the Holocaust exhibit.