The Matejkas

About the Book

Jerry and Elizabeth Matejka met on a boat traveling from Bohemia, now known as the Czech Republic, to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1907. To pursue their dreams in America, Jerry and Elizabeth traveled halfway around the world and joined the ranks of the idealistic, hardworking immigrants flocking to the United States in the early twentieth century. Strangers at the beginning of the voyage, the two young lovers were inseparable upon arrival in America, and they married soon after their boat docked in the Maryland harbor. The Matejkas is the remarkable true story of these two determined pioneers and their life together as they started a business and raised a family in their new homeland.

Told from the loving perspective of their daughter Slava Matejka Mowll, The Matejkas is a compelling family biography brought alive by vivid narrative and the imagery of beautifully preserved family photographs. From the Matejkas' early days in Baltimore to the intense drama of the Second World War, the author's memoir is a fascinating view of the life experiences of first-generation Americans.

An unforgettable true saga, The Matejkas is a story of persistence and triumph told against the backdrop of one of the most important eras in American history.

About the Author

Slava Matejka Mowll was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1914 and graduated from Goucher College. She currently resides in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Nancy Mowll Mathews is the Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of Nineteenth- and Twentiethcentury Art at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She graduated from Goucher College in 1968 and has a PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. She is the author of twelve books and has organized exhibitions that have traveled around the world.