Chicago’s Polania
Polish American Immigrants In Chicago

I will be writing my final paper on Polish American Immigrants who settle in Chicago Illinois. I will be referring to Polish American Immigrants in this essay as (Poles) periodically. The majority of Polish immigrants emigrating to the United States of America was in the 1800’s. This period was considered the first out of three waves of Polish immigrants to settle in America. The first major wave was between 1800 and 1860, many of the emigrating Poles were fleeing for America because of political revolution in their homeland. Many Poles liked the idea of a self governing political system that The United States of America had to offer. The Polish people had to endure many hardships in their homeland of Poland. From civil wars, political uprisings, and occupations from enemy countries (Germany, Russia, Prussia) invading their homeland. Along with these invasions and occupations came persecution of the Polish people. “This group fled their country mainly because of political insurrections. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service have estimated that fewer than 2,000 Poles immigrated during this wave.” (Into America) They sought refuge and a new life in America. During this wave it is estimated that 0nly 2,000 Poles had immigrated to America.

The next two waves of Polish American immigrants to arrive in the United States were after World War II (WWII). The Polish people lost 12% of its population during WWII, although the Soviet Union was one of the saving forces during the war for the Polish Nation, soon after the war ended Poland was transformed into a communist government by the Soviet Union. “After World War II, Polish immigrants streamed into the United States once more. U.S. immigration regulations were amended; more than 190,000 Polish political exiles and displaced persons were admitted to the U.S. 1945 to 1969.” (Suite) During this time of economic and political upheaval Poles left Poland and sought a new dream in America. During this time of Polish Immigration, the newly arriving Poles were referred to as “za chlebem” or “for bread”. No matter which wave of Poles referred to, they were known for their hard work ethic and determination to assimilate to their new country.
The third wave of Polish American immigrants to the United States was in the early 80’s, due to communism and Martial Law be instilled throughout Poland at that time, many Poles sought refuge in America. “Some won visa on the visa lottery. Some immigrants of the newest wave are very skilled professionals. Quite numerous group of faculty in American universities consist of good educated Polish immigrants of the newest wave.” (Three Waves) This wave of Polish immigrants were more educated and contributed more to America then the waves before. Many had no problem finding good jobs due to their educations and careers in Poland.
After the arrival to America the majority of Poles settled in major metropolitan areas, Cities like Michigan, New York City, Chicago, and cities in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Chicago is noted for being the largest to receive Polish immigrants and still holding the largest population of Polish American Immigrants in the United States. Many Poles settled in Polish neighborhoods called “Polania”, Polania is the Polish language in Latin. Polania also refers to a Polish community within a city. Many Poles did not form communities upon entering the United States, but rather sought to assimilate as quickly as possible to their host country. However, this did not mean that they did not form communities or live in neighborhoods that were mostly Polish. This was a result of Poles from Poland throughout history having to migrate or escape some sort of persecution or unbearable living conditions in their own country. They became accustomed to assimilating to whatever host country they found themselves moving to, Countries such as Russia, Germany, Italia, and Austria. Polish is the second largest spoken language in Chicago besides English, Spanish being the first.
Chicago boosts the largest population of Polish speaking people outside of Poland. It’s estimated that the Polish speaking population is 185,000. “Studies show that growing percentages of immigrants learn English the longer that they are in the U.S., but large numbers of Polish immigrants at any given moment are in need of opportunities to learn the language of their adopted country.” (Metro) In Chicago there is a great demand for classes to learn to speak English for Polish immigrants. Many schools and organizations geared toward helping Poles assimilate to American society and learning the language are in demand and accessible.
Polish Immigrants arrived in Chicago shortly after the Civil War around 1850. The community thriving with Polish immigrants was located on the North West side of Chicago and was known as Polonia, Polonia meaning in Latin the Polish language. The North West Polish American community was not the only community of Poles in the City. There were five distinct Polish sections of Chicago, soon after the North Western Pole community was established more Polish American immigrants arrived in Chicago and established Polish communities in rural suburbs such as Bridgeport, McKinley Park, and South Chicago, Pullman, and Hegewisch. Many of these Polish communities were established around Polish Catholic Churches and industrial areas of the city. “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.” (Encyclopedia of Chicago) Occupations for Poles were mostly jobs that required hard workers, so many found jobs in steel mills, meat packing plants, and slaughter houses, any type of factory or mill that required hard work. Many were happy to take any kind of work they could considering there wasn’t much work in their homeland of Poland that they had migrated from. Poles were very good at saving money also, woman and children were encouraged to work from sunrise to sun down just like the men. Many Polish entrepreneurs flourished in the Polish communities of Chicago from bakeries, grocery stores, any type of business catering to Polish American immigrants living in their Polanias. .” These businesses include the Goldblatt Brothers, Polk Brothers, and Meyer Brothers department stores. Along with the stores lining busy streets, a large group of Polish professionals, including doctors, lawyers, and journalists, served the immigrant community.” (Encyclopedia of Chicago)
“Polish Chicagoans also participated in the labor movement. Beginning with the 1904 strike, they took an active part in unionizing the stockyards. Several Polish priests supported the labor movement and helped solidify Polish American support for unionization. Poles also played important leadership roles in the 1919 steel strike and in the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) drives of the 1930s and 1940s.” (Encyclopedia Of Chicago) Chicago’s Polish American immigrants have always tried to maintain solidarity in their neighborhoods, churches, politics, and workforce. They were and are famous for organizing activist groups and functions to help benefit their culture in America or whatever country they were inhabiting. This was second nature for many of the first generation immigrants in America. Most had migrated from the homeland of Poland where they had experienced communism from the hands of the Soviet Union after WWII. This was not a choice for them to have to become communist, after WWII to appease the Soviet Union demand of Allied forces to give them rule over Poland the transformation of Poland was commenced whether the Polish people wanted this or not. So, solidarity was bred into Polish culture and was an easy task to undertake.

The Polish American immigrant culture in Chicago however eager to work did not always find open arms from fellow employees or their employers. Many faced discrimination in different ways, of course the freshly arriving Poles were different from the already settled immigrants in Chicago. From the way they dressed, their customs, most only spoke broken English if any English at all. And of course the majority of Polish immigrants were of Roman Catholic Faith “The majority of new arrivals did not speak English, were Roman Catholic, and may have dressed differently from the surrounding population of Anglo-Saxon Protestants.” (Suite 101). And of course with any immigrant population of newcomers looking for work the already settled populous looked at fresh immigrants as possible competition, and blamed them for the lack of positions and low wages as a result of the new immigrants looking vigorously for employment. The Poles arriving to America had little money in their pockets and came from a country where many were unemployed, so of course they were eager to find any type of work at any pay.
And of course there was racial discrimination and stereotyping. Stereotyping was blatant in these times and it was not out of the ordinary to see signs requesting specific ethnicities apply for certain positions or industry. “An advertisement from a 1909 Pittsburgh newspaper, which sought men to work in a steel mill, saying “Syrians, Poles and Romanians Preferred.”” (Suite 101) Polish immigrants were favored by employers for their hardiness in this type of industry. However, true or untrue at the time there were no real laws set up to protect people from labor discrimination at the time. Regardless of what type of stereo typing was present at the time this did not discourage the Polish American immigrants trying their hardest to find jobs and make a better life in America than they had in Poland.
Polish American immigrants faced similar discrimination and stereo typing as any other immigrant ethnic group coming to America. Poles were very anxious to assimilate and become as American as the majority of inhabitants in American Chicago. However, the racial and ethnic divide caused much harshness in regards to racial discrimination and stereo typing toward the Polish American immigrants. “There were many stereotypes associated with Poles in the United States. The “Polish Joke” said that all Poles were slow, stupid, undependable, volatile drunkards. When Poles first settled in the United States, they were accused of not wanting to assimilate, holding closely to their language, culture, and religion.” (The Advocates) Polish American immigrants aspired and dreamed of becoming American citizens, coming from the Polish homeland where they did not have the right to speak on how their Soviet Union run communistic Poland was run, and had very limited rights as citizens in their own country, were very anxious to become American citizens. Once becoming an American citizen they had the right to vote, hold political positions in their communities to a degree, also many looked at citizenship as a form of acceptance.
Polish American immigrants in America held strong ties to their homeland. Many came with the idea of finding work in America, saving as much as they could and returning to Poland with their savings to live a better life. The ties between American Poles and the homeland of Poland was so strong that many American Poles sent money home to their families and to support political movements to help the native pole population in Poland. “As one author puts it, “The amount of money Polish workers sent overseas eventually became so large that it worried both American and European authorities” (Harvard 797). In 1910 alone, $40 million was sent back to Poland.” (The Advocates) Many American’s viewed this sending back so much money to Poland as non-patriotic, and blamed this act of hurting the economy in America.
Polish American communities in Chicago had brought together many organizations benefiting the Polish American people, not only in Chicago but would later spread throughout other Polish American communities in America. One of the first recognizable organizations in Chicago for Poles was the first Polish Society of St. Stanislaus Kostka in 1864. “The Polish Society of St. Stanislaus Kostka organization prepared the community for the development of the first Polish Roman Catholic parish in the city. (Encyclopedia of Chicago) There was the Polish National Alliance (PNA) which was started in 1880. This organization was started to support Polish Independence and simulation of Poles into American society. The PNA’s main goal was to unite all Poles worldwide under fraternal order, with the focus on liberating the homeland (Poland). During WWI the PNA was responsible for raising over five million towards war relief efforts in Poland. During WWII the PNA’s membership numbers reached well over 300,000 and was responsible for starting the American Polish Congress. By the mid 1990’s the PNA had acquired more than $300,000,000 in total assets supporting thousands of Polish American scholarships, Polish studies programs, cultural endeavors, and social welfare projects for Poles across the United States.
Another Polish American organization that benefited Polish American immigrants was The Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCU). “The group committed the PRCU to ethnic unity, mutual aid, insurance and death benefits, the care of “widows, widowers and orphans,” and “absolute obedience to the bishops, and pastors anointed by them.” Dominated by the clergy in its early years, the PRCU emphasized its Catholic character, especially in contrast to its more secular rival, the Polish National Alliance (PNA).” (Encyclopedia of Chicago)
The Polish American communities in Chicago had great groups benefiting their cultural communities in Chicago. These organizations that were started as grass root movements and organizations in Chicago spread throughout other Polish American communities in other U.S. cities. Chicago’s Polania would soon become the bench mark for other Polania’s throughout America. Chicago’s power base for their Polania’s was its churches and building its communities around them. Many of the Polish American organizations that were founded in Chicago benefiting Poles in America, had spread to other Polania communities through out America. “By the end of the nineteenth century, Polonia constituted the core of an almost institutionally complete ethnic community, with the parishes providing the base for much of this community development, along with institutions such as fraternal organizations, newspapers, and schools. Most of the large national fraternal orders located their headquarters near the intersection of Milwaukee and Ashland Avenues with Division Street. This neighborhood, home to the parishes of St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity, quickly developed as the national capital of the American Polonia.” (Encyclopedia Chicago)
Within the Polish American Communities came Polish newspapers. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s newspapers were the main form of communicating the news and information to the populations.” Polonia's many newspapers and periodicals, initially only in Polish but later in the English language as well, also provided Polish-Americans with information pertaining both to their communities and the homeland.” ( Info Poland ) Many of the newspapers catering to Polish American immigrants in Chicago offered content of information and news about the homeland (Poland), politics, culture, politics, etc. The Polish American newspapers also offered information on events and news occurring in Chicago and Polish communities in Chicago. “The major Polish newspapers also opened offices here, such as the Dziennik Związkowy (Daily Alliance), Dziennik Chicagoski (Chicago Daily), Naród Polski (The Polish Nation), and Dziennik Zjednoczenia (Daily Union)” (Encyclopedia Chicago) Poles could rely on the newspaper for information regarding special functions in their communities, such as church, school, and social events geared toward Polish life in Chicago. In the early 1900’s Chicago soon became the Journalistic hub for Polish newspapers and Jouranlism in America.

Life for most Poles in Chicago consisted of work, family, church, and Polish community social functions. In Polish households, the main focus of the family was to make sure food was on the table. The whole family worked from morning until sundown, mothers and children also worked. Polish families did not partake in higher education this was not a priority in the family unit. “Poles continued with their religion, setting up huge churches that were greatly attended. The church was the center of the community where a Pole could discuss social problems, religious beliefs, etc. The Poles felt strongly about their churches. They kept the service in Polish, celebrated Polish holidays and kept Polish Saints alive. The Polish culture needed to have Polish churches. Without their own churches the Poles believed they would lose their identity.”(needham) “An agrarian people, many Poles have traditions and beliefs that revolve around the calendar year, the time for sowing and for reaping. And inextricably linked to this rhythm is that of the Catholic Church whose saints' days mark the cycle of the year.” (EveryCulture) Polish American immigrants like their homeland ancestor Poles held tightly to their traditions, customs, and beliefs. Through the generations in Poland since the Slavic tribes Poles have had a sense of kinship and loyalty to their communities.
For the Polish men life in Chicago consisted of working manual labor jobs for the first generation immigrants found work doing menial, labor intensive, low paying and sometimes dangerous jobs, Jobs such as factory workers. Women in the Polish American Family were the heads of the household, they were responsible for taking care of the household and raising the children. For extra income some would take in laundry, and rent out rooms in their homes to boarders. If the women did not have children to take care of at home they would work in laundries, retail shops, and light manufacturing jobs. Children in the mid 1800’s and early 1900’s were expected to work as did the rest of the adult family. However, when it was appropriate the Polish children did attend parochial schools that were set up by the local churches for the Poles.
Conclusion
“Chicago’s Polish immigrant population, at nearly 70,000 is the largest in the United States. Nearly one third or 29.9 percent of all Polish immigrants in the United States live in the Chicago area.” (Rob Paral) Life today for Chicago’s Polish immigrant populations that have settled there over the past 150 years has changed and yet in some ways stayed the same. Many Poles have moved from the inner city of Chicago to the suburbs in pursuit of the American Dream. While still some Poles choose the intimacy of living in the Polania communities inside of Chicago’s inner city, Many Poles still living within the Polania communities of Chicago desire a closeness to their culture and the convenience of what their Polish community has to offer such as Polish Deli’s, markets, churches, and restaurants. “There are many Poles, however, who continue to live in the city. In some cases this is precisely because they crave the traditional urban closeness to people, the walkability, and the rich social life, even if it might mean ignoring crime or higher real estate prices.” (Area Chicago) These Poles that desire to maintain their lives in Polish communities in Chicago desire the intimacy of being around other Poles in their daily lives. Whereas the Poles that have moved to the suburbs do not require as much interaction with their Polish neighbors and tight nit Polish communities of the Polanias that thrive inside of Chicago’s city. Some might have moved to the suburbs as a shift in industrial jobs that were robust in the inner city of Chicago and have dwindled now. Or, some might hve had the college education that has given them the opportunity for jobs outside of the industrial occupations. Over the years Chicago Poles have assimilated to American society well. Poles have been noted as assimilating better than other non-European groups into American society. However they have still held onto their cultures traditions, holding fast to their traditions and roots of Poland.

Bibliography
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