American Sokol Headquarters, Brookfield

Chicagoland Sokol poster, date unknown

American Sokol was founded in St. Louis in 1865. Today, its headquarters are in Brookfield, Illinois.


Jean Hruby, American Sokol Headquarters, March 2012

Jean Hruby is American Sokol’s business manager. She says the organization is a non-political, non-religious, nonprofit active across the United States – particularly throughout the Midwest, on the East Coast and in Texas.


Bust of Sokol founder Miroslav Tyrš, American Sokol Headquarters

Czech patriot Miroslav Tyrš founded the Sokol movement in the Czech lands in 1862. According to Jean Hruby, American Sokol stays true to his principles to this day; Sokol members adhere to Tyrš’s credo of ‘a sound mind in a sound body’ through attending Sokol fitness, gymnastics (and even Zumba) classes, and cultural events put on by the organization.


'Anthem Etiquette' on the cover of American Sokol's newsletter, October 2011

Patriotism plays an important role in the Sokol ideology. Many of the organization’s members are both patriotic Czechs and Americans.


Artifacts (including a Czech governmental Gratias Agit award) and yearbooks on display at American Sokol

The headquarters of American Sokol in Brookfield double up as a library and archive housing the history of the organization. Researchers can visit the collections by making an appointment.


Above: Jean Hruby with a photo album from a Sokol slet at Chicago's Soldier Field, below: a photo from the album showing slet participants, 1941

The archives are particularly rich in photos and other documentation of previous Sokol slets – mass gymnastics festivals at which thousands of Sokol members perform synchronized gymnastics routines.


Photo from the Prague Sokol slet of 1948

For more information on American Sokol and the organization’s library and archives, visit www.american-sokol.org.