Polish Pioneer Communities in the Pacific Northwest: A Forgotten Chapter of Polish Diaspora

Dorota Praszałowicz

doi:10.12797/AdAmericam.25.2024.25.07

Authors

Dorota Praszałowicz Jagiellonian University, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8778-2145

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/AdAmericam.25.2024.25.07

Keywords:

US immigration, immigrant community building, ethnic agency, Pacific Northwest

Abstract

The article explores four pioneer Polish American communities in Washington State: Pe Ell, Wilkeson, Aberdeen and Enumclaw. These small towns thrived on timber industry (Pe Ell, Aberdeen), coal mining (Wilkeson) and farming (Enumclaw). In each location, Poles established a lodge of the Polish National Alliance, and in three of these communities,they successfully opened a Polish Hall. In addition, they contributed to founding a Roman Catholic church in each town and successfully advocated for a Polish‑speaking pastorate. In Pe Ell, they also established and maintain the Holy Cross parish of the schismaticPolish National Catholic Church for many decades (1916‑1970). By presenting this information, the article aims to shed light on a lesser‑known aspect of Polish diaspora history in the United States.

PlumX Metrics of this article

Author Biography

Dorota Praszałowicz, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Ph.D., sociologist, heads the Department of Migration and Ethnic Relations at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora at Jagiellonian University. She is a member of the (Polish collective) Researchers on the Border, and a member of the Council of the Polish American Historical Association. She belongs to the Committee of Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Migration Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She edits the series Migration – Ethnicity – Nation: Studies in Culture, Society and Politics (Peter Lang). She conducts research on American Polish communities and their transformation, the institutionalization of immigrant life, and past and present migrations in a comparative perspective. Her publications include the entry “Poland” in Encyclopedia of European Migrations and Minorities, ed. K. Bade, et.al., Cambridge University Press 2011: 258-272.

References

Alter, Peter T. “The Creation of Multi‑Ethnic Peoplehood: The Wilkeson, Washington Experience.”

Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 15, no. 3, 1996, pp. 3‑21.

Amin, Ash. “Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity.” Environment and Planning A, vol. 34, 2002, pp. 959‑980, https://doi.org/10.1068/a3537. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/a3537

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1991.

Andrews, Mildred. “Enumclaw – Thumbnail History.” History Link, 23 Nov. 1998, https://historylink.org/File/381 (1.10.2024).

Babiński, Grzegorz. Lokalna społeczność polonijna w Stanach Zjednoczonych Ameryki w procesie przemian. Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1977.

Blegen, Theodore C. “The Competition of the Northwestern States for Immigrants.” Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 3, no. 1, 1919, pp. 4‑11.

Brief History of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Wilkeson, Washington. Unpublished manuscript, Seattle Archdiocese Archive, 1964.

The Catholic Directory, Almanac and Clergy List. Milwaukee: M.H. Wiltzius & Co., 1930.

Cohen, Robin. Global Diasporas: An Introduction. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203228920

Daniels, Joseph. “Wilkeson Developments after 1880.” Mining History of Pierce County, Washington: Coal Fields, 1860‑1962:

Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Open‑File Report OF 79‑1, 1979, pp. 94‑107; https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr791_mining_history_pierce_co.pdf (1.10.2024).

Farrelly, John Patrick. Sacred Heart Parish, Enumclaw, Washington. Unpublished manuscript, Seattle Archdiocese Archive, 1942.

Gatlin, Tommi R. “In the Beginning, the Church Had a Moving Experience.” The Daily World, 10 May 1996, p. 12, https://aberdeenpolishclub.com/wp‑content/uploads/2015/07/polish‑club_0012.pdf (1.10.2024).

Glick Schiller, Nina. “Beyond the Nation State and Its Units of Analysis: Towards a New Research Agenda for Migration Studies.” Concepts and Methods in Migration Research. Conference Reader, edited by Karin Schittenhelm, 2007, pp. 39‑72, https://eclass.aegean.gr/modules/document/file.php/GEO250/2%20ΚΑΙ%203%20CONCEPTS%20AND%20METHODS%20IN%20MIGRATION%20RESEARCH.pdf (1.10.2024).

Glick Schiller, Nina, Çaglar, Ayşe, Guldbrandsen, Thaddeus C. “Beyond the Ethnic Lens: Locality, Globality, and Born‑Again Incorporation.” American Ethnologist, vol. 33, no. 4, 2006, pp. 612‑633, https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2006.33.4.612. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2006.33.4.612

Hedges, James B. “Promotion of Immigration to the Pacific Northwest by the Railroads.” Journal of American History, vol. 15, no. 2, 1928, pp. 183‑203, https://doi.org/10.2307/1895644. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1895644

Hicker, Robert. Poles in Washington State: Building an Organizational Foundation, 1890‑1945. Unpublished manuscript, 2022.

Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860‑1925.

New Brunswick‑London: Rutgers University Press, 1955.

“The History of the Archdiocese of Seattle.” Archdiocese of Seattle, https://archseattle.org/ history‑of‑the‑archdiocese‑of‑seattle/(1.10.2024).

Hoffmann’s Catholic Directory, Almanac and Clergy List. Milwaukee: M.H. Wiltzius & Co., 1894‑1897.

Holden Givens, Linda. “Pe Ell – Thumbnail History.” History Link, 10 Apr. 2023, https://www.historylink.org/File/22815 (1.10.2024).

Kamphoefner, Walter D. “What’s New about the New Immigration? A Historian’s Perspective over Two Centuries.” Studia Migracyjne – Przegląd Polonijny, vol. 3, no. 173, 2019, pp. 7‑28, https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.19.030.11072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.19.030.11072

Kolinski, Dennis. “Polish Rural Settlements in America.” Polish American Studies, vol. 52, no. 2, 1995, pp. 21‑55.

Kowalski, Leo E. Pe Ell’s Polish Pioneers. Centralia: Gorham Printing, 2007.

Kowalski, Leo E. Pe Ell’s Polish Heritage. Centralia: Gorham Printing, 2008.

Kraut, Alan M. “America Beckons, but Americans Repel: East European Migration and American Nativism, 1880‑1930.”

The United States Immigration Policy and Immigrants’ Responses: Past and Present, edited by Agnieszka Małek, Dorota Praszałowicz, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2017, pp. 11‑30.

McNamara, Edward. “The Old Catholic and Polish National Churches.” A Zenit Daily Dispatch, 14 Feb. 2012, https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/old‑catholic‑and‑polish‑national‑churches‑4615 (1.10.2024).

Morawska, Ewa. “Polonijne społeczności lokalne i ich przemiany. Szkic wstępny.” Polonia amerykańska. Przeszłość i współczesność, edited by Hieronim Kubiak, Eugeniusz Kusielewicz, Tadeusz Gromada, Wrocław: Ossolineum 1988, pp. 371‑398.

Neils Conzen, Kathleen, et al. “The Invention of Ethnicity: A Perspective from the U.S.A.”

Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 12, no. 1, 1992, pp. 3‑41.

Norkoski, Don. “Labor Union Roots Run Deep at the Aberdeen Polish Club.” The Daily World,

May 1996, p. 13, https://aberdeenpolishclub.com/wp‑content/uploads/2015/07/polish‑club_0013.pdf (1.10.2024).

Nicardi, David L. Italians in Washington State: Emigration 1853‑1924. [s.l.]: The Washington State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1978.

Norberg, David. “Wilkeson – Thumbnail History.” History Link, 11 Jun. 2020, https://www.historylink.org/File/21132 (1.10.2024).

The Official Catholic Directory and Clergy List for the Year of Our Lord 1910. Milwaukee: M.H. Wiltzius & Co., 1910. The Official Catholic Directory Anno Domini 1934.

Ott, Jennifer. “Aberdeen – Thumbnail History.” History Link, 11 Feb. 2009, https://dev.historylink.org/File/7390 (1.10.2024).

“Our Parish History.” Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, https://www.orthodoxtacoma.com/history (1.10.2024).

“Parish History.” Sacred Heart Enumclaw, https://www.sacredheartenumclaw.org/history (1.10.2024).

Pierce County Directory 1911‑12.

Seattle: R.L. Polk & Co.’s, X. Washington State Historical Society Archive, Tacoma.

Pioneer History of Enumclaw. Manuscript compiled by members of the Women’s Progressive Club, 1941, https://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/digital/collection/enumclaw/id/1664 (1.10.2024).

“Polish Club: Eighty Years of History on Grays Harbor.” The Daily World, 10 May 1996, https://aberdeenpolishclub.com/about‑2/(1.10.2024).

Praszałowicz, Dorota. “Poles in Seattle 1890–2020: Continuity and Change.” Studia Migracyjne – Przegląd Polonijny, vol. 181, no. 3, 2021, pp. 39‑56, https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.21.031.14451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.21.031.14451

Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990

Radzilowski, John. “Poles in Illinois: A Brief Historical Outline.” Studia Polonijne, vol. 43, 2022, pp. 93‑102. https://doi.org/10.18290/sp2243.8s. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/sp2243.8s

Radziłowski, John. “A New Poland in the Old Northwest: Polish Farming Communities on the Northern Great Plains.” Polish American Studies, vol. 59, no. 2, 2002, pp. 79‑96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/20148641

“Renewing a Tradition: Services, Congregation Return to Historic Church.” The Daily Chronicle, 18 Jun. 1988.

Schatzki, Theodore R. The Site of the Social: A Philosophical Account of the Constitution of Social Life and Change. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271023717. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271023717

Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.

Slone, James Michael. “The Struggle for Dignity: Mexican‑Americans in the Pacific Northwest, 1900‑2000.”

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. Las Vegas: University of Nevada, 2006, http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/4kwz‑x12w.

Smith, Timothy L. “Lay Initiative in the Religious Life of American Immigrants, 1880‑1950.”

Anonymous Americans: Explorations in Nineteenth‑Century Social History, edited by Tamara K. Hareven, Englewood Cliffs, New York: Prentice‑Hall, 1971, pp. 214‑249.

Souvenir from Sacred Heart Church, Enumclaw, Washington. Brochure, the Seattle Archdiocese Archive (no date).

Stenersen, Sigvald. “My First Christmas, I Hauled Manure on Christmas Day.” New Land, New Lives: Scandinavian Immigrants to the Pacific Northwest, edited by Janet E. Rasmussen, Seattle–London: University of Washington Press, 1993, pp. 151‑156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780295803852-026

Vertovec, Steven. “Super‑Diversity and Its Implications.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 30, no. 6, 2007, pp. 1024‑1054, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701599465. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701599465

Walaszek, Adam. Światy imigrantów. Tworzenie polonijnego Cleveland, 1880‑1930. Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy Nomos, 1994.

Washington State. Bureau of Labor. Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Washington, vol. 4. Olympia, 1904.

“Wilkeson Marks Church Jubilee.” The Catholic Northwest Progress, 8 May 1964.

“Wilkeson to Observe Church Jubilee.” The Catholic Northwest Progress, 1 May 1964.

Wimmer, Andreas. “How (Not) to Think about Ethnicity in Immigrant Societies: Toward a Boundary‑Making Perspective.” Concepts and Methods in Migration Research. Conference Reader, edited by Karin Schittenhelm, 2007, pp. 7‑38.

https://eclass.aegean.gr/modules/document/file.php/GEO250/2%20ΚΑΙ%203%20CONCEPTS%20AND%20METHODS%20IN%20MIGRATION%20RESEARCH.pdf (1.10.2024).

Yang, Fenggang, and Ebaugh, Helen Rose. “Transformations in New Immigrant Religions and Their Global Implications.” American Sociological Review, vol. 66, no. 2, 2001, pp. 269‑288, https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240106600206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240106600206

Webpages

Census:

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/WA/PST045222 (1.10.2024).

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045223 (1.10.2024).

https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/volume‑1/volume‑1‑p4.pdf (1.10.2024).

https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume‑3/41084484v3ch09.pdf (1.10.2024).

https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population‑volume‑2/16440598v2ch08.pdf – Mother Tongue of the Foreign‑Born White Population (1.10.2024).

Statistical Atlas:

https://statisticalatlas.com/state/Washington/Ancestry (1.10.2024).

https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Washington/Pe‑Ell/Ancestry (1.10.2024).

https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Washington/Wilkeson/Ancestry (1.10.2024).

https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Washington/Aberdeen/Ancestry (1.10.2024).