POLISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S.

by Julitta Grocholska

Copyright 1999--Julitta Grocholska and Anglopol Corporation

This is a scholarly work about Polish immigration by Julitta Grocholska, wife of Michal Grocholski, former Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago. Although it focuses particularly on immigration from southern Poland to the Chicago metropolitan area, much of it is applicable to any place Poles have settled in America. Originally published by National-Louis University in Nowy Sacz, Poland, this is its first publication in the United States.

Bibliography and footnotes have been omitted for simplicity. A few words have been added for clarity to American readers. Grammatical changes were made, but the sense of the writing has not been altered.

Part 3

Demographic and spatial changes of the
Polish community in the Chicago Metropolitan Area

The initial mention about Polish immigrants in Chicago was found in the 1860s. The first big wave of immigrants started there in 1880. The area around the intersection of three streets: Milwaukee, Ashland and Division, later called the "Polish triangle," became the center of the Polish settlement. In this area many of the growing number of Polish fraternal, religious, financial, and commercial organizations opened their offices. In the late 1880s Polish immigrants built their first churches--St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity. Then, the next Polish churches were built. It was said about this period, that when Germans constructed factories, Poles constructed churches. In that time the church played very important role and helped Poles in the process of adaptation in the new continent.

At the turn of the century, the arrival of new immigrants enlarged the Polish community. They spread towards the northwest on both sides of Milwaukee Avenue. This area began to be called the "Polish downtown," and that part of Milwaukee Avenue the "Polish commercial corridor." Newcomers settled on both banks of the Chicago River, as well as in the new communities situated in the southern part of the city. The purpose of such location was always the demand for cheap housing and a place of employment. In some ethnic neighborhoods at that time, Poles made up the majority of the population (Pacyga 1987; Znaniecka Lopata 1994 and others)."

The first Polish group of immigrants usually obtained jobs as unskilled, low paid workers, jobs were strenuous and often dangerous in a factory: steel mill, stockyard, tannery, packing house, railroad construction, etc. As a result, they became a working class in Chicago. Most of them were patriots of their homeland attached to tradition, they cultivated Polish language and religious practice, and tried to combine it with local American culture and habits. The lack of knowledge of English kept them isolated from Americans and other ethnic groups. Now, their grandchildren are well adapted to American society, with a greater or lesser knowledge of Polish, but a lot of them still have very strong feelings and ties to the homeland of their grandparents.

The great enlargement of the Polish Community took place during and after World War II. It is estimated that almost half of all Polish immigrants arrived in the U.S. between the years 1939-1959, settled in Chicago, i.e., between 120,000-150,000 people.

As a result of the numerous first and second waves of immigrants, relatively self-sufficient local ethnic communities were created. According to the 1960 National Census, a set of maps titled "People and Settlement Patterns" was prepared (Mayer & Wade 1969). Among the 12 most numerous ethnic groups, Poles were on the top of this list with 258,657 people; next were Germans with 161,567.

Many of the second group of Polish immigrants who came to Chicago formed their own groups, especially those of ex-combatants, or they joined already existing organizations. Although the rivalry between the two groups was particularly strong in Chicago, the arrival of "New Polonia" revitalized "Old Polonia" and strengthened the connection with old country, particularly after the communists took over.

Interesting data about Chicago's Polish American population from the former period are contained in the study of D.A. Pacyga (Pacyga 1987). According to this the Polish American population was an aging one, more in the city than in the suburbs. The average age of Chicago's Polish Americans was a little over 50 years, while the average age for all Chicagoans at that time (1970) was 20 years less. Suburban Polish American were better educated than those in the city, but still lagged behind the suburban population in general. The Polish families' medium income, both in Chicago and in the suburbs, was higher than the medium income of other residents of that area. The largest group of Polish Americans worked as operators and laborers 32%, followed by sales and clerical workers 28%, while only 14% were professionals; managers as compared to the Chicago general population made up 18%. More Polish Americans worked as craftsmen (16%) than Chicagoans (13%). In the suburban zone, the Polish working professional and economic status was higher than that of the residents of the city.

Of the Polish families who lived in Chicago, 62% were owners of their houses as compared to 35% of all Chicagoans. In the suburbs, this percentage share was even higher (85%). It is obvious that Poles who became the owners of real estate were more attached to their ownership than those who were the tenants. It resulted in Poles moving less frequently than Americans, who have been very mobile in searching for a better job. But, it has been observed that the younger generation of Pole was upwardly mobile, and sought education as a means to self-improvement. As a result, ethnic barriers diminished and the walls surrounding the ethnic ghettos gradually cracked and fell.

According to the 1980 National Census the highest number of Poles and Polish Americans lived in New York state (a total of about one million,) half of them in New York City. Ranked second was the state of Illinois with nearly 900,000 Polish and Polish-and-Other residents. Here about 90% lived in the Chicago agglomeration known as the Chicago Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA).

The highest number of exclusively Polish and Polish-and-Other ancestry population lived in Cook county. The next in ranking was Chicago itself. That is because Chicago and its nearest vicinity is situated in the Cook County. After these were DuPage and Lake counties. On the other hand, people of mixed ancestry were mostly settled in the outer Cook County area and in the suburbs.

It is also interesting to note what nationalities were most numerous in Chicago and in each of the surrounding "collar" counties. According to the 1980 National Census it is clear that persons of Polish and Polish-and-Other ancestry were most numerous in Chicago (10.1% and in Cook county (11.8%). Second were Germans and, after them, Italians--in both units. Beyond that, there were also Poles who were not included in the National Census Survey (illegal residents). In 1980 their number was estimated in the Chicago SMSA between 50-60,000 persons.

As a conclusion to this section, it is possible to state that the total number of Poles, Polish Americans and people of partly Polish ancestry with illegal "wakacjusze," [vacation visas] could be estimated in the whole Chicago SMSA area in 1980 as 860,000 residents; in the city of Chicago, no more than 330,000 persons; in the whole of Cook County about 680,000 persons.

--Continued Next Month--