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DOCUMENT RESDNE

SO 008 869

AUTHOR Breza, Kathleen; And OthersTITLE The Polish-American Community in South Bend.INSTITUTION Indiajla Univ., South Bend. Ethnic Heritage Studies

. Program.PUB DATE Jtp 75NOTE 27p.; For related doCuments, see SO 008 867 and

868

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$1.95 Plus PostageDESCRIPTORS *Cultural Awareness; Cultural Background; *Cultural

Pluralism; Ethnic Groups; *Ethnic Studies; HigherEducation; Minority Groups; *Polish Americans;Research projects; Secondary Education

IDENTIFIERS' *Indiana (South Bend)

ABSTRACTDeveloped as part of an ethnic heritage studies

program, this document provides an historical narrative of PolishAmericans in South Bend, Indiana. The document presents backgroundinformation, beginning with the dating'of Polish national existencein 966 when King Mieszko converted to Christianity. Emigrating toAmerica for economic reasons, many Poles began arriving in Indianaaround 1850 through 1860. Their subsequent life and culturaldevelopment in South Bend is presented. The Polish community retainedstrong roots and identity to their Polish 'heritage into the 1960swhen a decline in identity ensued. Recent emphasis is on culturalpluralism. (JR)

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*44***********#*******************************#************************* Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished *

* materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort ** to obtaiz the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal *

* reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality *

* of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available *

* via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not *

* responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions *. It, supplied by EDRS are the best that can.be made from the original. *

***********************************************************************

THE POLISH-AMERICAN COMMUNITY

IN SOUTH BEND

U S DEAR TMEHT OF HEALTHEDUCATIONS. WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPROOuCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR OROANIZATIONORGoNAT1NG IT POINTS OF vIE.A/ OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT 'NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

Kathleen BrezaMartha Pieszak

Researchers

Karen RasmussenEditor

...

ETHNIC HERITAGE STUDIES PROGRAMIndiana University at South Bend

Dr. Richmond Calvin, Project DirectorDr. Karen Rasmussen, Associate DirectorDonna M. Gollnick, Curriculum Director

June, 1975

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Ethnic Heritage Studies staff at IUSBwishes to thank both the researchers who assembledthe information for these pamphlets and the per-sons whose interviews and conversations providedthe information which has made the pamphletspossible.

/

TABLE OF 05NIENIS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

POLISH BACKGROUND 1

THE POLISH COMMUNITY IN SOUTH BEND 4

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POLISH BACKGROUND

Roles date their national existence from 966,when King Mieszko converted to Christianity. Eversince then, they feel, Poland's history has beendominated by two hostile forces, by German attemptsto expand eastward and Russian attempts to expandtowala the west. Geography has made things easyfor both foes because the land of the VistulaRiver basin is flat. It might have been designedfor marching troops across, as Boland's eAemiesdiscovered long ago.

Fbland is sometimes described as the countrywith portable frontiers. At times powerful kingshave extended their control as far east as theUkraine. On the other hand late in the eighteenthcentury Poland disappeared from the map, to re-appear only in 1919. After the second World Warits boundaries changed again.

During the sixteenth,century political powerwithin the Kingdom shifted from the king to a sortof parliament known as the Sejm. The Sejm electedFbland's king but this king had no power. TheSejm actually governed the country, but that be-1came increasingly difficult because of a parliamen-tary device called the liberum veto. !here had tobe unanimous agreement on every piece of legisla-tion, and a solitary no vote could invalidate allthe actions taken during that session of the Sejm.When sessions were disrupted in this manner l6glsrlative factions organized confederations and wentto war with'one another. There ceased to be anyeffective administration of the country. The oneexception to this happened in 1683, when KingJohn III Sobieski led the combined Iblish and Ger-man army which defeated the Turks outside Vienna.

yor the most part, however, Ibland became the pawnof more effectively governed states, which competedto have their candidates elected King and theirpolicies endorsed by the Sejm.

In the eighteenth century the most pressure

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came from Russia. Succession crises were settled

by Russian troops. Catherine II decided with Fred-erick II of Prussia that Roland should be partitionedto assure the maintenence of peace. TA firstpartition occurred in 1772, when Russia, Prussiaand Austria each assumed responsibility for admin-istering parts of the country. In response Polishnationalists undertook,a series of reforms,which_culminated in the Constitution of May 3, 1791.Within a year burgeoning national pride promptedThaddeus Kosciuszko to organize a ipvcqt againstpartition. In response there was a second parti-tion in 1793. This triggered a national uprising,but was finally quelled by Russia. The third andfilial partition, in 1795, divided what remained ofRoland, eliminating both the King and the Sejm. Afew years later Napoleon created the Duchy of War-saw, but most Polish land continued to be held byGermany, Austria, and Russia. In 1815 the Congressof Vienna transformed this duchy into the KingdoMof Roland, with the Russian Emperor as king. Asmight have been expected, this "Congress" Rolandcontinued to be administered as if it were a par-titioned area.

Roland remained a feudal state much longerthan did the countries of Western Europe. Slaverywas abolished fairly early, but Polish peasantsnever became shareholders. As recently as thenineteenth century Fbland had no middle ,glass tospeak of. Society consisted_ of a wealthy and in-dependent land of aristocracy. The SWgovernedless autocratically than earlier Kings had done,but power and privileges remained exclusively withthe upper class oligarchy. Peasants were entitledonly to work the land and pay taxes.

There was little social mobility in Poland.Nobles could receive a university degree, but peas-ant education remained the responsibility of thevillw school and ended there. Some areas had noschools. Even when there were schools a child mightnot be able to attend regularly bOcause he or shewould be needed at home to work on the farm. After

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the partitions Prussia and Russia provided elekentaryschools which taught in either German or Russian.The upper class had access to excellent secondaryschools. For a university education these studentsmight attend the.University of Cracow, or theymight be sent to universities in Germany or France.

Pbles first came to America with the Jamestownsettlement. These were glassblowers whose skillswere utilized in the country's first factory, aglassmaking enterprise. Aging the American Revolu-tion, some Pbles came over, to fight on the side ofthe colonists. Two of the most famous were CasimerPulaski and Thaddeus KosciuSzko.

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For a long time after the American Revolution,relatively few Thies immigrated to America. Thosewho did come here either quickly assimilated asindividuals or banded together as small enclavesof workingmen. Persons who participated in the un-successful Eblish revolutions of the 1790's gen-erally preferred to remain in exile in France. Oneexception was a group of exiles which came to Amer-ica when Andrew Jackson was President. They boughtsome land in Illinois and tried to form a Pblishcolony. It failed, but many of the former members .

moved to Chicago and became the nucleus of the Pblishsettlement there.

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Eblish emigration to America in significantamounts started in the 1850's and 1860's. Itpicked up in the 1880's and- 1890's, when Americanfactories were demanding great. numbers of workers.

gration essentially stopped with World Was I.After the war people still <ame but in far fewernumbers, because of the Immigration Acts and theliteracy test and quota system.lihich they imposed.

There were reasons ft the Roles decided toemigrate and reasons whyelthey chose,to come to Amer-ica. Their overwhelmi 'reason for leaving home

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was economic. The pe 1 ants were poor. They workedthe land year after y' and paid taxes, and theyhad, nothing else to look forward to.. They did noteven own their own farms, but 'rented the land they

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worked. Other reasons for emigration were tied to

the political actions of the three partitioners.The Russian Emperor was King of Poland. He also

still held partitioned land, He was supposed_to --obey the Polish Constitution of 1815, which ipe

some local autonomy, but,a series of rebellionstween 1830 and 1863 scared him into a polidy of

Russiffication. Each revolt intensified the policy,Russian became the language of administration andthe administering was done from Petersburg. There

was not even a pretense of following the Polishconstitution. School classes were conducted inFblish, while the Polish language and Fblish historywere banned from the classroom. All Fblish univer-sities were closed. Poles were conscripted intothe Russian army.

German rule was almost as oppressive as Russian

rule. Schools taught in German. There was massconscription. Austrian rule may have been easierto bear. The Austrian Emperor ruled people ofmany nationalities. His government had no reasonto single one of them out for harassment, buttreated most of them more or less alike. Con-scription fell equally among the nationalities.One nationality did not provide all the troops forthe army.

THE POLISH COMMUNITY IN SOUTH BEND

Poles began to arrive in Indiana during thelate 1850's and early 1860's. In Northern Indianatheir initial settlement centered around the townof Otis. The first Poles who came worked for theLake, Shore and Michigan Central Railroad, whichwas laying track between Chicago and New York.From Otis, Poles moved into ithe neighboring townsof LaPorte, Rolling Prairie/ Terre amps, New Car-lisle, Crumstown and Michigan City. In this periodSouth Bend was a small place with few industries toattract immigrant labor. The first Pole in town,said to haye been Anthony Szybowicz, did not arrive

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until 1868. Other early immigrants were John Liltieri

Michael Drol, N. Pijanowski, Andrew Rajter, andJohn Wozniak. Most of these men came from GermanPoland, especially from. the cities of'Fbznan, Kcynia

and Szubin. Some found jobs at new local factories,others worked for .the railroad, and a few boughtfarms outside the city.

Some states, including Illin614., establishedrecruiting stations in Poland and elsewhere, butIndiana did not. These stations would advertisevia leaflets and brochures for people to come totheir state to find good jobs. A company whichwanted more workers available in Indiana, however,was obliged to make its own contacts overseas.Or, it might recruit-in the major east coast ports,New York or Baltimore, where most immigrants landed.The Oliver Plow Works may have sent its own agentsto Poland in search of laborers, although thereseems to be no solid evidence to validate the story.Poles who came to South Bend around the turn ofthe century,*whose descendants were available forinterviews, did not come because they had been re-cruited. They came because they already had friendsor family in South Bend who invited and encouragedthem to come. Nevertheless, some came because theyhad heard that this or that plant was hiring. Attimes South Bend's major factories would even goto the depot and recruit people off the trains asthey cane into town.

The greatest numbers of Poles came to SouthBend between 1880 and the beginning of World War I.After the turn of the century, many immigrants camefrom the Russian held section of Poland and fromGalicia, or Austrian Poland. The period after1880 was a time of rapid industrialization, whenfaCtories were expanding and needed great numbersof inexpensive workers.. As South Bend grew itschief sources of employment became the Oliver FlowWorks, the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and theStudebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. Otherfirms included the Birdsell Manufacturing Company,

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South Bend Watch and Sodth Bend Toy., Polish im-migrants had come from an agrarian land with fewindustries and-few educational opportunities. Theywere mostly hired as unskilled .labor.

The immigrants soon found that although wageswere much higher here than in Poland, America wasa far more expensive country in which to live. Thedream of returning to Poland with enough money tobuy a farm came true for only a few. Some immi-grants decided that they would rather stay here,While others were never able to accumulate enoughmoney to leave. In Fbland women had always workedaround their families' farms but had never heldoutside jobs. Here, in order to make ends meet,many were obliged to work for wages. In South Bendthey were employed by the various cigar factories,at the laundries and as hotel maids. Their majoremployer was the Wilson Brothers Shirt Factory.

Once an immigrant had found a job, he or sheneeded housing. Most of them first found a. familyto board with. But the goal was to own one's ownhome. The Oliver Plow Works encouraged home owner-ship by providing houses for its workers to rentat first And purchase later. A family would saveenough money for a down payment on a house, andthen take in boarders to h4p pay Tor the rest.Sometimes they would then Diant a garden to keep intouch with the land. As they moved to South Bend,these Poles tended to settle together. The city'swest side became a Pblish community. To those wholived there, the neighborhood was also known asBolonia.

At first South Bend's Poles attended St. Pat-rick's Roman Catholic Church. In 1877, however,the first local Polish church was built. Therehad been hositlity between the Poles and the Irish,both at work and at church. To the Irish, thePoles seemed quite alien. They spoke an odd lang-uage, they followed different church customs, andthey came from a wholly different culture. Thefirst Polish church, called St. Joseph's, was de-

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strayed by a wind storm in 1879. Two years laterconstruction began on a new church, St. Hedwig's.Father Valentine Czyzewski served as its firstpriest.

He had immigrated to America in 1869, afterthe seminary which he had been attending was closedby the Russian government. He settled in Otis andbecame an American citizen. A priest persuaded himto complete his seminary training. In 1873 heentered the Congregation of the Holy Cross at NotreDame, and he was ordained in 1876. One year laterFather Czyzewski became pastor of St. Hedwig's. Hedid not confine his attention to one church, how-ever, but traveled to other Fblish settlements. Heofficiated at services in Bremen, Gerardat, RollingPrairie, Larbrte, Winamac, Otis, Terre Coupe,Chesterton and Kendallville. Later he traveled tostill other Polish 4tommunitiess Bronson, Michigan;Pam. Illinois; and Egge, Indiana.

Father Czyzewski helped to organize the otherthree Fblish churches in South Bend. St. Casimir'swas organized In 1898 for the peOple who lived southof the Grand Trunk and New York Central Railroadtracks. These parishioners would otherwise havehad to travel a long way and cross the tracks inorder to attend St. Hedwig's. In 1900 St. Stanis-laus was founded in 1900 for the Pblish familieswho'lived in the northwest section of the city. Andin 1910 St. Adalbert's was organized for those wholived in the southwestern section of town, on theedge of the Kankakee marsh.

South Bend's Pbles managed to maintain fourRoman Catholic Churches staffed by Fblish priests.They accomplished this despite efforts by theChurch to discourage the formation of ethnic par-ishes. These local churches retained many of theold Polish church customs and in them sermons weregiven in Polish, although'mass was always said inLatin. Despite this apparent cohesion, however,around 1900 some of these churches began to haveinternal problems. At St. Hedwig's the pastorrefused to let the members of the lish Falcons

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to wear their uniforms into church. The Falcons hadto stand outside the church doors.

St. Adalbert's, the youngest church, receivedFather Kubacki as its first priest. He was notwell received by his congregation, which regardedhim as an outsider. They mistrusted him becausehe had attended the Polish seminary at Orchard Lake,not Holy Cross at Notre Dame., He also did not get:along well with his bishop.- In 1920 the Rt. Rev..Herman J. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Wayne, accusedFather Kubacki of not sending the proceeds of aspecial collection for orphans to Fort Wayne. Thepriest replied that Bishop Alerding, who was German, would have sent the money to Germany, and soheAimself had sent the money to Poland instead forFblish orphans. Furthermore said Father Kubacki,these Polish children had been orphaned by Germanaggression. Bishop Alerding threatened to have thepriest defrocked for insubordination. FatherKubacki then went into retirement.

Reverend John W. Osadnik was St. Adalbert'ssecond pastor. He served the congregation from1920 until 1940. In 1927 he was made a Monseignor,the first priest in South Bend to be so ho red.Under him the parish built a much larger ch ch.Monseignor Osadnik became widely known for is workin the parish and with the Iblish community. Fbland'sgovernment granted him two awards for his patrioticactivities, the cross symbolizing Polonia Restituain 1934, and the Golden Cross of Merit in 1939.

The worst trouble among South Bend's FblishCatholics occurred at St. Casimir's. The bishopdesignated a new priest for the church. But thepeople of the parish accused Bishop Alerding ofhaving ignored their wishes in the matter. Whentheir new pastor tried to enter his church, thecongregation refused to admit him. After the priesthad tried several times to enter the church, the

police were called. While they maintained orderthe priest was installed as pastor. A small groupof dissatisfied parishioners broke away from St.Casimir's and began to attend the Hungarian church

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8:f the Sacred Heart, whose priest was Father Sychta.

-Later these. issidents fOrmed St. Mary's of theRosary lblish National Catholic Church.

Most Roman Catholics consider the Polish Na-tional Catholic Church to be no better than Protes-tant. There was such bitterness within the.localIblish community over this schism that while St.Mary's was being built the men of the parish hadto guard the church at'night to prevent it frombeing torn down. Only recently has this church beenadmitted to the Polish Central Commitke. St. Mary'swas not invited to participate in thewbelebrationof lbland's millenium. Such pressures made it psy-.chologically difficult to belong to St. Mary's,and after some years a number of parishioners left.'These people did not rejoin St. Casimir's, however,but went instead to St. Adalbert's.

The one stable community church during thisperiod was St. Stanislaus'. It had no seriousproblems. Perhaps this was because the majority of

Stanislaus' parishioners had 'come from one areain Poland --Poznan. .

Not long after the appearance of South Bend'sfirst Polish communities their residents foimedethnic societies and organizations, They servedseveral purposes -- fraternal, political, social and.religious, The earliest societies provided deathbenefits and help for widows,and orphans. TwoFraternal and Mutual Aid societies were foundedin 187, named for St. Stanislaus and the otherfor St. Casimir. In 1884 the Kosciuszko Buildingand Loan Association appeared. In 1893 the-Sobieski-Federal Savings and Loan Associationi, which stillexists, was organized. Gerald: R. Gadacz is its cur-rent President and Leonard S. Nowinski is Chairmanof-the. Board of Directors.

Three nationwide Fblish organizations haveestablished branches in South Bend --the PolishRoman Catholic Union, the Iblish National Alliance,and the e-lblish Falcons.

The Polish ROman Catholic Union was first or-

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ganized in Chicago as a fraternal organization.In 1904 a local chapter, the Society of the HolyApostles Peter and Paul, No. 234, Fblish RomanCatholic Union, was established at St. Stanislaus.Ten years later the women of St. Hedwig's becamesociety No. 850 of the Union. The Union exists towork for Catholicism and for Boland. It also pro-vides death benefits for its members.

The Fblish Falcons were first organized inSouth Bend in 1894 as the M. Romanowski Falcons,Nest No. 4. The local Falcons provided gymnasticclasses and organized basketball and baseballteams. They attended athletic competitions withother Falcons. They presented plays, held dancesand organized a choir. Like most othef ethnicassociations, the Falcons also offered an insuranceprogram. In 1897, after a misunderstanding a sec-ond South Bend chapter,,the Zygmunt Balicki FalconsNo. 1, Nest No. 80, appeared. In 1911 a thirdchapter, the Falcons of King Jagiello, was organ-ized at St. Stanislaus, but this unit soon lapsed.From 1901 to 1905 the M. Romanowski Falcons ofSouth Bend served as the Falcon's national head-quarters, with George W. J. Kalczynski as nationalpresident. Both the M. R. and Z. B. Falcons es-tablished nests Falconettes. Both clubs alsohave halls which are used for club activities orrented to other local groups.

The Polish National Alliance was formed in1887 to help Poland gain her independence. Mostof the aid given was financial. The Alliance alsowanted to promote lblish heritage. It sponsoredyouth programs and children's summer camps toteach young people about their Polish heritage andculture. In 1932 it began a Fblish scouting pro-gram, but this was dropped after the Boy Scouts ofAmerica protested such-duplication of its program.The Alliance also _sponsored gl'ee clubs and athleticteams.i, It too offered an insurance program. Manyother Polish- American organizations'are locallyactive. One of the city's major political organiza-tions is the West Side Democratic Club, where even

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',now memberhhip is limited to those of Polish descent.

Local Polish churches sponsor a variety of organi-zations. Many men belong to Holy Name societiesand- women to seselTities and to Rosary societies.The American Relief Committee for Free inland,Inc. brings small Polish song and dance ensemblesto South Bend every year. For the last thirty-five years the Chopin Fine Arts Club has alsobrought Polish performers into town. The Clubexists to promoteTolish art, music and literature.

The South Bend Tribune estimated in the 1930'sthat there were at least ninety Polish organiza-tions and societies in South Bend. Many of theseare still active. All major local organizationsbelong to the Central Polish American Organization.Also known as Centrala, this is the local umbrellaorganization. The Polish American Congress, towhich Centrala belongs, serves thb same purpose ona national! level.

Politics has frequently offered the immigrp.nta way to a better life. Though political activityand success a man might be .41e to rise sociallywithin hih community. The ethnic community itselfalso benefited, because it could call upon itspoliticians to do things beneficial for itself.

The list of local Fbligh-American officeholders dates back nearly a century. In 1878Thomas Fijanowski ran for constable in IbrtageTownship and lost. The next year in South BendCharles Valentine Korpal became Deputy StreetCommissioner. In 1880 Nicodemus T. Tanski waselected Justice of the Peace. Tanski became thefirst Polish Democratic leader, but he soon leftpolitics for private business. Charles Korpalthen became the leading Democratic leader withinthe Fblish community. He was also one of SouthBend's first Polish policemen. The .Polish communityalso included Republicans. They organized theirfirst club in 1880, with Ignatius Boinskias pres-ident.

The roles shared South Bend's Third Ward with

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the Irish. In 1881 Peter Makielski was elected

Councilman from the Third Ward. From that time,

until 1890 the Ward always had one Polish council-man and one Irish councilman. In 1890, when the

city's ward boundaries were changed, the Sixth

Ward became an all Iblish district. From then on

there,were two Polish councilmen.After 1880 Polish political clubs, Republican

and. Democratic, were organized for'every electioncampaign. Whether the Polish community voted Dem-oirratic or Republican depended on which club was ,

fetter organized in any given year. Eb.ch party

peplarly accused the other of coercing workers tovote a certain way by threatening them with the lossof their jobs. Before the turn of the centurythere was a big local scandal when it became knownthat both parties had been allowing Poles to votewho had only taken out their first papers for citi-zenship. Although this was technically legal insome states, including Indiana, it was a practicethat was not well received when someone was dis-covered encouraging it.

In*the years before World War I the Iblishvote in South Bend became strongly Democratic.This can be attributed,to several things. One ofthe major reasons is that the Republican party madesome statements which were understood to be anti-immigrant in tone. By contrast, the Democraticparty seemed to welcome the immigrant, it workedto provide them with jobs and remained in contactwith the local blish community. It was thought ofas the party of the poor.

For years the West Side Democratic Club hasteen the leading Polish political club in South '

Bend. It was organized by Stanley MusZynski andJoe Moskwinski to provide a united political ef-fort within the Iblish community. In spite ofthis strong Democratic influence, however, therehas been a local Polish Republican club ever since1880, known as the Republican Central Committee.

Although South Bend is home for a great numberof Poles, who have a strong Democratic organization,

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the city has never had a Polish mayor. Fred

Bilinski, a former City Clerk, ran for mayor in

the late 1920's and lost. In 1963 Eugene Fajakow-

ski lost in the primaries. Fbles always run formayor in the primaries but are never slated bythe Democratic party. There are Tbles in other

elected positions, however. Aloysius Kromkowski

is St. Joseph County Tax Assessor. Walter Szym-kowiak is Councilman`from the Second District andWalter Kopczynski is Councilman from the SixthDistrict. The County Corone,is Stanley Koscielski. ,

Peter Beczkiewicz was Ibrtage County Trustee, Coun-ty Treasurer, and a State Senator. In part, atleast, the failure of the city to have a Polishmayor has been due to the factions and divisionswitain the,Fblish community.

The Poles settled together on South Bend'swest side. Here the community was effectively di-vided into four areas, corresponding to the neigh-borhoods around each of the four churches. Eachchurch had its own nickname, and the neighborhoodsurrounding the church was known by that nickname,too. St. Hedwig's Church was called Bogdarka, thegift of God. St. Casimir's was Warszawa Warsaw)and St. Adalbert's was Krakowo (Cracow 7 St. Stan-

, islaus' was known as Tbznan and also as Zlote Gory(Golden Hills), because the golden wheat on thefawns nearby reminded people of the land aroundPoznan. Many of the families who lived near-andattended a particular church had all come from thesame part of Poland. If a man began to make moremoney and could afford a better home, he usuallyfelt obliged to find a house in the area aroundhis church which had become his neighborhood.

To an extent these geographic subdivisionshave disappeared, but a person who moves out of thewest side may still attend his old church there.Many of the other local Polish organizations now gotheir own ways, as some churches did early in thecentury. The M. Romapowski Falcons and the Zyg-munt Balicki Falcons may work to present a united

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Falcon front to the rest of Sou Bend, but actuallythe two groups tend to live and, ork separately.

Even with these factions an divisions, how-

ever, the community was undeniab Polish andtended to remain isolated from the rest of SouthBend. All the businesses needed for daily lifecould be found on the west side, run by Boles.Eventually Polonia even acquired its own doctorsand lawyers to go with its churches and businesses.

The first Polish businesses on the west sideoffered food and drink. Groceries, meat markets,bakeries and taverappeared. Early grocery storesincluded,Kornal Grocery, Kbchanowski Grocery andKuberski's Food Market, which is still in existence.Today there are several groceries with Polishowners, but they make no effort to stock Polishfoods. Recently the Hojnacki Sausage Shop closed.It was the last in the city to make its own Kiel-basa (Polish sausage). Earlier meat markets werethe Woodka Brothers' Meat Market and Przybysz MeatMarket. At one time there were several bakeries,

including the Krakow Bakery. Theonly two inexistence today are Flavorite Bake Shop and Pro-gressive Bakery. There are no lblish restaurantsopen anymbre, but some Polish food is served attaverns like the Kazbar Tavern, Itjza's Tavern,John Leszcz Tavern, and Al's Anchor Inn. Kaminski-Mooren, Inc. is a produce company. Sylvester Kam-inski's father started the business by selling veg-etables from aopushcart.

There were several clothing stores withinIblonia. The Ploznan Department Store was a Polishmerchants corporation founded by Ignacy Niespodzianyand John Blerwaggn. 'Father Marciniak of St. Stan-islaus' helped them by explaining how a corporationwas organized. There were also the Krakow Depart-ment Store, Korpal's Clothing Store and KitkowskiClothing Store. The Kuberski Department Store isstill in existence. Another important business isGene's Dry, Goods Store. This does not sell cloth-ing, but it is one of two local, stores affiliated

with the FEKAO Trading Corporation, which is the

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organization through which people can send packages,

merchandise and money to Poland. The city's otheraffiliate is the Huron Drug Store.

South Bend's early cigar fac;tories were runby Pbles. The three major companies were HazinskiCigar, Niezgodski Cigar and Bilinski Cigar. Poles

remained in small businesses; they did not startlarge factories. The Bierwagen Brothers ran atool and machine shop. There was the Smoger LumberYard. There were three furniture stores, all outorbusiness now: The Kaniewski Furniture Store,Fiwek Furniture and J. P, Rozplochowski & Co. Eventoday Pbles do not run large businesses. Some oftheir undertakings include Michiana Machine, andStanley Enterprises, run by Stanley ftomkowski.The are also a numloer of lblish owned auto repairsho and gas staty5ns.

Originally rea estate agents also sold in-surance and made loans, and sometimes served asagents for various steamship companies. Louis M.Mucha and Leo M. Kurpharski both owned bpsinesseswhich performed all these functions. After theturnof the century Joe Werwinski ran a real estateoffice. Today, there are still Polish real estatecompanies, including Minczewski Realty Co. EugenePajakowski is a real estate agent. For loans thewest side still has Sobieski Federal Saving andLoan Association and the Western State Bank withJohn Wilfred Niemiec as president.

The Palace Theater was owned by Fred Bilinskiand Harvey F. Rostiser. Children were allowed toto to the White Eagle Theatre on Sunday for a treat.There was a. Polish photographer, Mr. Rogalinskiwho took all the wedding pictures. _Mr. Kaniewski.was the Fblish mortician; today, his business is knownas Kaniewski and Sons Funeral Home.

Polonia's doctors included Dr.Nikodem O.Borisowicz, Dr. Abel, Dr. Bolka, Dr. Slominski andDr. Fhuszek. Local dryggists were Mr. Papczynski,

Mr. Niedbalski, MT. 1641pat Mr.. Tomaszewski, Mr.

Clem Micinski, Mr. deSlewicz,,Mr. Kitkowski, MrVZgodzinski, and Mr. Zell Chlebpwski. Each of these

men had his own drug store, Dr. Thaddeus Goraczewski

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was elected coronor. Today Dr; Sobol is very -.

active in Polish affairs. Dr. Ellis was an earlyoptometrist. Later Dr. Max Ialicki took over hispractice. 'Early lawyers werAJohn C. Gurda'and JohnBuezkowski.

For about thirty years starting from the 1880'sSouth Bend firms had labor problems. The city'sworst strike occurred at the Oliver Flow Works in1885-1886, when the owners arranged a lockout aftertheir workers went out on strike. The Polish andHungarian'employees then organized an union, but4it achieved nothing. The workers went back on thejob, Without having gained a thing.

Pear of violeftce and of bringing in outsidershampered effoLLS to organize a permanent union. Gen-erally only short-term unions appeared, usuallyshortly before or after a strike. Occasionally anorganizer would come in from Chicago. Once asocialist tried to organize a local union, but hefailed too, even though a few people in South Bendclaimed to be socialists and preached socialism.

South Bend's °they major employers, Studebakerand Singer, also had labor problems but not assevere or as persistent as those at Oliver. Un-like Oliver, Studebaker had no ethnic work crews.Its employees were integrated, and this minimizedthe possibility of ethnic unionizing or ethnicstrikes. TRe Singer Sewing Machine Company invar-iably resronded to strikes by threatening to moveout of town if the workers stayed out too long.

Most of the people who emigrated from Poland(had received only a minimal education. When theyhad settled in South Bend, parents sent theirchildren to parochial schools. Most of them feltthat a child should be educated through high school.Additional schooling was considered worthwhile ifit would teach a iqrson a trade. Often money wasa problem for these families, and young people wouldleave high school to seek jobs. Those who were un-derage, simply lied to their prospective employers

and were generally, taken at their word. Adults who

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wished to learn English could attend night schools,which also taught writing and held citizenship class-

es. Night classes were offered by se ral institu-

tions--churches, the old Laurel School and some

fraternal organizations, including the F cons.

The west side had no public high scho until

Washington High was built in the 1910's. This

was after St. Mary's Polish National CatholicChurch had been organized. St. Mary's offered noclassroom instruction, which meant that many par-

children who had formerly attended parochialschool would now have to attend public school.There was an additional reason for the constructionof Washington High. Poles were now marrying per-sons of another national origin. In such familiesparents often preferred to send their children topublic school rather than to an ethnically orientedparochial school.

At the turn of the century Polish P:inChial

school classe were taught in Fblish. And untilWorld War II these schools taught Polish as asubject, even though classes were now conductedin English. After 1945 even the teaching of Polish.ended. In Polonia's early years if was easy tolive on the west side and never learn English. Theresidents' second language was likely to be Russianor German. Some who became citizens knew verylittle English.' Parents srbke Fblish to theirchildren, who might then respond in English.

In church Mass was said in Latin and sermonswere always preached in Polish. This was the caseat St. Casimir's until 1970, when the English ser-mon was adopted in response to the growing numberOf non-Polish parishioners. St. Adalbert's stillhas one Fblish Mass every Sunday. At St. Mary's of,the Holy Rosary Mass is always said in Polishunless two Masses are offered on the same day, inwhich case the second may be said in English.

Today the use of Polish is dying out. Mostyoung Polish-Americans do not speak it. They mayhave picked up some at home but they do not ;pallyknow the language. The ones who speak Polistrare

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the very old, who know no English.Several places in Polonia offered citizenship

classes to help immigrants become,American citizens.Stanislaus Kolkiewicz would urge people to take outtheir citizenship papers. But many of the veryearly' immigrants did not become citizens althoughlater ones did. Until World War II citizenshipwas rarely a job-requirement.

Immigrants retained contacts with Polandthrough letters. Today many people in lbloniastill correspond with relatives there. Wholefamilies did not always immigrate. Perhaps onlya son or daughter or a brother and sister came.They may have intended to make some money here and'then return to Poland, but theY,wound up stayingin the 14.ted States. Those who came sent,poneyback to Poland to help their families or to bringrelatives over. Some die' return to Poland. Todaythere is a reverse immigration. Some lblish-American retirees are going back to Poland to live,because a Social Security check goes farther there.No one from South Bend has done this yet, however.

In 1896 George W. J. Kalczynski came to South.Bend and organized the Goniec Eblski (Polish Mes-senger) Publishing Cbmpany. The first issue ofhis paper, Goniec Fblski, appeared on June 27,1896. Publication continued until 1964.

In addition to this Polish newspaper IW.oniahad its church magazines. The one published atSt. Stanislaus was called Ibznanczyk and firstappeared in 1922 with Francis K. Czyzewski aseditor. Four years later he, along with FatherGruza and Father Sztuczko, organized St. Hedwig'smagazine New Life* In 1928 Reverend Casimir J.Wintucki became New Life's editor. At St. Cas-imir's . Stanislaus F. Lisewski began to publishVarsovi.eYrne in 1929.

There were once many rblish libraries in South

Bend, but these eventually closed for lack of com-munity interest. These libraries circulated class-ical, historical and popular Polish literature.

Each parish started its own library. St. Hedwig's

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ww:Ithe largest. Most of its books were '1Vnated

by the St. John Canty Literary Society. In 1930

the M. Romanowski Falcons began a library. The

Polish National Alliance had a library; Mr. Wit-

kowski and then Stanley Michalski were its librar-ians. ',Then this library closed, ils holdings were

given to Notre Dame, which then sent the entirecollection to Ohio State University.

Insofar as music is concerned, there have al-ways been Polish church choirs, orchestras and

binds in South Bend. Bert Nowakowski conducted

his own orchestra. George KurAys had a band, and

hi,s son Jerry continues the same tradition today.The Paul Futa Family Band has cut two records, "Allin the` Family" and "Busia's Cooking." GeorgeZygmont Gaska conducts the Elkhart Symphony Orches-

tra. In 1974 he presented a program devoted to

Polish composers.When St. Hedwig's was built Thaddeus Zukotynski,

a Chicago artist, was commissioned to do the altar-piece. South Bend also has its own Polish- Americanartists. Leon A. Makielski studied under L. ClarenceBall and later joined the art faculty of the Univer-sity of Michigan. Zygmund S. Jankowski is anothersouth Bend artist.'

Theatre was a form of entertainment in theearly years of lblonia. All the churches presentedplays as did some of the fraternal organizationslike the Polish Falcons and the Polish NationalAlliance. Most of these plays were presented inIblish.

Traditional Polish celebrations centered aroundthe Church. A midnight Mass preceded by an hour orso of Polish carols ushered Christmas in. Later,on January 6 parish priests would celebrate thefeast of the Three Kings by walking through theparish chalking 1K+114B+" (Kasgtr, Melchior, Bal-thazark) above parishioners' doors. The Feast ofCorpus Christi was also celebrated with a process-ion around the neighborhood. For this occasionall the houses would be painted and decorated. Some

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would even have a decorated altar on the porch.There used to be a three day celebration on thefeast of St. Joseph. At St. Stanislaus the Novenato St. Ann is still celebrated on July 26 in Polish.

On Holy Saturday in the ceremoney called Swien-conka, the priest would bless Easter.food broughtto his church. On Easter a resurrection Mass wascelebrated at dawn, after which the priest wouldlead his congregation in a procession three timesaround the church. Easter Monday, was calledDyngus Day, a time when boys would chase girls,trying to hit their legs with willow switches. Itwas also a time of visiting friends and exchangingcolored eggs and food with them. Today in SouthBend, Dyngus Day marks the start of the spring po-litical campaign season. All local politiciansgather to eat Polish sausage and drink beer.

Nineteen ten saw an international Polish cele-bration. It marked the 500th anniversary of theBattle of Grunwald, sometimes called Tannenberg,in which the Polish King Uladislav Jagiello de-feated the Teutonic Knights. This was the biggestanniversary celebration ever, and all subsequentones are evaluated by comparing them to events of1910.

The year 1929 marked the 150th anniversary ofthe death of General Casimir Pulaski, the PolishGeneral who fought in the American RevolutionaryWar. He died fighting the British in Savannah,Georgia. A South Bend resident, Ignatius K. Wer-winski, became chairman of the United States PulaskiSesquicentennial Commission. The Commission plateda statue of Pulaski in Washington, D. C. In Ind-iana Gary was chosen over South Bend as7the-iite-afthe main state celebration. But South Bend arrangeda sn'ecial Mass and then a big parade in PUlaski'shonour.

Verwinski received many honours for his effortsin behalf of Polish-American affairs. The PolishFalcons awarded him the Silver Cross of Merit.The Polish government presented him with the Iblon-ia Restituta (Poland Reestablished), the highest

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military award which may be given to a civilian.

Werwinski received the decoration from Dr. Alexander, *0

Szczepanski, the Polish Consul General in Chicago.South Bend's Polish residents used to celebrate

May 3 as Constitution Day, to commemorate the Adop-

tion of the Polish constitution of 1791. Sometimes

the entire city celebrated this as Fblish Day.Polish Day began with a parade and ended with apicnic in one of the local parks. During the 1930's

this was an annual event, but in recent years PolishDay has been celebrated only when someone has putforth enough energy to organize one.

Each year on Memorial Day the west side holds

its Memorial Day Parade with floats and bands.Afterwards there are services at the Polish cemetary.

Local Polish-Americans have one of two re-sponses to questions about anti - Polish discrimina-

tion. Which is heard most frequently depends uponhow far away from the Polish community one, goes.There are those who reply that they have exper-'ienced no discrimination because they have always -lived and been associated mostly with Poles. Thosewho have lived outside the community sometimes,feel that Titles have been made fini of becausetheir English was poor or because they spoke witha foreign accent. Indiana was not a state whichwelcomed immigrants. Robert LaFollette wrotethat the state was fortunate to have missed outon most of the immigration era, unlike Illinois,where many immigrants did settle.

World War I was a turning point in the Polishcommunity in America. When Germany declared waron Russia many immigrants saw this as a possiblestep toward the formation of an independent Poland.A Polish-American Army was recruited to go andfight under Geneial Haller in /bland. Severalmen from South Bend joined this army and went toCanada to train: Ladislaus WilczynSki, StanleyKaczynski, Felix Siarkowski, John Marzgajczyk,Walter Uniewski, Vincent Nowak, John Trczina,

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Andrew Waislewski, Stephen Erczinski, Joseph Myszke,Alexander Sekutowicz, Earion Dulcet, Peter Becz-kiewicZ and Anthony Czarnecki. After the UnitedStates entered the war ninety-six out of SouthBend's first hundred reoruits were Polish.

There were collections and fund drives forclothing and money to be sent to the neople inPoland. Polish soldiers were forbidden to writeto their families in Poland,'so they wrote itothe relatives here. Correspondence between Americaand Poland was Permitted,,sothat people in Polandwere able to keep track of their enlisted men inthis roundabout fashion.

After the war, immigration from Poland stopped.The Immigration Acts had been passed and theselimited the number of Poles eligible to enter theUnited States. But now fewer Poles wanted toemigrate. An independent Iblish state had beenrecognized by the Peace Settlement. As a resultmany persons who would have immigrated under Ger-man, Russian or Austrian rule now Preferred tostay in their country for reasons of nationalpride. A few People in South Bend even returnedto Poland.

After World War II, however, about two hun-dred displaced persons came to South Bend withtheir families. These Poles were of a much highersocial status than those who had immigrated thirtyto fifty years before. They were highly educatedProfessional people, and for the most Part theyhad no problems finding jobs. Nevertheless insome respects these new immigrants were not en-tirely accepted by the Tblish community. Theyspoke no English and were considered outsiders.

Also after 1945 Polish neighborhoods in manycities began to break up because of housing short-ages and also because of intermarriage. SouthBend has retained its Polish community well intothe Sixtios, however, although it too has nowbegun to disappea!r. People who make enough moneyto do so are moving out. The young are moving,tothe suburbs, leaving the old to live out theirlives in Polonia. ouch of iblonia's cultural her-

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itage was lost when its residents began usingEnglish instead of Polish. Parents would aban-don Polish customs in an effort to help theirchildren become more Americari, more like the Testof the people in town. Other customs had to changebecause of America's different culture. Workingin a factory teant working set hours for so manydays every week. Special events such as marriages,holidays and feasts might have been week long cele-brations In rural Fbland. But in America they hadto be fitted into the weekendf because people hadto be at their jobs Monday morning.

Along with other ethnic groups Iblish-Americansare becoming more aware of .the value of their her-itage. Perhaps as a result of this awareness someof the old customs and traditions will reappear.Meanwhile,, there is still some. immigration fromPoland to South Bend, and every year a number ofPoles become American citizens here.,

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