American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago

Chicago has one of the largest Polish populations outside of Poland, with a history of immigration, emigration, and cultural influence. American Warsaw, by award-winning historian Dominic A. Pacyga, chronicles more than a century of the community's history, focusing on how three major waves of immigrants, refugees, and fortune seekers shaped and redefined the Polonia. The book explores Polish Chicagos alignments and divisions with other ethnic groups, the Catholic Church, unions, politicians, and city hall, as well as the ever-shifting sense of Polskość. While Chicago is being eclipsed by other Polish immigrant centers, it remains a vibrant and contentious heart of the Polish American experience.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 05 November 2021
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Every May, a sea of 250,000 people adorned in red and white flocks to Chicago's Loop to commemorate Polish Constitution Day Parade. In the city, you can tune into not one, but four different Polish-language radio stations or groove to the Polkaholics. You can savor lunch from pierogi food trucks or pick up pączkis from the grocery store. And if you're fortunate, you can take a day off for Casimir Pulaski Day. For over a century, Chicago has been a haven for one of the largest Polish populations outside of Poland, and the group has exerted a significant impact on the city's culture and politics. Yet, until now, there has been no comprehensive history of the Chicago Polonia. With American Warsaw, an award-winning historian and Polish American Dominic A. Pacyga, chronicles more than a century of immigration and later emigration back to Poland, showcasing how the community has continually reimagined what it means to be Polish in Chicago. He takes us from the Civil War era until today, focusing on how three major waves of immigrants, refugees, and fortune seekers shaped and then redefined the Polonia. Pacyga also traces the movement of Polish immigrants from the peasantry to the middle class and from urban working-class districts dominated by major industries to suburbia. He documents Polish Chicago's alignments and divisions: with other Chicago ethnic groups; with the Catholic Church; with unions, politicians, and city hall; and even among its own members. And he explores the ever-shifting sense of Polskość, or "Polishness." Today, Chicago is gradually being overshadowed by other Polish immigrant centers, but it remains a vibrant and sometimes contentious heart of the Polish American experience. American Warsaw is a sweeping story that expertly depicts a people who are deeply connected to their history.

Weight: 484g
Dimension: 152 x 227 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226815343