Poles in Omaha

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Poles in Omaha, Nebraska have been a significant ethnic group throughout the city's history. With its first Polish immigrants arriving early in the 1870s, Omaha claimed the largest Polish community in the Great Plains by the 1930s.[1] According to the 2000 United States Census, Omaha had a total population of 390,112 residents, 18,447 of whom claimed Polish ancestry.[2] The city's Polish community is historically based in several ethnic enclaves throughout South Omaha, including the city's Little Poland and Sheelytown.

Contents

[edit] History

Poles have had a presence in Omaha since the 1870s, when they started arriving to work in the meatpacking, stockyards, smelting and railroad industries.[3] The state of Nebraska, and Omaha in particular, was advertised heavily in Poland starting in 1877 by the Chicago-based Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. Ralph Modjeski, a Polish-American civil engineer, is credited with helping build the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge in Omaha in 1872.[4] Over the next 50 years Poles continued to immigrate to Omaha, and by the 1930s South Omaha counted more than 10,000 Polish residents. Their new industrial jobs contrasted with their mostly rural upbringing and farming traditions;[5] many were employed by the Omaha Stockyards and the various meatpacking plants throughout the area.[6] Many of these immigrants lived in the Burlington Road neighborhood[7] and Sheelytown, and the city's "Little Poland."

With close-knit ties to their families, the Polish community was strongly Roman Catholic, eventually supporting three parishes in the city. Around 1895, two hundred Polish families lived in Omaha.[8] Few spoke English well, and few were skilled laborers. Their small homes were generally filled with children, and their social lives revolved around a number of societies. They included the Polish Roman Catholic Union, the Polish Union of the United States, the National Alliance, the Pulaski Club, the Polish Welfare Club and the Polish Citizens' Club.[9]

Neighboring enclaves included Little Bohemia and Greektown, as well as a Jewish neighborhood.[10] Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman to serve as governor of an American State, taught at a school in one of Omaha's Polish neighborhoods in the late 1890s.[11]

[edit] St. Paul's incident

In 1891 several families constructed a Roman Catholic church at South 29th and Elm Streets in the Sheelytown neighborhood of South Omaha. That year Father T. Jakimowicz was transferred there from Elba, Nebraska, but left after a few years because of "misunderstandings" between himself and the congregation. Stephen Kaminski, a Polish nationalist, was put forward by dissidents within the congregation to pose as a priest. Those who supported him held the title to the building, and when the local Catholic authorities attempted to settle the dispute in the courts Kaminski and his supporters barricaded themselves in the building. A gunfight ensued, wounding several. When courts ruled that the Roman Catholic bishop owned the rights to the church on March 27, 1895, they burnt it to the ground, and the congregation was dismantled afterwards.[12][13]

[edit] 20th century

Around the turn of the century, members of the Hanscom Park Methodist Episcopal Church became concerned with the "lawlessness and destitute behavior" of Poles living in Sheelytown. They organized dances to compete with the "loose establishments" in the area, which routinely caused a stir among local residents, but were continuously held for many years.[14]

The Western Star was a Polish language newspaper published in Omaha from 1904 to 1945.[15] During the 1920s, the Polish neighborhoods in Omaha produced many successful amateur baseball teams.[16] A statue was placed in honor of Poles from the Omaha area who fought with the Blue Army during World War I at St. John's Cemetery in Bellevue, a suburb of Omaha.[17] In the 1950s it was reported in reference to South Omaha that, "nearly all the Poles live in this area", and that the Polish neighborhoods were "the most segregated and congested of all the districts in Omaha."[18][19]

Starting in the 1940s, Polish immigration into Omaha and all of the Midwestern United States slowed, with few immigrants arriving until the 1980s during the Solidarity-era in Poland.[20]

[edit] Present

Many of the neighborhoods in South Omaha formerly associated with the city's Polish community have been moved into by Mexican immigrants and other Latinos.[21]

The University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center hosts the Omaha Photograph Collection Records, a general, multiethnic collection, that includes numerous photos of Little Poland and Poles in Omaha.[22]

[edit] Notable Poles and Polish-Americans from Omaha

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Radzilowski, J. (2004) "Poles," p 243 in Wishart, D.J. (ed) Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press.
  2. ^ "Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights: Selected Population Group: Polish (142-143)", United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 5/7/08.
  3. ^ Peattie, E.W. (1895) "How they live at Sheely: Pen picture of a strange settlement and its queer inhabitants," in (2005) Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age. University of Nebraska Press. p 61.
  4. ^ Duszak, T. "A Tribute to Ralph Modjeski", Polish-American Center. Retrieved 5/7/08.
  5. ^ Gladsky, T.S. (1992) Princes, Peasants, and Other Polish Selves: Ethnicity in American. University of Massachusetts Press. p 81.
  6. ^ Radzilowski, J. (2004) "Poles," p 243 in Wishart, D.J. (ed) Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press.
  7. ^ "BRNA History", Burlington Roads Neighborhood Association. Retrieved 5/8/08.
  8. ^ Peattie, E.W. (1895) "How they live at Sheely: Pen picture of a strange settlement and its queer inhabitants," in (2005) Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age. University of Nebraska Press. p 61.
  9. ^ Larsen and Cotrell. (2002) The Gate City: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press. p 161.
  10. ^ (1918) Nebraska History. Nebraska State Historical Society. p 405.
  11. ^ Scheer, T.J. (2005) Governor Lady: The Life and Times of Nellie Tayloe Ross. University of Missouri Press. p 225.
  12. ^ Peattie, E.W. (1895) "How they live at Sheely: Pen picture of a strange settlement and its queer inhabitants," in (2005) Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age. University of Nebraska Press. p 61.
  13. ^ "A fight follows Mass", The New York Times. March 13, 1895. Retrieved 4/16/08.
  14. ^ Peattie, E.W. (2005) Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age. University of Nebraska Press. p. 32.
  15. ^ Sisson, R., Zacher, C.K., Cayton, A.R.L., and Zacher, C. (2007) The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. University of Indiana Press. p 233.
  16. ^ Larsen and Cotrell. (2002) The Gate City: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press. p 161.
  17. ^ "St. John's Cemetery", Retrieved 5/7/08.
  18. ^ Sullenger, T.E. (1956) Sociology of Urbanization: A Study in Urban Society. Braun-Brumfield Publishers. p 49.
  19. ^ Sullenger, T.E. (1937) "Problems of Ethnic Assimilation in Omaha," Social Forces, 15;3. March. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 402-410.
  20. ^ Sisson, R., Zacher, C.K., Cayton, A.R.L., and Zacher, C. (2007) The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. University of Indiana Press. p 233.
  21. ^ Thiele, S., Jordan, T.E., Lopez, D.A., et al. (2001) The Latino Experience in Omaha. E. Mellen Press.
  22. ^ The Omaha (Neb.) Photograph Collection Records, General/Multiethnic Collection, Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota
  23. ^ "Official biography: Lieutenant General Leo J. Dulacki - Retired", United States Marin Corps. Retrieved 5/7/08.
  24. ^ Menard, O.D. (2003) "Bernard Kolasa," PS: Political Science and Politics. 36;1. American Political Science Association. p 104.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Allen, D. (1993) "Polish Americans and Ethnic Identity in Foreign Policy." Paper delivered at the Missouri Valley History Conference in Omaha, Nebraska in March.
  • Thernstrom, S. (ed) (1991) Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Belknap Press.
  • Lehman, J. (ed) (2000) Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, 2nd edition. New York: Gale Group.
  • Fox, P. (1978) Poles in America. New York: Arno Press.
  • Morawska, F. (1973) The Poles in America, 1608-1972: A Chronology and Fact Book. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, Inc.
  • Ember, M., Ember, C.R., Skoggard, I. (2005) Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer US.
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