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| Kazimierz Pułaski • Tadeusz Kościuszko • Zbigniew Brzeziński • Martha Stewart • Pola Negri • Mike Krzyzewski • Steven Tyler • Marilyn Manson • Eminem | ||||||
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A Polish American (Polish: Amerykanin polskiego pochodzenia), is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States. No distinction is made in the American census between ethnically Polish Americans and descendants of non-ethnic Poles, such as Jews or Ukrainians, who were born in the territory of Poland and considered themselves Polish nationals. Therefore, some say, of the 10 million Polish Americans, only a certain portion are of Polish ethnic descent. On the other hand, many ethnic Poles when entering the US from 1795–1917, when Poland did not exist, did not identify themselves as ethnic Poles and instead identified themselves as either German, Austrian or Russian (this pertained to the nations occupying Poland from 1795–1917). Therefore, the actual amount of Americans of at least partial Polish ancestry, could be well over 10 million. Polish Americans are the largest European ethnic group in the United States of Slavic and Eastern European origin.
The first Poles in North America arrived in the Virginia Colony in 1608. Early Polish immigrants of note included Jacob Sodowski, Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, who were active in America around the time of the Revolutionary War. Overall, more than one million Poles immigrated to the United States, primarily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Exact immigration numbers are unknown. Owing to the partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish state did not exist at the time when the precursor to the Immigration and Naturalization Service classified immigrants according to country of origin rather than by ethnicity. The three partitions gave rise to the terms "Russian," "German" and "Austrian" for Polish immigrants to the United States.
According to the 2000 United States Census, 667,414 Americans over 5 years old reported Polish as the language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of the census groups who speak a language other than English or 0.25% of the U.S. population.
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The first Poles in North America came to the americas in the boat in the year 1608, twelve years before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts.[1] These early settlers were brought as skilled artisans by the English soldier–adventurer Captain John Smith, and included a glass blower, a pitch and tar maker, a soap maker and a timberman.[1] There are known few names of them: Michał Łowicki, Zbigniew Stefański, Jan Bogdan, Jan Mata, Stanisław Sadowski.[2] These skills were vital to the new settlement, which was evidenced when the House of Burgesses met in 1619. During their deliberations, the House excluded the Polish community and threatened their rights. In reaction, the Poles launched the first recorded strike in the New World.[3] In need of their industries, the House of Burgesses extended the "rights of Englishmen" to the Poles (which included some East Prussians.) As a result, Poles established the first bilingual schools in the New World, teaching both Polish and English, which later would be expanded to include Latin and German as well.[3] The political and economic power of the Polish community declined, however, with the increased colonial warfare with Native Americans.[3]
Later Polish immigrants included Jakub Sadowski, who in 1770, settled in New York with his sons — the first Europeans to penetrate as far as Kentucky. It is said that Sandusky, Ohio, was named after him.[4] As the State of Poland entirely lost its independence at the end of the 18th century due to military partitions by foreign powers, Polish patriots, among them Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, left for America to fight for American Independence.
Kazimierz Pułaski served as Brigadier-general in the Continental Army and commanded its cavalry.[1] He saved General George Washington's army at the Battle of Brandywine and died leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Savannah, aged 31.[1] Pułaski later become known as the "father of American cavalry".[1] He is also commemorated in Casimir Pulaski Day and the Pulaski Day Parade.
Kościuszko was a professional military officer who served in the Continental Army in 1776 and was instrumental in the victories at the Battle of Saratoga and West Point.[1] He led the failed Polish insurrection against Russia which ended with the Partition of Poland in 1795.[1] Pułaski and Kościuszko both have statues in Washington, D.C.[1]
During the Partitions of Poland (1795–1918), the Polish nation was forced to define itself as a disjointed and oppressed minority within three neighboring empires: Russian, Prussian and Austrian. The Polonia community in the United States, however, was founded on a unified national culture and society. Consequently, it assumed the place and moral role of the fourth province.[5]
The largest wave of Polish immigration to America occurred in the early 20th century. Officially, more than 1.5 million Polish immigrants were processed at Ellis Island, between 1899 and 1931. In addition, many Polish immigrants arrived at the port of Baltimore. The actual numbers of ethnically Polish arrivals at that time would be difficult to estimate due to prolonged occupation of Poland by neighboring states, with total loss of its international status. Similar circumstances developed in the following decades: during the Nazi German occupation of Poland in World War II; and further, in the communist period, under the Soviet military and political dominance with re-drawn national borders.[5]
Many Poles emigrated also to America after many national uprisings against three partitioners of Poland - Prussia, Russia and Austria. One of them was doctor of medicine and soldier Felix Wierzbicki veteran of November Uprising. 1849 he published in San Francisco the first English-language book printed in California[6] "California as it is and As It May Be".[7][8][9] Book is an "unvarnished" description of the culture, peoples, and climate of the area in 1849. Wierzbicki described prospective settlers that includes a survey of agriculture and hints on gold mining.[10]
Between 1870 and 1914, more than 3.6 million people departed from Polish territories (of whom 2.6 arrived in the U.S.)[11] Serfdom was abolished in Prussia in 1808, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1848 and in Czarist Russia, in 1861. In the late 19th century, the beginnings of industrialization, commercial agriculture and a population boom, that exhausted available land, transformed Polish peasant-farmers into migrant-laborers. Racial discrimination and unemployment drove them to emigrate.[3]
Initially, the Polish emigrants to America came mainly from the German part of the partitioned Poland, where they were targeted by Bismarck's official policy of anti-Catholic Kulturkampf. Only after 1900, the Prussian Poles were outnumbered by immigrants from Austrian and Russian Poland.
Also, the Russian section of the partition, Congress Poland, was undergoing considerable industrialization, particularly the textile capital of Łódź, the Manchester of Imperial Russia and the iron-foundries of Piotrków Trybunalski. The decline of these areas, after the Russo-Japanese War and the 1905 Russian Revolution, led to a mass exodus of laborers, first to Germany, Denmark and France, then eventually to the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina. At its peak, in 1912–1913, annual emigration to the U.S., from the Polish provinces of the Russian Empire, exceeded 112,345 (including large numbers of Jews, Lithuanians and Belarusians).[3]
In the Polish provinces of Austrian Galicia, chiefly rural, but with laborers in the mines and factories of Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia and Lower Austria, land shortages, crop failures and the loosening of travel restrictions led to another exodus, mainly to Germany, Austria proper, France and the United States.[12] The 1910 United States Census recorded more than 900,000 new immigrants, who spoke Polish.[13]
According to the 2000 United States Census, 667,414 Americans of age 5 years and older, reported Polish as the language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than English or 0.25% of the U.S. population.
Lopata (1976) argues that Poles differed from most ethnics in America, in several ways. First, they did not plan to remain permanently and become "Americanized". Instead, they came temporarily, to earn money, invest, and wait for the right opportunity to return. Their intention was to ensure for themselves a desirable social status in the old world. However, many of the temporary migrants had decided to become permanent Americans.
Following World War I, the reborn Polish state began the process of economic recovery and many Poles tried to return. Since all the ills of life in Poland could be blamed on foreign occupation, the migrants did not resent the Polish upper classes. Their relation with the mother country was generally more positive than among migrants of other European countries. It is estimated that 30% of the Polish emigrants from lands occupied by the Russian Empire returned home. The return rate for non-Jews was closer to 50–60%. More than two-thirds of emigrants from Polish Galicia (freed from under the Austrian occupation) also returned.[3][12]
American employers considered Polish immigrants better suited than Italians, for arduous manual labor in coal-mines, slaughterhouses and steel mills, particularly in the primary stages of steel manufacture. Consequently, Polish migrants were recruited for work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and the heavy industries (steel mills, iron foundries, slaughterhouses, oil and sugar refineries), of the Great Lakes cities of Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Cleveland.
The vast majority of Polish immigrants settled in urban areas, attracted by jobs in industry. The minority, by some estimates, only ten percent, settled in rural areas.
One of the most notable in size of the urban Polish American communities is in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. The Almanac of American Politics 2004 states that "Even today, in Archer Heights (a neighborhood of Chicago), you can scarcely go a block without hearing someone speaking Polish." The New York City metropolitan area is home to the second largest community of Polish Americans.[14]
There are about 9-10 million Americans of Polish descent. Chicago bills itself as the largest Polish city outside of Poland, with approximately 185,000 Polish language speakers.[15] The influence of Chicago's Polish community is demonstrated by the numerous Polish-American organizations: the Polish Museum of America, Polish American Association, Polish American Congress, Polish National Alliance, Polish Falcons and the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America. In addition, Illinois has more than one million people that are of Polish descent, the third largest ethnic group after the German and Irish Americans.
Chicago's Polish community is concentrated along the city's Northwest and Southwest Sides, along Milwaukee and Archer Avenues, respectively. Chicago's Taste of Polonia festival is celebrated at the Copernicus Foundation, in Jefferson Park, every Labor Day weekend. Nearly 3 million people of Polish descent live in the area between Chicago and Detroit, including Northern Indiana, a part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Further north, along Lake Michigan's coast, Milwaukee's Polish population has always been overshadowed by the city's more prominent German inhabitants. Nevertheless, the city's once numerous Polish community built a number of magnificent Polish Cathedrals, among them the magnificent Basilica of St. Josaphat and St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. Many Polish residents and businesses are still located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood. The city is also home to Polish Fest, the largest Polish festival in the United States, where Polish Americans from all over Wisconsin and nearby Chicago, come to celebrate Polish Culture, through music, food and entertainment.[16]
Michigan's Polish population of more than 850,000, is third, behind that of New York and Illinois. Polish Americans make up 8.6% of Michigan's total population. The city of Detroit had a very large Polish community, which historically settled in Poletown and Hamtramck. Poletown was cleared of residents, to make way for the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant. Much of Hamtramck's Polish population moved on to the suburbs and have been replaced by Arab American and African American citizens, in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Polish influence is still felt throughout the entire Metro Detroit area, especially the suburb of Wyandotte, which is slowly emerging as the major center of Polish American activities in the state. An increase in new immigration from Poland is helping to bolster the parish community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and a host of Polish American civic organizations, located within the city of Wyandotte. Also, the Detroit suburb of Troy is home to the American Polish Cultural Center, where the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame has over 200 artifacts on display from over 100 inductees, including Stan Musial and Mike Krzyzewski.[17] St. Mary's Preparatory, a high school in Orchard Lake with historically Polish roots, sponsors a popular annual Polish County Fair that bills itself as "America's Largest High School Fair."
The city of Cleveland, Ohio has a large Polish community, especially in historic Slavic Village, as part of its Warszawa Section. Poles from this part of Cleveland migrated to the suburbs, such as Garfield Heights, Parma and Seven Hills. The more affluent of Cleveland's Polish community live in Brecksville, Independence and Broadview Heights. Many of these Poles return to their Polish roots, by attending masses at St. Stanislaus Church, on East 65th Street and Baxter Avenue. Poles in Cleveland celebrate the annual Harvest Festival, which is usually held at the end of August. It features polka music, Polish food and all things Polish. Cleveland's other Polish section is in Tremont, located on Cleveland's west side. The home parishs are St. John Cantius and St. John Kanty. They also host Polish celebratory events in Cleveland.
Poles, in Cleveland, were instrumental in forming the Third Federal Savings and Loan, in 1938. After seeing fellow Poles discriminated against by Cleveland's banks, Ben Stefanski formed Third Federal. Today the Stefanski family still controls the bank. Unlike Cleveland's KeyBank and National City Corp., which have their headquarters in Downtown Cleveland, Third Federal is on Broadway Avenue in the Slavic Village neighborhood. Third Federal Savings and Loan is in the top 25 saving and loan institutions in the United States. In 2003, they acquired a Florida banking company and have branches in Florida and Ohio.
Other industrial cities, with major Polish communities, include: Buffalo (New York), a city whose Polish neighborhood dispersed into the suburbs and became integrated; Philadelphia, Columbus (Ohio), Boston, Baltimore, New Britain (Connecticut), Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis, Rochester (New York), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Duluth (Minnesota). Despite the lack of new large-scale Polish immigration, some cities are emerging with strong Polish American communities. South Bend, Indiana, has a large Polish population for a mid-sized city. Milwaukee and Denver experienced major increases in their Polish populations, during the last 10 years. There is also a tendency among Poles from Chicago and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to move to Florida.
Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, is the only county in the United States, where a plurality of residents state their ancestry as Polish. (See: Maps of American ancestries) This includes the cities of Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazelton and Nanticoke. Many of the immigrants were drawn to this area, because of the mining of Anthracite coal in the region. Polish influences are still common today, in the form of church bazaars, polka music and polish cuisine. It is widely believed that Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest growing Polish communities in the United States.
In 2007 at the urging of Attorney Adrian Baron and the Polonia Business Association, New Britain,Connecticut officially designated it's Broad Street neighborhood as Little Poland. An estimated 30,000 residents claim Polish heritage. Visitors can do an entire days' business completely in Polish including banking, shopping, dining,legal consultations, even dance lessons. The area has retained it's Polish character since 1890.
In addition, New Jersey also boasts a large Polish population, primarily in the North. Wallington and Garfield are two towns, that combined have a population of 41,000 residents. Of those, roughly 12,000 are Polish. Out of all of Bergen County, roughly 7% consists of Polish-Americans. In addition, towns like Elmwood Park, Clifton and East Rutherford, all have significant Polish populations.
Riverhead, New York, located on Long Island, has a section in town called 'Polish Town.' Many immigrants from the World War II era have settled here. The town has polish architecture, stores and a church, St. Isidore's R.C. Church. Every summer they host a Polish Fair, which takes place on the streets of Polish Town.
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska represent a different type of settlement with significant Polish communities, having been established in rural areas. Historian John Radzilowski estimates that up to a third of Poles in Minnesota settled in rural areas, where they established 40 communities, that were often centered around a Catholic church.[18] Most of these settlers came from the Polish lands that had been taken by Prussia during the Partitions, with a sub-group coming from Silesia. The Kaszub minority, from Poland's Baltic coast, was also strongly represented among Polish immigrants to Minnesota, most notably in Winona.
Most immigrants to North America from the Polish lands, who considered themselves Polish in ethnic or national orientation, were Roman Catholic. These people were responsible for building the Polish Cathedrals, found in the Great Lakes and New England regions and the Mid-Atlantic States. Poles, in the Chicago metropolitan area, founded the following churches: St. Stanislaus Kostka, Holy Trinity, St. John Cantius, Holy Innocents, St. Helen, St. Fidelis, St. Mary of the Angels, St. Hedwig, St. Josaphat, St. Francis of Assisi (Humboldt Park), St. Hyacinth Basilica, St. Wenceslaus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Stanislaus B&M, St. James (Cragin), St. Ladislaus, St. Constance, St. Mary of Perpetual Help, St. Barbara, SS. Peter & Paul, St. Joseph (Back of the Yards), Five Holy Martyrs, St. Pancratius, St. Bruno, St. Camillus, St. Michael (South Chicago), Immaculate Conception (South Chicago), St. Mary Magdalene, St. Bronislava, St. Thecla, St. Florian, St. Mary of Częstochowa (Cicero), St. Simeon (Bellwood), St. Blase (Summit), St. Glowienke (Downers Grove), St. John the Fisherman (Lisle), St. Isidore the Farmer (Blue Island), St. Andrew the Apostle (Calumet City) and St. John the Baptist (Harvey), as well as St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital, on the Near West Side.
Poles established approximately 50 Roman Catholic parishes in Minnesota. Among them: St. Wojciech (Adalbert) and St. Kazimierz (Casimir) in St. Paul; Holy Cross, St. Philip, St. Hedwig (Jadwiga Slaska) and All Saints, in Minneapolis; Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Casimir's in Duluth; and St. Kazimierz (Casimir) and St. Stanislaw Kostka in Winona. A few of the parishes of particular note, founded by Poles elsewhere in Minnesota, include: St. John Cantius in Wilno; St. Jozef (Joseph) in Browerville; St. John in Baptist in Virginia; St. Mary in Częstochowa; St. Wojciech (Adalbert) in Silver Lake; Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Opole; Our Lady of Lourdes in Little Falls; St. Stanislaus B&M in Sobieski; St. Stanislaus Kostka in Bowlus; St. Hedwig in Holdingford; Sacred Heart in Flensburg; Holy Cross in North Prairie; Holy Cross in Harding; and St. Isadore in Moran Township.
Poles in Cleveland established St. Hyacinth's (now closed), Saint Stanislaus Church (1873), Sacred Heart (1888–2010) Immaculate Heart of Mary (1894), St. John Cantius (Westside Poles), St. Barbara (closed), Sts Peter and Paul Church (1927) in Garfield Heights, Saint Therese (1927) Garfield Heights, Marymount Hospital (1948) Garfield Heights, and Saint Monica Church (1952) Garfield Heights. Also, the Polish Community created the Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine on the campus of Marymount Hospital.[19]
Poles in South Bend, Indiana founded four parishes: St. Hedwig Parish (1877), St. Casimir Parish (1898), St. Stanislaus Parish (1907), and St. Adalbert Parish, South Bend (1910).
Circa 1897, in Pittsburgh's Polish Hill, Immaculate Heart of Mary, modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was founded.[20]
To assert their independence from the Irish American-dominated Catholic Church, a group of Roman Catholics of Polish descent broke away, to form the Polish National Catholic Church, which is headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Poland is also home to followers of Protestantism and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Small groups of both of these groups also immigrated to the United States. One of the most celebrated painters of religious icons in North America today is a Polish American Eastern Orthodox priest, Fr. Theodore Jurewicz, who singlehandedly painted New Gračanica Monastery in Third Lake, Illinois, over the span of three years.[21]
A small group of Lipka Tatars, originating from the Białystok region, helped co-found the first Muslim organization in Brooklyn, New York, in 1907 and later, a mosque, which is still in use.[22]
Cultural contributions of Polish Americans cover a broad spectrum including media, publishing industry, religious presence, artistic life, cuisine and museums as well as festivals.
Among the most notable Polish American media groups are: the Hippocrene Books (founded by Polish American George Blagowidow); TVP Polonia; Polsat 2 International; TVN International; Polvision; TV4U New York; WPNA Radio Chicago; Polish Radio External Service (formerly Radio Polonia); Polonia Today and the Warsaw Voice. There are also Polish American newspapers and magazines, such as the Dziennik Związkowy, PL magazine,[23]Polish Weekly Chicago, the Super Express USA and Nowy Dziennik in New York and Tygodnik Polski and The Polish Times in Detroit, not to mention the Ohio University Press Series in Polish American Studies,[24] Przeglad Polski Online, Polish American Journal,[25] the Polish News Online,[26] and Progress for Poland,[27] among others.
Even in long-integrated communities, remnants of Polish culture and vocabulary remain. Roman Catholic churches built by Polish American communities often serve as a vehicle for cultural retention.
During the 1950s–1970s, the Polish wedding was often an all-day event. Traditional Polish weddings in Chicago metropolitan area, in areas such as the southeast side of Chicago, inner suburbs like Calumet City and Hegewisch, and Northwest Indiana suburbs, such as Whiting, Hammond and East Chicago, always occurred on Saturdays. The receptions were typically held in a large hall, such as a VFW Hall. A polka band of drums, a singer, accordion, and trumpet, entertained the people, as they danced traditional dances, such as the oberek, "Polish Hop" and the waltz. Always an important part of Slavic culture, food played a very important role. The musicians, as well as the guests, were expected to enjoy ample amounts of both food and drink. Foods, such as Polish sausage, sauerkraut, pierogi and kluski were common. Common drinks were beer, screwdrivers and highballs. Many popular Polish foods became a fixture in the American cuisine of today, including kiełbasa (Polish sausage), babka cake, kaszanka (kasanzka) and pierogi.
Polish American cultural groups include the White Eagle Lodge, Polish American Arts Association and the Polish Falcons. The Polish community was long the subject of anti-Polish sentiment in America. The word, Polack, has become a racial slur. Much of this prejudice was associated with anti-Catholicism and early 20th century worries, about being overrun by Eastern European immigrants.
Among the many Polish American writers are a number of poets, such as Phil Boiarski, Hedwig Gorski, John Guzlowski, John Minczeski, Linda Nemec Foster, Leonard Kress (poet and translator), Cecilia Woloch, Kim Kikel and Mark Pawlak (poet and editor), along with novelists Leslie Pietrzyk, Thad Rutkowski, Suzanne Strempek Shea[28] and others.
Among the best known Polish American museums are the Polish Museum of America in Chicago's old Polish Downtown; founded in 1935, the largest ethnic museum in the U.S. sponsored by the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. The Museum Library ranks as one of the best, outside of Poland. Equally ambitious is the Polish American Museum located in Port Washington, New York, founded in 1977. It features displays of folk art, costumes, historical artifacts and paintings, as well as bilingual research library with particular focus on achievements of the people of Polish heritage in America.[29][30] There is also the Polish Museum of Winona, known as the Polish Cultural Institute of Winona, Minnesota.
There are a number of unique festivals, street parties and parades held by the Polish American community. The Polish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is a popular annual festival, takes place at the Henry Maier Festival Park. It is also the largest Polish festival in the United States. It attracts Polish Americans from all over Wisconsin and nearby Chicago, who come to celebrate Polish culture through music, food and entertainment.The Polish Festival in Syracuse's Clinton Square has become the largest cultural event in the history of the Polish community in Central New York. There's also the Taste of Polonia festival held in Chicago every Labor Day weekend since 1979 at the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park area. The Polish Festival in Portland, Oregon is reported to be the largest in the Western United States.[31] One of the newest and most ambitious festivals is the Seattle Polish Film Festival organized in conjunction with the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Poland. And last, but not least, there's the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana with many more attractions other than Polish pierogi, and the Wisconsin Dells Polish Fest.[28]
Polish-Americans have influenced American culture in many ways. Most prominent among these is through the inclusion of traditional Polish cuisine such as pierogi, kielbasa, golabki. Some of these Polish foods were tweaked and reinvented in the new American environment such as Chicago's Maxwell Street Polish Sausage.
Polish Americans have also contributed to altering the physical landscape of the cities they have inhabited, erecting monuments to Polish-American heroes such as Kościuszko and Pulaski. Distinctive cultural phenomena such as Polish flats or the Polish Cathedral style of architecture became part and parcel of the areas where Polish settlement occurred.
Poles cultural ties to Roman Catholicism has also influenced the adoption of such distinctive rites like the blessing of the baskets before Easter in many areas of the United States by fellow Roman Catholics.
Polish-Americans comprise a multigenerational ethnic community. Names listed in this category include: Polish-American enclaves with cultural organizations; media outlets; and broadly defined community resources.[32][33]
According to the 2000 United States Census, the U.S. states with the largest numbers of self-reported Poles and Americans of Polish ancestry are:
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