This fascinating full color, silent home movie from June, 1941 shows the American Sokol Slet, a gymnastics and sporting competition, held in Chicago including Soldier Field. The film begins with important members of the organizing committee meeting to plan the games. At 1:27, a sign announcing the games is seen at the Sokol headquarters and shortly thereafter is a title card noting that for three days competitions in diving, gymnastics, swimming and athletics were held in Douglas Park, Pilsen Park, and the Sokol Chicago gymnasium. Various sporting events are seen including track at 5:40, women and then men’s gymnastics at 6:40, etc. At 18:00, a swimming and diving competition is shown with ladies posing in one-piece swimsuits, and men at 20:10. At 20:15, rehearsal is seen at Soldier Field. At 25:58, the crowded parking lot of Soldier Field is seen on the day of the big event, and a color guard is seen at 27:00 marching across the field. The flag is saluted and the competition begins, with an enormous crowd in attendance including Colonel V.S. Hurban, the Czech ambassador to the USA. The Polish ambassador is also shown at 34:00, J. Ciechanowski.
The Sokol movement (from the Slavic word for falcon) is an all-age gymnastics organization first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of “a strong mind in a sound body.” The Sokol, through lectures, discussions, and group outings provided what Tyrš viewed as physical, moral, and intellectual training for the nation. This training extended to men of all ages and classes, and eventually to women.
The movement also spread across all the regions populated by the Slavic culture (Poland (Sokół), Slovene Lands, Serbia (SK Soko), Bulgaria, the Russian Empire (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus), and the rest of Austria-Hungary (e.g. present day Slovenia and Croatia)). In many of these nations, the organization also served as an early precursor to the Scouting movements. Though officially an institution “above politics,” the Sokol played an important part in the development of Czech nationalism, providing a forum for the spread of mass-based nationalist ideologies. The articles published in the Sokol journal, lectures held in the Sokol libraries, and theatrical performances at the massive gymnastic festivals called slets helped to craft and disseminate the Czech nationalist mythology and version of history.
The Slet are milestones in the life of the Sokol movement. They are periodic gymnastics festivals, surveys of what has been accomplished in the past working period and demonstrations of individual and collective achievement in the field of physical culture. To the Sokols, they are as significant as the Olympic games were to the ancient Hellenes. The Slets are organized on a regional, national and international scale. The most
significant and the most famous, however, are the international Sokol Slets, held every six years at Praha, Czechoslovakia (Prague, Czech Republic). The first slet was held in 1882, in
celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Sokol organization, and was presided over and directed by Dr. Miroslav Tyrs. Every subsequent Slet reflected the amazing
growth of the movement and the spreading of the Sokol idea far beyond the national frontiers of Czechoslovakia. This constant progress is probably best documented by the growing numbers
of gymnasts participating in the various Slet events and in the growing number of countries represented. While the first Slet in 1882 was, more of less, a local affair with 720 gymnasts
taking active part, the tenth Slet, held in 1938, was a significant international affair, with more than 250,000 gymnasts participating actively in the gymnastics displays – among them Sokols
from all over the world. Transcending all man-made barriers – national, social and political – the Sokol Slets have become manifestations for international understanding and brotherhood.
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