Polish Americans

Polish Americans
Polonia amerykańska

Americans with Polish ancestry by state according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019
Total population
8,810,275 (2.7%) alone or in combination 2,744,941 (0.8%) Polish alone U.S. Census ACS 2021 estimates, self-reported[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Northeast (New York · New Jersey · Maryland · Connecticut · Massachusetts · Pennsylvania (Luzerne County and Lackawanna County)) Sioux City) · Some in Kansas · Missouri) · California · Growing in Arizona · Florida · Colorado
Languages
English (American English dialects) · Polish
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism · Protestantism · Judaism[3]
Related ethnic groups
Other Poles • Polish Jews • Texan Silesians • Kashubian Americans • Czech Americans • Slovak Americans • Sorbian Americans

Polish Americans (

In 2000, 667,414 Americans over five 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.

History

The history of Polish immigration to the United States can be divided into three stages, beginning with the first stage in the colonial era down to 1870, small numbers of Poles and Polish subjects came to America as individuals or in small family groups, and they quickly assimilated and did not form separate communities, with the exception of Panna Maria, Texas founded in the 1850s. For instance, Polish settlers came to the Virginia Colony as skilled craftsmen as early as 1608.^[10][11] Some Jews from Poland even assimilated into cities which were Polish (and also other Slavic and sometimes additionally Jewish) bastions to conceal their Jewish identities.^[12]

In the second stage from 1870 to 1914, Poles and Polish subjects formed a significant part of the wave of immigration from

During the third stage from 1914 to present, the United States has seen mass emigration from Poland, and the coming of age of several generations of fully assimilated Polish Americans. Immigration from Poland has continued into the early 2000s and began to decline after Poland had joined the European Union in 2004. The income levels have gone up from well below average, to above average. Poles became active members of the liberal

Helena Lopata (1976) argues that Poles differed from most other ethnic groups in America in several ways. 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 a desirable social status in the old world for themselves. However, many of the temporary migrants decided to become permanent Americans.

Many found manual labor jobs in the coal mines of

The U.S. Census asked Polish immigrants to specify Polish as their native language beginning in Chicago in 1900, allowing the government to enumerate them as an individual nationality when there was no Polish nation-state.

Historically, Polish-Americans have assimilated very quickly to American society. Between 1940 and 1960, only 20 percent of the children of Polish-American ethnic leaders spoke Polish regularly, compared to 50 percent for Ukrainians.[22] In the early 1960s, 3,000 of Detroit's 300,000 Polish-Americans changed their names each year. Language proficiency in Polish is rare in Polish-Americans, as 91.3% speak "English only."^[21] In 1979, the 8 million respondents of Polish ancestry reported that only 41.5 percent had single ancestry, whereas 57.3% of Greeks, 52% of Italians and Sicilians, and 44% of Ukrainians had done so (clarification needed). Polish-Americans tended to marry exogamously in the postwar era in high numbers, and tended to marry within the Catholic population, often to persons of German (17%), Italian (10%), East European (8%), Irish (5%), French (4%), Spanish-speaking (2%), Lithuanian (2%), and English (1%) ancestry.^[23]

Polish-born population

Polish-born population in the U.S. since 2010:^[24]

Year	Number
2010	475,503
2011	461,618
2012	440,312
2013	432,601
2014	424,460
2015	419,332
2016	424,928
2017	418,775

Communities

The vast majority of Polish immigrants settled in metropolitan areas, attracted by jobs in industry. The minority, by some estimates, only ten percent, settled in rural areas.

Historian John Bukowczyk noted that Polish immigrants in America were highly mobile, and 40 to 60 percent were likely to move from any given urban neighborhood within 10 years.^[25] The reasons for this are very individualistic; Bukowczyk's theory is that many immigrants with agricultural backgrounds were eager to migrate because they were finally freed from the local plots of land they had owned in Poland. Others ventured into business and entrepreneurship, and the majority of them opened small retail shops such as bakeries, butcher shops, saloons, and print shops.^[26]

Polish American Heritage Month is an event in October by Polish American communities, first celebrated in 1981.

Chicago

One of the most notable in size of the urban Polish American communities is in

Linden, New Jersey in Union County, near Newark Liberty International Airport, has become heavily first-generation Polish in recent years.^[when?] 15.6% of the residents five years old and above in the city of Linden primarily speak Polish at home and a variety of Polish-speaking establishments may be found by the Linden station, which is a direct line to Manhattan. St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Church offers masses in Polish.^{[citation needed]}

In the early part of the 20th century, up to and immediately following the second World War, Newark, New Jersey and Elizabeth, New Jersey were the primary, historic centers of 'Polonia' as Polish-Americans of that era thought of themselves. Castle Garden and Ellis Island generation immigrants and those that followed them found employment in the industries of these two cities as well as Linden which housed oil refineries and auto manufacturing. Initial settlements were in Newark, primarily the "Ironbound" section, where St. Stanislaw Roman Catholic Church, followed by Casimir's Parish were the first parish churches founded and built by the communities there. In Elizabeth, the first parish serving the Polish community is St. Adalbert's Roman Catholic Church. All these parishes are over 100 years old, dating from the late 1800s, with churches constructed in the early 20th century. Post-war prosperity allowed many Polish Americans to disperse from the original core in New Jersey's industrial areas to the surrounding suburban communities. Documentation of their early history may be found on individual parish websites. Other significant centers of Polish settlement in New Jersey included Garfield, New Jersey, Manville in Somerset County, Trenton, New Jersey, and Camden, New Jersey.^{[citation needed]}

Other areas

In

The Kosciuszko Foundation is based in New York.

Wisconsin and Minnesota

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.^[35] 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. Despite relative isolation from Poland and larger urban Polonian communities, due to strong community integration these communities continued speaking Polish into the 1970s in some cases and continue to have a strong Polish identity.

Michigan

The Polish influence is still felt throughout the entire metropolitan Detroit area, especially the suburb of

Outside of Metro Detroit, Polish Americans retain a strong presence in Northern Michigan. The town of Cedar in Leelanau County retains a large Polish presence, and is home to a Polish Art Center, as well as an annual polka festival.^[37] The counties of Alpena, Presque Isle, and Huron also have a large percentage and population of families of Polish immigrants.

Ohio

Other Polish language churches in Cleveland city include St. Casimir, St. Barbara, and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Outside of annual church festivals, other major city celebrations include Dyngus Day and the Slavic Village Harvest Festival, celebrating with Polish food, customer, and Polka music.^[40] Cleveland is home to the Polka Hall of Fame.

Poles in Cleveland were instrumental in forming the

Other industrial cities, with major Polish communities, include:

In 2007, at the urging of Attorney Adrian Baron and the local Polonia Business Association, New Britain, Connecticut officially designated its Broad Street neighborhood as Little Poland, where an estimated 30,000 residents claim Polish heritage. Visitors can do an entire day's business completely in Polish including banking, shopping, dining, legal consultations, and even dance lessons. The area has retained its Polish character since 1890. There is also a Polish community in Las Vegas.^[41]

By state totals

As of the 2021 American Community Survey, the distribution of Polish Americans across the 50 states and DC is as presented in the following table:

Estimated Polish American population by state^[42][1]

State	Number	Percentage
Alabama	28,557	0.57%
Alaska	13,693	1.86%
Arizona	153,023	2.16%
Arkansas	22,785	0.76%
California	452,019	1.15%
Colorado	133,378	2.33%
Connecticut	240,390	6.67%
Delaware	39,254	4.00%
District of Columbia	15,330	2.24%
Florida	478,483	2.24%
Georgia	108,837	1.02%
Hawaii	12,894	0.89%
Idaho	21,739	1.20%
Illinois	825,037	6.43%
Indiana	197,807	2.93%
Iowa	38,951	1.23%
Kansas	37,188	1.27%
Kentucky	40,899	0.91%
Louisiana	20,842	0.45%
Maine	30,038	2.21%
Maryland	172,300	2.80%
Massachusetts	283,050	4.05%
Michigan	784,200	7.79%
Minnesota	236,895	4.18%
Mississippi	11,882	0.40%
Missouri	97,813	1.59%
Montana	18,912	1.75%
Nebraska	61,910	3.17%
Nevada	52,563	1.72%
New Hampshire	53,939	3.93%
New Jersey	470,082	5.09%
New Mexico	20,065	0.95%
New York	866,242	4.31%
North Carolina	148,987	1.44%
North Dakota	16,032	2.07%
Ohio	414,587	3.52%
Oklahoma	29,735	0.75%
Oregon	68,963	1.64%
Pennsylvania	757,627	5.84%
Rhode Island	36,411	3.33%
South Carolina	74,893	1.47%
South Dakota	13,600	1.54%
Tennessee	74,289	1.08%
Texas	287,928	1.00%
Utah	25,477	0.79%
Vermont	23,234	3.62%
Virginia	151,996	1.77%
Washington	126,400	1.66%
West Virginia	28,241	1.57%
Wisconsin	481,126	8.19%
Wyoming	9,752	1.69%
United States	8,810,275	2.67%

Religion

As in Poland, the majority of

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, St. Casimir's, and SS. Peter and Paul 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 the 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),

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 Americans preserved their longstanding tradition of venerating the Lady of Czestochowa in the United States. Replicas of the painting are common in Polish American churches and parishes, and many churches and parishes are named in her honor. The veneration of the Virgin Mary in Polish parishes is a significant difference between Polish Catholicism and American Catholicism; Polish nuns in the Felician Order for instance, took to Marianism as the cornerstone of their spiritual development, and Polish churches in the U.S. were seen as "cult-like" in their veneration of Mary.^[47] Religious catechism and writings from convents found that Polish nuns in the Felician Sisters and The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth were taught to have "a sound appreciation of Mary's role in the mystery of the Redemption” and “a filial confidence in her patronage," more explicitly, “to be . . . a true daughter to the immaculate Virgin Mary." The Marianism that was taught in Polish parish schools in the United States was done independent of the Catholic Church, and demonstrated autonomy on the part of the nuns who taught Polish American youths. It is notable that there was a concurrent movement in Poland that eventually led to a separatist Catholic church, the Mariavite Church, which greatly expanded the veneration of the Virgin Mary in its doctrine. In Poland, the Virgin Mary was believed to serve as a mother of mercy and salvation for Catholics, and throughout the Middle Ages, Polish knights prayed to her before battle. Polish American churches featured replicas of the Lady of Częstochowa, which was on feature at the Jasna Góra Monastery and holds national and religious significance because of its connection to a victorious military defense in 1655. Several towns in America are named Częstochowa, in commemoration of the town in Poland.^[47]

Though the majority of Polish Americans remained loyal to the Catholic Church, a

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.^[48]

A small group of

In 1969, the median family income was $8,849 for Polish Americans. The median family income for all families in the United States in 1968 was $7,900. Leonard F. Chrobot summarizes the Census data for 1969:[50]

The typical Polish American male was born in the United States, spoke Polish in his home when he was a child, but speaks English now, is 38.7 years old (female: 40.9), and is married to a Polish wife. If he is between 25 and 34 years of age, he completed 12.7 years of school, and if he is over 35, he completed 10.9 years. His median family income is $8,849. The male works as a craftsman, foreman, or kindred occupation, and his wife is employed as a clerical worker.

In 2017, by educational attainment, the U.S. Census estimates that 42.5% have bachelor's degrees or higher, whereas the American population as a whole is 32.0%.^[51] The median household income for Americans of Polish descent is estimated by the U.S. Census as $73,452, with no statistically significant differences from other Slavic-American groups, Czech, Slovak, and Ukrainian. The median household income for those of Russian ancestry has been reported as higher on the U.S. Census, at $80,554.^[21]

Politics

Polish-Americans comprise a large

Polish-Americans founded the Polish American Congress (PAC) in 1944 to create strong leadership and represent Polish interests during World War II. FDR met with the PAC and assured Poles of a peaceful and independent Poland following the war. When this did not come to fruition, and with the publication of Arthur Bliss Lane's I Saw Poland Betrayed in 1947, Polish-Americans came to feel that they had been betrayed by the United States government.^[54] John F. Kennedy won a majority of the Polish vote in 1960, owing in part to his Catholicism and connection to ethnic communities and the labor movement. Since then, Polish voters have been tied to the more conservative wing of the Democratic Party, but shifted away from the Democrats over social issues such as abortion. Poland's liberation from Soviet occupation during the 1980s was championed to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, but Bill Clinton seized Polish voters through his expansion of NATO. The relevance of the "Polish-American vote" has been in question in recent elections, as Americans of Polish descent have assimilated to U.S. society and increased their rate of exogamous marriages.^{[citation needed]}

In modern politics, the Polish-American vote continues to have influence in the United States. The American Polish Advisory Council, a politically involved network of Polish organizations, has created a political platform and convention, and has shared its agenda with politicians, both at the state and federal level. In the 2012 elections, Polish-Americans have been courted by both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Anti-Polonism

The Polish community was long the subject of anti-Polish sentiment in America. The word Polack has become an ethnic slur. This prejudice was partially associated with anti-Catholicism, and early 20th century worries about being overrun by immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.

Culture

The cultural contributions of Polish Americans span a broad spectrum, including in media, in the publishing industry, in religion, art, food, museums, and festivals.

Media

Among the most notable Polish American media groups are

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^[61] and others.

Museums

Among the best known Polish American museums are the

There are a number of unique festivals, street parties and parades held by the Polish American community. The

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

Polish Americans carried on celebrations of Constitution Day throughout their time in the United States without political suppression. In Poland, from 1940 to 1989, the holiday was banned by Nazi and Soviet occupiers.^[66]

Contributions to American culture

Early Polish immigrants built houses with high-pitched roofs in the United States. The high-pitched roof is necessary in a country subject to snow, and is a common feature in Northern and Eastern European architecture. In Panna Maria, Texas, Poles built brick houses with thick walls and high-pitched roofs. Meteorological and soil data show that region in Texas is subject to less than 1 inch of snow^[68] and a meteorological study conducted 1960-1990 found the lowest one-day temperature ever recorded was 5 degrees Fahrenheit on January 21, 1986, highly unlikely to support much snow.^[69] The shaded veranda that was created by these roofs was a popular living space for the Polish Texans, who spent much of their time there to escape the hot temperatures of subtropical Texas. The Poles in Texas added porches to these verandas, often in the southward windy side, which is an alteration to traditional folk architecture.^[70] According to oral histories recorded from descendants, the verandas were used for "almost all daily activities from preparing meals to dressing animal hides."^[70] The Poles in Texas put straw thatching on their roofs until the early 1900s, another European influence. The first house built by a Pole in Panna Maria is the John Gawlik House, constructed in 1858. The building still stands and is visited as a historical attraction in the cultural history of Texas. In 2011, the San Antonio Conservation Society financed a replacement of the building's roof, identifying it as a "historically and architecturally significant building."^[71]

Military

Organizations like the Polish Legion of American Veterans were organized to memorialize the Polish contribution to the American military.^[72] Those who contributed to the Polish military created Polish Army Veterans' Association in America.^[73]

See also

• European Americans
• Kashubian Americans
• Kashubian Diaspora
• Polish American Football League
• Polish Australians
• Polish Brazilians
• Polish British
• Polish Canadians
• Polish Cathedral style
• Polish-American organized crime
• Polish-American vote

Lists

• List of Polish Americans
• List of place names of Polish origin in the United States
• List of U.S. cities with large Polish-American populations

Citations