At Milwaukee

There is a stone church near the busy crossroad of Milwaukee and Chicago streets. It is equipped with only one tower around which two of them were planned. High above the entrance one may see the coat of arms of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1860s. It displays the Eagle, the Knight and the Archangel, which were the emblems of Polish, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian nations. In the middle of the shield there is also a figure of Virgin Mary with a Child. Under the shield there is a motto ‘God save Poland’, since the church was built by Polish emigrants in late 19th cent. At that time the area of Milwaukee and Chicago Streets was known as ‘Expatriate Poland’. The emigrants were political refugees persecuted by the Russian tsar and German Kaiser as well as subjects of the Austro-Hungarian emperor who were expelled from impoverished Galicia. The church was the center of Polish social and cultural life, so quickly, near the St. John Cantius parish, 20 new parishes were established.

However, in 1950s, Poles moved to another neighborhoods due to highway construction and the increase of the community. That’s why the oldest Polish district in Chicago is now inhabited mostly by Latin Americans.

However, the Polish museum, created in late 1930s, still recalls the history of the neighborhood. After the outbreak of WWII it was given the pieces displayed in the Polish section during New York World’s Fair 1939. One can admire Polish folk art and work by the most famous pre-war Polish painters like Stryjenska, Rosen, Kossak and Kramsztyk. The monumental stained glass showing the rebirth of Poland also inspires admiration. These works had an impact on the concept of the museum, which presents the history of Poland and Polish art rather than the history of local Polish community. It is only the Paderewski Room with an exhibition dedicated to this famous composer, statesman and emigrant, which reminds us of the history of Poles in the United States.