Dear ACC members, friends and non members:

You may not be aware that Prof. Manfred Prokop, our OeCulture editor, is undertaking the task of compiling a biographical dictionary or "Who's Who" on Austrians that have immigrated to Canada, on behalf of the ACC. Every tradesman, artist, musician, conductor, farmer, businessman, teacher etc. and even housewives that have never worked but looked after raising their children, should be included!

It would be a shame if his efforts thus far would be in vain, all due to poor support or lack of interest from our Austrian community in Canada.

I think this undertaking is not only unique but an important step to finally enshrine the contributions we Austrians have made to our Canadian society. I am therefore asking you for your support on this milestone project , and I call for the participation of every Austrian, ACC member, non member, family member and friend that you may know and to whom you can pass this information.

I would like to encourage every Austrian living in Canada to send Professor Prokop a brief life story, which can be submitted in point form and be as short as 400-500 words, if you wish. Alternately, you may also simply fill in Professor Prokop's prepared questionnaire which you will find in a link below. Any questions you do not wish to answer for whatever reason can simply be left blank.

I want to stress that the statistical questionnaires many of you filled out for our earlier "Austrian Immigration to Canada" project, and which were used by Professor Suschnigg's team at Laurentian University to assemble the chapter "A Sociological Profile of Austrian-Canadians," in the History of the Austrian Migration to Canada book that appeared in 1996, was anonymous and essentially statistical in character. These responses are therefore not suitable for the kind of Austrian Who's Who we want to assemble now, and even if you have filled out a questionnaire before, I urge you to give a little more time to this new project as well.

Remember that our combined efforts will help make this book not only an historic document, but much more so, a very appreciated and enjoyable resource for our great-grandchildren, once they start thinking of researching their family tree and as they become ever more conscious of their Austrian heritage. Our collective achievements speak for themselves and will hopefully fill our descendants with pride. The experiences and names of the first generation Austrian immigrants must be preserved so that future generations can fully identify with this great heritage.

On the next two pages you find the letter by Prof.Prokop which explains the backgroung of this project and the questionnaire to be filled out. Plese print out the form, fill out, and mail it to Prof.Prokop.

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Thank you for your support,
Roland K. Pirker,
President ACC