Poles in Chicago

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Poles in Chicago, also known as Chicago Polonia, refers to both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage living in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide Polonia, the proper term for the Polish Diaspora outside of the Republic of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago from its very beginning. Poles have been a part of the history of Chicago since 1837, when Captain John Napieralski, along with other veterans of the January Insurrection first set foot there.[1] Today Poles in Chicago are held to be the largest white ethnic group in the city.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

A number of Poles contributed to the history of the city together with Captain Napieralski, a veteran of Cross Mountain during the January Insurrection. Along with him came other early Polish settlers such as Major Louis Chlopicki, the nephew of General Józef Chłopicki who had been the leader of the same insurrection. Not to mention certain A. Panakaske (Panakaski) who resided in the second ward in the 1830s as well as J. Zoliski who lived in the sixth ward with records of both men having cast their ballots for William B. Ogden in the 1837 mayoral race in Chicago.[3]

[edit] Distribution

Polish market in Chicago
Polish market in Chicago

According to Dominic Pacyga, most of the Poles who first came to Chicago settled in five distinct parts of the city.[4] The first of those Polish Patches, as they were colloquially referred to, was located on the Near Northwest Side. Centering on the Polish Triangle at the intersection of Milwaukee and Ashland avenues with Division street it later became known as Polish Downtown. The second large settlement developed in Pilsen on the west side near 18th street and Ashland avenue. Poles established two separate enclaves in the Stock Yard district, one in Bridgeport, the other in the Back of the Yards near 47th street and Ashland avenue. Another Polish neighborhood developed in the area around the massive Illinois Steel works in South Chicago in the area colloquially referred to as "the Bush". Polish communities in Chicago were often founded and organized around churches mostly by peasant immigrants who named their neighbourhoods after them, like Bronislawowo, named after St. Bronislava.* Sometimes the neighbourhoods are contiguous so its difficult to say precisely where one ends and one begins, as in the case of 'Stanislawowo' by the church of St. Stanislaus Kostka and 'Trojcowo' by Holy Trinity Polish Mission in the former area of Polish Downtown.

* In Polish the ending 'owo' in e.g. Bronislawowo functions similar to English 'ville' in Johnsville or 'ton' in Charleston. When added to a name of a saint, it indicates a Polish sounding town or a village. This is a colloquial phenomenon, not present in educated Polish; however, it persists in the names of different Polish areas of Chicago.

[edit] Original Historical Polish Patches

Polish Downtown

Lower West Side

  • Wojciechowo- The area around St. Adalbert's in Chicago
  • Annowo- The area around St.Anns in Chicago
  • Romanowo- The area around St. Roman's
  • Kazimierzowo- The area around the former St. Casimir's

Bridgeport

Back of the Yards

  • Jozefowo- The area around St. Joseph's in Chicago
  • Janowo- The area around St. John of God
  • Sercanowo- The area around Sacred Heart

South Chicago

Later as Poles grew in number and advanced economically, they migrated further out into outlying areas[5].. The result was that the West Town/Logan Square settlement in Polish Downtown spread westward along North Avenue and northwestward along Milwaukee thereby creating a "Polish Corridor" which tied in contiguous areas such as Norwood Park, Jefferson Park, Portage Park, and Belmont-Cragin.[6] The same kind of advance occurred in the other original areas of Polish settlements so that Poles from both the Lower West Side and the Back of the Yards moved into both sides of Archer avenue, giving rise to sizable Polish settlements on the Southwest Side of the city such as McKinley Park, Garfield Ridge, Brighton Park and Archer Heights.[7] On the far Southeast Side, the South Chicago "steel mill settlements" spilled over into Pullman, Roseland, Hegewisch and Calumet City as well as into Lake County in Northwest Indiana, where thriving Polish communities were found in North Hammond, Whiting, the Indian Harbor section of East Chicago and several neighborhoods in the newly built industrial city of Gary.[8]

[edit] Subsequent Historical Polish Patches

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Square

  • U Przemienienia - The area around Transfiguration

Avondale

Irving Park

  • The area around Immaculate Heart of Mary

Portage Park

Jefferson Park

  • Konstancowo - The area around St. Constance

Norwood Park

  • Teklowo - The area around St. Thecla

Belmont Cragin

  • Jakubowo - The area around St. James
  • U Biskupa (Stanislawowo) - The area around St.Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr

McKinley Park U Piotra i Pawla - The area around Ss Peter and Paul

Archer Heights

  • Brunowo - The area around St. Bruno

Garfield Ridge

Brighton Park

  • U Pieciu Braci - The area around Five Holy Martyrs
  • Pankracowo - The area around St. Pancratius

Humboldt Park

  • U Franciszka - The area around St. Fancis of Assisi

South Lawndale

  • U Dobrego Pasterza - The area around Good Shepherd

West Elsdon

  • Turibiuszowo - The area around St. Turibius

Roseland

  • Salomejowo - The area around St. Salomea

Hegewisch

  • Florianowo - The area around St.Florian

Over the course of the city's development as the city's Polish community climbed further up the economic ladder and were followed by new waves of immigrants the concentration of Poles shifted to different areas of the city.

Current Polish Patches: Polish Masses in Chicago Area provided by Polsort

[edit] The Polish Presence in Chicago Today

Polish store on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago
Polish store on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago

Chicago bills itself as the largest Polish city outside of Poland with approximately 185,000 Polish speakers in Chicago metropolitan area, although some maintain that after Poland's entry into the EU, London, England is now likely to have more than double this[9]. Chicago's Polish presence is felt in the large number of Polish-American organizations located here beginning with the Polish Museum of America, the Polish American Association, the Polish National Alliance and the Polish Highlander's Alliance of North America. Chicago celebrates its Polish Heritage every Labor Day weekend at the Taste of Polonia Festival in Jefferson Park.[10] Illinois is one of the few states that celebrates Casimir Pulaski Day due to the influence of this large population.

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".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 19
  2. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 18
  3. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 19
  4. ^ Pacyga, Dominic "Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago: Workers on the South Side, 1880-1922" University of Chicago Press, 1991,p. 41-42
  5. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p.75
  6. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 75
  7. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 75
  8. ^ Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 75
  9. ^ The Polish Community in Metro Chicago:A Community Profile of Strengths and Needs, A Census 2000 Report, published by the Polish American Association June 2004, p. 18
  10. ^ America the diverse - Chicago’s Polish neighborhoods (5/15/2005)USA Weekend Magazine.

[edit] See also

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