Shortly after the inception of Prague, Oklahoma, in 1902, Frank “Squire Vlasak assessed the diverse demography and economic opportunity of the frontier town and made a decision. Vlasak, a Czech immigrant from Bohemia, realized his ethnic group comprised only about thirty percent of the overall population and therefore would find it difficult, if not impossible, to dominate the agricultural village economically, socially or politically. Thus, in order to prosper in their new home, he realized that he and his ethnic kinsmen must adapt to their situation. Aided by the relative isolation of the frontier setting and lack of discrimination, Vlasak led the Prague Czechs in a rapid accommodation with the majority population of non-Czech, native-born whites that proved beneficial to both parties. Frank Vlasak accomplished this, and, indeed, became one of the leading citizens of the new Oklahoma town while maintaining his identity as a Czech and his influential position within his ethnic group. How he did this, is the story that follows.
After years of struggle and disappointment, years of grinding poverty and want and with no hope for a better future in their motherland, Frantisek Vlasak, his wife, and young children finally decided to leave the tiny village of Bykosi, Bohemia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – the land of their parents, grandparents, and forebears. The Bohemian family sold most of what they owned and bought one-way tickets to the United States and the promise of a better life. In 1866, the Vlasaks and their three young arrived in New York City. Here, they set up a new home in the bustling financial capital of the United States. However, their time in the huge port city proved short. Hearing of better opportunities inland, they first migrated to Ohio and then to Nebraska, joining the thriving Bohemians (commonly referred to as Czechs) already living in the state. After several years of modest success in Nebraska...