Fayetteville SPJST

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Fayetteville SPJST. Now, some organizations get started with a handshake and a good intention and then quietly fade away. Others take root so deep you couldn't pull them loose with a team of draft horses.

The Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas, which you might know better by its English name, the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, or simply the SPJST, well, that one took root. It was founded in 1896, right there at the Fayette County courthouse in La Grange, by Czech-Texans who understood that a community looking out for itself is a community that lasts. And last it did.

For more than fifty years, the heart of that whole operation beat right here in Fayetteville. That wasn't an accident. A central figure in the organization, the SPJST secretary J.R.

Kubena, was the kind of man whose influence has a way of keeping things close. Through his work, Fayetteville held onto that home office, and the organization grew around it. Then, in 1953, the home office made the move to Temple, carrying all those decades of Fayetteville history along with it.

But the SPJST didn't slow down. Membership kept growing, steady as you please, year after year. Today it's still out there in Texas communities, promoting Czech heritage, running youth programs, offering scholarships, providing community service, and delivering something the founders understood from the very beginning, life insurance for its members.

Started at a county courthouse in 1896 with a vision, and it's still delivering on it. That's not a tale. That's just the truth.

What the marker says

The Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas, known in English as the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas (SPJST), is a fraternal organization founded by Czech-Texans in 1896 at the Fayette County courthouse in La Grange. For more than 50 years, its headquarters were here in Fayetteville, largely through the influence of SPJST secretary J.R. Kubena, a central figure in the organization. In 1953, the SPJST moved the home office to Temple. Through the years, membership has grown steadily. Today, the SPJST continues to contribute to Texas communities by promoting Czech heritage, community service, youth programs and scholarships, and by providing life insurance for its members. (2007)