The KARTA Center Foundation invites young people to participate in a nationwide research and creative history competition organized to mark the upcoming 100th anniversary of the "Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States".
The “Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States”
It is a unique collection of documents prepared in Poland and delivered to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House in 1926 as an expression of gratitude and friendship on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.
Nearly 1.3 million Poles signed the so-called “letter of thanks” at the time. They included representatives of all professions and religions: from the highest state authorities, including President Ignacy Mościcki and Marshal Józef Piłsudski, through the government, parliament, generals, local governments, and clergy, to teachers and students of secondary and elementary schools. The youngest signatories were 7 years old.
This extraordinary collection – over 30,000 pages, now available on the Polska1926.pl website – is waiting to be rediscovered. And with it: people, their stories, fates, and choices – often forgotten, local, seemingly “ordinary,” yet forming the shared experience of an entire generation.
The competition
It is aimed at young people aged 13–19 – students in the oldest grades of elementary school and in secondary school.
Team projects (3–5 people) supervised by a teacher, librarian, cultural animator, etc. can be submitted to the competition.
Participants take on the role of young history researchers. Their task will be to search for sources and reconstruct the personal and professional lives of individuals or groups (families, school classes, local residents) whose signatures appear on the cards of the “Declaration”, as well as finding signatories connected to their own region, school, or family history – local, often unknown heroes; telling the stories they discover in a modern, attractive, and freely chosen form, such as a film, podcast, virtual exhibition, comic book, StoryMap, zine, and others.
The organizers allow the use of AI tools in both research and creative work, recognizing them as part of the contemporary toolkit that can enrich scientific and artistic expression. At the same time, they set clear boundaries when working with historical sources – they require transparency, reliability, and adherence to ethical principles.
The goal is for the results of the competition to be visible in the local social space after the project is completed and to bring real added value.
Deadline for submissions: April 15, 2026
More information
The Finals and Gala of the competition will take place in June 2026 in Warsaw. Teams whose projects receive the highest scores will be invited to participate.
The competition is organized by the KARTA Center Foundation and funded by Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of the “Learning Schools” program.
