PADEREWSKI ROOM RE-OPEN
   AT THE POLISH MUSEUM OF AMERICA
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Friday, November 6, 2009, 6:00 p.m., Chicago, IL

The Polish Museum of America in Chicago received a donation of the personal
possessions of Ignacy Jan Paderewski following his death in June 1941.
Both Ignacy Paderewski and his sister, Antonina Paderewska Wilkonska were
enthusiastic supporters and generous sponsors of the Museum. Antonina,
executor of Ignacy’s will, decided to donate these personal possessions to the
Museum. In addition, the management of the Buckingham Hotel in New York City,
where Ignacy spent the last months of his life, allowed Antonina to obtain the
furnishings from the suite of rooms he had occupied. These furnishings were
also donated to the Museum. With the assistance of Ignacy’s personal secretary,
the furnishings and his personal mementos were arranged for public display in
the room that had been the first display room of the Museum in 1937. This
revised space was officially re-opened with a special dedication ceremony on
November 3, 1941, the date that would have marked Paderewski's 81st birthday.

Among the most valuable items in the Paderewski Room collection are:
the gilded pen that Paderewski used to sign the Treaty of Versailles,
the splendidly embellished pocket watch that the Maestro received from
American Polonia in 1935 commemorating his 75th birthday, as well as his last practice piano, letters, photographs, and personal effects.

The 2009 re-opening of the historic Ignacy Jan Paderewski Room has been a
long anticipated event. After 14 months of extensive updating, repair, renovation,
painting and conservation, the Museum’s Paderewski Room Renovation
Committee with generous gratis supplies and pro bono services from qualified
and dedicated contractors, tradesmen, craftsmen and artisans, is pleased to
announce that the re-opening of the Paderewski Room took place Friday,
November 6, 2009 with a 6:00 p.m.


The Polish Museum of America
984 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60642

Telephone: (773) 384-3352
Fax: (773) 384-3799


The gilded pen that Paderewski used
to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919

Courtesy of
The Polish Museum of America

Photo: The pocket watch that the Paderewski
received from American Polonia in 1935
commemorating his 75th birthday.
Courtesy of The Polish Museum of America
© 2009-2011 The Organizing Committee for Chopin & Paderewski 2010 celebrations, USA