Polish immigrants and industrial Chicago : workers on the South side, 1880-1922 / Dominic A. Pacyga.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pacyga, Dominic A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Polish Americans--Illinois--Chicago--History.

Polish Americans.

Working class--Illinois--Chicago--History.

Working class.

History.

Chicago (Ill.)--History--1875-.

Chicago (Ill.).

Illinois--Chicago.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 298 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, [2003]

Summary:

How did working-class immigrants from Poland create new communities in Chicago during the industrial age? This book explores the lives of immigrants in two iconic South Side Polish neighborhoods -- the Back of the Yards and South Chicago -- and the stockyards and steel mills in which they made their living. Pacyga shows how Poles forged communities on the South Side in an attempt to preserve the customs of their homeland; how through the development of churches, the building of schools, the founding of street gangs, and the opening of saloons they tried to recreate the feel of an Eastern European village. Through such institutions, Poles also were able to preserve their folk beliefs and family customs. But in time, the economic hardships of industrialization forced Poles to reach out to their non-Polish neighbors. And this led, in large part, to the organization of labor unions in Chicago's steel and meatpacking industries.

Contents:

1. Poland, Chicago, and the New Economic System 15

2. Working and Living in Packingtown: Back of the Yards, 1890-1914 43

3. Working and Living in Steel City: South Chicago, 1890-1914 82

4. Remaking the Polish Village: The Communal Response 111

5. Defending the Polish Village: The Extracommunal Response 158

6. Years of Crisis, 1918-1922 206.

Notes:

Originally published: Columbus : Ohio State University Press, 1991.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-288) and index.

ISBN:

0226644243

OCLC:

52214821