The earliest document in my research on Antoni Przytulski was a baptismal certificate for his uncle Mikolaj Przytulski (born 1865), issued in 1882, for passage to the US. A copy returned to Poland in 2003! A visit in June to the Mlawa archives resulted in the return of papers to Poland. Antoni Przytulski's papers serve as an example of the American experience in Polish genealogy.

The main focus of my trip to Poland was to identify materials at the archives that would be useful for genealogists and were notfilmed by LDS. I was conducting digital video interviews with archivists.But a few words from the director sowed a seed for a Transatlantic project.

In the course of my discussion with Andrzej Grochowski, the archives director, I found out that all the archives in Poland would host open houses on October 10 and 11, 2003. There was a range of themes,and the Mlawa Archive selected genealogy as thier topic. I proposed sending a set of U.S. records that demonstrate the paper trail American researchers must recreate in order to find their ancestral village. Director Grochowski was enthusiastic about the idea.

The display was sent to Poland September 15, 2003. It arrived in plenty of time to be displayed at the open house.

The display documented my search for the ancestral and / or birth village of Anthony Przytulski in Russian Poland. The first interview with Anthony took place in 1975 and his birth document was finially received from Poland in 2001. The majority of the documents were collected over the course of five years.

The display board contained the basic documents all US researchers should check if they are seeking the European village of their ancestors.

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