The Polish-American Community in South Bend. INSTITUTION Indiajla Univ., South Bend
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....a.". DOCUMENT RESDNE - ED 117 027 SO 008 869 AUTHOR Breza, Kathleen; And Others TITLE The Polish-American Community in South Bend. INSTITUTION Indiajla Univ., South Bend. Ethnic Heritage Studies . Program. PUB DATE Jtp 75 NOTE 27p.; For related doCuments, see SO 008 867 and 868 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$1.95 Plus Postage DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Awareness; Cultural Background; *Cultural Pluralism; Ethnic Groups; *Ethnic Studies; Higher Education; Minority Groups; *Polish Americans; Research projects; Secondary Education IDENTIFIERS' *Indiana (South Bend) ABSTRACT Developed as part of an ethnic heritage studies program, this document provides an historical narrative of Polish Americans in South Bend, Indiana. The document presents background information, beginning with the dating'of Polish national existence in 966 when King Mieszko converted to Christianity. Emigrating to America for economic reasons, many Poles began arriving in Indiana around 1850 through 1860. Their subsequent life and cultural development in South Bend is presented. The Polish community retained strong roots and identity to their Polish 'heritage into the 1960s when a decline in identity ensued. Recent emphasis is on cultural pluralism. (JR) i I *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* Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * * materials not available from other sources.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. * *********************************************************************** L 11, THE POLISH-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN SOUTH BEND U S DEAR TMEHT OF HEALTH EDUCATIONS. WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO OuCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR OROANIZATIONORGoN AT1NG IT POINTS OF vIE.A/ OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT 'NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY Kathleen Breza Martha Pieszak Researchers Karen Rasmussen Editor e ... ETHNIC HERITAGE STUDIES PROGRAM Indiana University at South Bend Dr. Richmond Calvin, Project Director Dr. Karen Rasmussen, Associate Director Donna M. Gollnick, Curriculum Director r June, 1975 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Ethnic Heritage Studies staff at IUSB wishes to thank both the researchers who assembled the information for these pamphlets and the per- sons whose interviews and conversations provided the information which has made the pamphlets possible. / TABLE OF 05NIENIS ACKNOWLEDGMENT POLISH BACKGROUND 1 THE POLISH COMMUNITY IN SOUTH BEND 4 4 POLISH BACKGROUND Roles date their national existence from 966, when King Mieszko converted to Christianity. Ever since then, they feel, Poland's history has been dominated by two hostile forces, by German attempts to expand eastward and Russian attempts to expand towala the west. Geography has made things easy for both foes because the land of the Vistula River basin is flat. It might have been designed for marching troops across, as Boland's eAemies discovered long ago. Fbland is sometimes described as the country with portable frontiers. At times powerful kings have extended their control as far east as the Ukraine. On the other hand late in the eighteenth century Poland disappeared from the map, to re- appear only in 1919. After the second World War its boundaries changed again. During the sixteenth,century political power within the Kingdom shifted from the king to a sort of parliament known as the Sejm. The Sejm elected Fbland's king but this king had no power. The Sejm actually governed the country, but that be-1 came increasingly difficult because of a parliamen- tary device called the liberum veto. !here had to be unanimous agreement on every piece of legisla- tion, and a solitary no vote could invalidate all the actions taken during that session of the Sejm. When sessions were disrupted in this manner l6glsr lative factions organized confederations and went to war with'one another. There ceased to be any effective administration of the country. The one exception to this happened in 1683, when King John III Sobieski led the combined Iblish and Ger- man army which defeated the Turks outside Vienna. the most part, however, Ibland became thepawn yorof more effectively governed states, which competed to have their candidates elected King and their policies endorsed by the Sejm. In the eighteenth century the most pressure 2 4 came from Russia.Succession crises were settled by Russian troops. Catherine II decided with Fred- erick II of Prussia that Roland should be partitioned to assure the maintenence of peace. TA first partition occurred in 1772, when Russia, Prussia and Austria each assumed responsibility for admin- istering parts of the country. In response Polish nationalists undertook,a series of reforms,which_ culminated in the Constitution of May 3, 1791. Within a year burgeoning national pride prompted Thaddeus Kosciuszko to organize a ipvcqt against partition. In response there was a second parti- tion in 1793. This triggered a national uprising, but was finally quelled by Russia. The third and filial partition, in 1795, divided what remained of Roland, eliminating both the King and the Sejm.A few years later Napoleon created the Duchy of War- saw, but most Polish land continued to be held by Germany, Austria, and Russia. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna transformed this duchy into the KingdoM of Roland, with the Russian Emperor as king. As might have been expected, this "Congress" Roland continued to be administered as if it were a par- titioned area. Roland remained a feudal state much longer than did the countries of Western Europe.Slavery was abolished fairly early, but Polish peasants never became shareholders. As recently as the nineteenth century Fbland had no middle ,glass to speak of. Society consisted_ of a wealthy and in- dependent land of aristocracy. The SWgoverned less autocratically than earlier Kings had done, but power and privileges remained exclusively with the upper class oligarchy. Peasants were entitled only 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 the villw school and ended there. Some areas had no schools. Even when there were schools a child might not be able to attend regularly bOcause he or she would be needed at home to work on the farm. After Ei 3 the partitions Prussia and Russia provided elekentary schools which taught in either German or Russian. The upper class had access to excellent secondary schools. For a university education these students might attend the.University of Cracow, or they might be sent to universities in Germany or France. Pbles first came to America with the Jamestown settlement. These were glassblowers whose skills were utilized in the country's first factory, a glassmaking enterprise. Aging the American Revolu- tion, some Pbles came over, to fight on the side of the colonists.Two of the most famous were Casimer Pulaski and Thaddeus KosciuSzko. t For a long time after the American Revolution, relatively few Thies immigrated to America. Those who did come here either quickly assimilated as individuals or banded together as small enclaves of workingmen. Persons who participated in the un- successful Eblish revolutions of the 1790's gen- erally preferred to remain in exile in France. One exception was a group of exiles which came to Amer- ica when Andrew Jackson was President. They bought some land in Illinois and tried to form a Pblish colony. It failed, but many of the former members . moved to Chicago and became the nucleus of the Pblish settlement there. Eblish emigration to America in significant amounts started in the 1850's and 1860's. It picked up in the 1880's and- 1890's, when American factories were demanding great. numbers of workers. gration essentially stopped with World Was I. After the war people still<ame but in far fewer numbers, because of the Immigration Acts and the literacy test and quota system.lihich they imposed. There were reasons ft the Roles decidedto emigrate and reasons whyelthey chose,tocome to Amer- ica. Their overwhelmi 'reason for leaving home was economic. The pe 1 ants were poor. They worked the land year after y'3 and paid taxes, and they had, nothing else to look forward to.. They did not even own their own farms, but 'rented the land they 7 14 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 rebellions tween 1830 and 1863 scared him into a polidy of Russiffication. Each revolt intensified the policy, Russian became the language of administration and the administering was done from Petersburg. There was not even a pretense of following the Polish constitution. School classes were conducted in Fblish, while the Polish language and Fblish history were banned from the classroom. All Fblish univer- sities were closed. Poles were conscripted into the Russian army. German rule was almost as oppressive as Russian rule. Schools taught in German. There was mass conscription. Austrian rule may have been easier to bear. The Austrian Emperor ruled people of many nationalities. His government had no reason to single one of them out for harassment, but treated most of them more or less alike. Con- scription fell equally among the nationalities. One nationality did not provide all the troops for the army. THE POLISH COMMUNITY IN SOUTH BEND Poles began to arrive in Indiana during the late 1850's and early 1860's. In Northern Indiana their initial settlement centered around the town of Otis.