Czech Catholic Union of Texas
La Grange, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On March 24, 1889, a group of Czech immigrants gathered here to form the Katolicka Jednota Texaska (KJT), or Czech Catholic Union of Texas. A fraternal benefit society, the KJT was chartered on July 4, 1889, with six individual lodges. Through programs such as life insurance, financial aid to members, churches, and educational scholarships, the organization has served people throughout the state and has grown to number over one hundred lodges. The KJT continues to uphold the purpose of its founders in the same fraternal spirit. (1989)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On March 24, 1889, Czech immigrants gathered in La Grange to form the Katolicka Jednota Texaska (KJT), the Czech Catholic Union of Texas, chartered that July with six lodges. As a fraternal benefit society it offered life insurance, financial aid, and educational scholarships, eventually growing to more than a hundred lodges statewide. It remains a pillar of Texas's Czech-Catholic community.
Why it matters
The KJT captures how immigrant fraternal societies provided mutual aid and preserved ethnic identity in the American immigrant experience.
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Themes & tags
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