Mission

Founded in 1925, the Kosciuszko Foundation is dedicated to promoting and strengthening understanding and friendship between the peoples of Poland and the United States through educational, scientific, and cultural exchanges and other related programs and activities. It awards fellowships and grants to graduate students, scholars, scientists, professionals, and artists and helps to increase the visibility and prestige of Polish culture in America’s pluralistic society by sponsoring exhibits, publications, film festivals, performing arts such as concerts and recitals, and assists other institutions with similar goals.

History

The Kosciuszko Foundation had its beginnings in the Polish American Scholarship Committee, launched in 1923 by Dr. Stephen Mizwa at the request of the Polish Government to bring students to American universities. Dr. Mizwa was put in touch with Dr. Henry Noble McCracken, President of Vassar College, who had recently returned from an investigative visit to Poland and Eastern Europe. Eventually, the two men enlarged the Committee's mission to the promotion of cultural and educational exchange between the United States and Poland. In December 1925, the Committee was changed into the newly-incorporated Kosciuszko Foundation, named as a living memorial to the Polish military hero who had come to fight in the American War of Independence in 1776.

In 2000, the Kosciuszko Foundation marked its Diamond Jubilee and celebrated 75 years of carrying out this mission. Its activities have grown to include scholarship and exchange programs; teaching English in Poland; and cultural programs at its New York townhouse headquarters and throughout the country. It has Chapters in seven other cities and members across the nation and around the world. Many of its grantees occupy important positions in Polish academic life, Thanks to its members and benefactors, the Foundation is able to disburse more than $1 million annually to hundreds of Polish Americans and others involved in Polish studies. It has continued through the difficulties of the Depression, World War Two, and decades of Communist rule. With the support of individuals, corporations, and foundations, it shall continue in the tradition of its namesake, General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, to enrich the educational and cultural lives of both America and Poland.