Ed Kopac, Czech Heritage Papers
Title: Ed Kopac, Czech
Heritage Papers
Creator: Kopac, Ed, 1883-1978
Dates: 1958-1975
Quantity: 3 folders
Collection Number: MS 0272
Language: English
Restrictions: None
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or email archives@unl.edu.
Historical Records Statement: Please see our statement on historical records and materials.
Preferred Citation: Ed Kopac, Czech Heritage Papers (MS 0272). Archives & Special Collections,
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.
Biography:
Ed Kopac lived with his family in Schuyler, Nebraska. After attending college in
Iowa, he returned to Nebraska and worked for the family business in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1925 Kopac moved to Montana and operated the Sorrell Horse Ranch before working a
farm south of Hardin, Montana. Kopac became a philanthropist later in life, creating
a Czech Pioneer Memorial Student Fund, a cemetery in honor of his parents who were
Czech immigrants, and a museum in honor of Crow Chief Plenty Coups. Kopac died on
February 27, 1978.
Scope and Content:
This collection contains mostly Ed Kopac's correspondence with different sources
during his career as a Montana rancher and liverstock feeder. Included in the
correspondence are letters to senators, lawyers, and people in business with Kopac.
There is correspondence concerning the Czech Pioneer Memorial and his contributions
to that organization.
Subjects:
Ed Kopac -- donations
Montana -- agriculture
Container List:
Box 1. Folder 1. Correspondence, articlesIncludes letters in English to U.S. Senators concerning business, letters of
thanks for different donations to the hospital, church, and an article about
Ed Kopac, his life and how he earned money and his donations.
Box 1. Folder 2. Notecards, leafletsNotecards with the saying "A man's treatment of money is the most decisive
test of his character–how he makes it and how he spends it," a quote
by James Moffatt and leaflets on Czech Pioneer Memorial student loan fund at
the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Box 1. Folder 3. PhotographsPhotos of the cemetery and gravesite where Kopac's parents were buried.
American Indians at an event with a dedication by Chief Plenty Coups Museum
in 1973.
Related Material and Resources: Please see other Czech Heritage Collections under the Ethnic American
Collections List.Morrow, Delores J. and Sandra J. Barker. "Unexpected
Treasures among the Photographs of Ed and Emil Kopac,"Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 55, No.
4 (Winter, 2005), pp. 63-67. Published by: Montana Historical Society, Stable URL:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4520745 |