Polish American
A
Polish American is an
American citizen of
Polish descent. More than one million Poles migrated to the United States, primarily during the early 20th century. Exact immigration numbers are unknown because, due to the
partitions of Poland, the Polish state did not exist at a time when the precursor to the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service classified immigrants according to country of origin rather than to ethnicity. In particular, the three partitions gave rise to the terms
Russian Poles,
German Poles and
Austrian Poles, respectively, as seen in the context of Polish immigration to the United States.
According to the
United States 2000 Census, 667,414 Americans of age 5 years and older reported Polish as the language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than English, or 0.25% of the U.S. population.
As
Poland lost its independence at the end of the 18th century through the three
partitions, Polish patriots, among them
Kazimierz Pułaski and
Tadeusz Kościuszko, left for America to fight for
American Independence.
While the first Polish immigrants arrived in America in 1608 at
Jamestown, Virginia, the largest wave of Polish immigration to America occurred in the early 20th century. Officially, more than 1.5 million Polish immigrants were processed at
Ellis Island between 1899 and 1931. Estimating the actual number of Polish immigrants is complicated by Poland's history of frequent division among neighboring countries. Poland ranks tenth as a source of illegal immigrants to the U.S. with an estimated 70,000 in the early 21st century. [
1]
One of the most notable of the Polish-American communities is in
Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding
suburbs. 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".
Nearly a
million people are of Polish descent in Illinois, third highest after Germans and Irish. Thus, it is sometimes said that Chicago is the second largest "Polish" city in the world, as
Warsaw, the Polish capital, is the only city with more Polish residents. Chicago has three major Polish neighborhoods.
The city of
Detroit also has a very large Polish community, especially historically in areas such as
Poletown and
Hamtramck. While Poletown was cleared of its residents to make way for the
General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant, and Hamtramk has seen the decline of its Polish community to Arab and African-American increases, the Polish influence is still felt throughout the entire
Metro Detroit area. Michigan's Polish population is 3rd behind New York and Illinois with over 850,000, while Polish-Americans make up 8.6% of Michigan's total population. The northern suburb of
Orchard Lake is also home to the
National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, which includes greats such as
Stan Musial and
Mike Krzyzewski.
Other cities with major Polish communities include
Buffalo, a city that once had a vibrant Polish neighborhood which is now completely integrated,
Cleveland,
Philadelphia,
Columbus,
Boston,
Baltimore,
Portland,
Los Angeles,
Rochester,
San Francisco and
Pittsburgh. Despite the lack of new large-scale Polish immigration, some cities are emerging with strong Polish American communities.
Milwaukee and
Denver experienced major increases in their Polish populations during the last 10 years. There is also a tendency among Poles to move to
Florida from Chicago and New York.
Polish-American communities
*
Buffalo, New York*
Wyandotte, Michigan*
Bronson, Michigan*
Detroit, Michigan*
Hamtramck, Michigan*
Parisville, Michigan*
Williamsburg, Brooklyn*
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
*
Archer Heights, Chicago
*
Hegewisch, Chicago
*
Jefferson Park, Chicago
*
Logan Square, Chicago
*
Poletown, Detroit
*
Cleveland, Ohio*
Warsaw, North Dakota*
Garfield, New Jersey*
Manville, New Jersey*
Wallington, New Jersey*
Union, New Jersey*
Clifton, New Jersey*
Perth Amboy, New Jersey*
Cheektowaga, New York*
Utica, New York*
Copiague, New York*
Riverhead, New York*
Michigan City, Indiana*
South Bend, Indiana*
Brenham, Texas*
Chicopee, Massachusetts*
Chelsea, Massachusetts*
Deerfield, Massachusetts*
Dorchester (Neponset), Massachusetts*
Ludlow, Massachusetts*
Springfield, Massachusetts*
South Boston (Andrew Square), Massachusetts*
New Britain, Connecticut*
Erie, Pennsylvania*
Watervliet, New York*
Cohoes, New York*
Schenectady, New York*
Dunkirk, New York*
East Brunswick, New Jersey*
Scranton Wilkes-Barre,
PA*
Stevens Point,
Portage County,
WisconsinCultural contributions of Polish Americans extend from Polish dance classes, Polish newspapers, and culture groups like the
White Eagle Lodge and
Polish Falcons of America to the wider appeal of Polish foods such as
kiełbasa (Polish sausage),
babka, or
pierogi. Even in long-integrated communities, remnants of Polish culture and vocabulary remain. Restaurants and bars in Wisconsin, for example, often serve up a "Friday Night
Fish Fry," a tradition evolved from Polish immigrants'
Roman Catholic and cultural roots.
Roman Catholic churches in Polish American communities often serve as a vehicle for cultural retention.
The Polish community was long the subject of
Anti-Polonism in America. Much of it was associated with a more generalized
Anti-Catholicism and distrust of
Eastern European arrivals in general. This has become less common recently. There are however some instances of
Anti-Polonism still occurring in America.
According to the
United States 2000 Census, American states with the largest numbers of self-reported
Poles and Americans of Polish ancestry are:
*01
New York (986,141)
*02
Illinois (932,996)
*03
Michigan (854,844)
*04
Pennsylvania (824,146)
*05
New Jersey (576,473)
*06
Wisconsin (497,726)
*07
California (491,325)
*08
Ohio (433,016)
*09
Florida (429,691)
*10
Massachusetts (323,210)
*11
Connecticut (284,272)
*12
Minnesota (240,405)
*13
Texas (228,309)
*14
Maryland (184,364)
*15
Indiana (183,989)
*16
Arizona (126,665)
*17
Virginia (124,647)
*18
Colorado (101,190)
*19
Missouri (90,448)
*20
Georgia (82,765)...
*49 Hawaii (10,770)
*50
Wyoming (9,929)
*51
District of Columbia (7,910)
*01
Wisconsin 9.3%
*02
Michigan 8.6%
*03
Connecticut 8.3%
*04
Illinois 7.5%
*05
New Jersey 6.9%...
*49
Alabama 0.5%
*50
Mississippi 0.4%
*51
Louisiana 0.4%
See:
List of Polish Americans*
National Polish-American Hall of Fame*
List of Polish Americans*
Polish American Arts Association*
Polish American Congress*
Casimir Pulaski Day*
Pulaski Day Parade in New York*
Sons of Poland*
Polish Roman Catholic Union of America*
List of U.S. cities with large Polish American populations*
Polish Canadians*
Felician Sisters*
Madonna University Polish Studies
*
Knights of Dabrowski Fraternal organization
*
Polish American History*
Polish-Americans in Western New York
