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Polish American

Encyclopedia : P : PO : POL : Polish American

Kazimierz Pułaski monument in Washington.
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Kazimierz Pułaski monument in Washington.

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.

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Immigration waves from Poland

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. [link]

Polish communities as part of urban America

Pulaski Day Parade.
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Pulaski Day Parade.

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

Tadeusz Kościuszko monument in New York.
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Tadeusz Kościuszko monument in New York.

Polish American culture

Cultural 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.

Polish Americans by state totals

Distribution of Polish Americans according to the 2000 census
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Distribution of Polish Americans according to the 2000 census

According to the United States 2000 Census, American states with the largest numbers of self-reported Poles and Americans of Polish ancestry are:

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Polish Americans by percentage of the total population

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Famous Polish-Americans

See: List of Polish Americans

See also

External link


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