# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you are already registered on our website, you can sign in by selecting your partner organization below, then entering your email address and password on the next screen.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Angel Island Immigration Station Tour - AIISF

# data[].attributes.headline
Angel Island... One Woman's Experience...

# data[].attributes.subject
Angel Island... One Woman's Experience...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers from Scholastic

# data[].attributes.body
Information about Angel Island Immigration Station

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
KQED : Pacific Link: The KQED Asian Education Initiative: History: Angel Island

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The exact number of immigrants who passed through Angel Island is unknown. In addition to being a detention site, the station was also an administrative site. As such, it processed the paperwork for all people coming into and leaving the United States, and not just for those who spent time at the site.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ellis Island Interactive Tour With Facts, Pictures, Video | Scholastic.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about immigration on Ellis Island in this interactive, virtual tour. Facts about immigration, pictures of Ellis Island, oral histories, and videos help explain the immigration process to kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual Field Trip to Ellis Island | Scholastic.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teach about immigration with this webcast from Ellis Island, brought to you by Scholastic and the National Park Service. Tour the historic immigration station, meet Park Rangers, and discover the history of immigration in America.

# data[].attributes.headline
Immigration from the Former USSR to the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
Immigration from the Former USSR to the United States

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Significance: Immigration to the United States fromseveral of the former Soviet countries is a relatively recent development, but some of the others have long histories of sending people to the United States.

Arising out of the Russian Revolution that began in 1917, the Soviet Union expanded into the largest nation in the world in land area and became a world superpower after World War II. In theory at least, it was a voluntary union made up of fifteen autonomous Soviet socialist republics, but it was dominated by Russia, by far the largest of the republics in both population and area. Under the strains of the Cold War and the pressures of the modern world economy, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and separated into its constituent republics, each of which became an independent nation.

The fifteen Soviet socialist republics that made up the Soviet Union all became independent after the breakup of the union in 1991. They can be divided into five groups:

Slavic states: Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Belarus

Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

Caucasus states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan

Moldova

None of these states is ethnically homogeneous, and several are home to large ethnic minorities-notably ethnic Russians. Several of the countries have been troubled by separatist movements and quasi-autonomous regions within them.

Historical Background

During the late nineteenth century, peasant emancipation and the expansion of a market economy began to affect the western regions of the Russian Empire, sparking the emigration of ethnic Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Finns, and ethnic Germans. Emigration to America was heaviest from the areas bordering the German and Austrian empires in the west and was much lighter from regions to the east. Prior to World War I (1914-1918), transatlantic immigration of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians from eastern and central Ukraine was limited. Opportunities for settlement in southern Russia and Siberia drew many people eastward in a wave of internal migration. Nevertheless, during the first decade of the twentieth century more than 1.5 million immigrants from the Russian Empire arrived in the United States. Despite a halt in immigration during World War I, another 1.1 million immigrants came during the following decade.

Ukrainian immigration to the United States has been significant since the 1880's. At that time most Ukrainian immigrants came from the provinces of Galicia and Bukovina in the eastern reaches of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following the failure to establish an independent Ukrainian nation after World War I and the subsequent Soviet repression, culminating in the terror-famine of the early 1930's, many Ukrainians active in the independence movement left their homeland. Alongside Ukrainians were Rusins (or Carpatho-Rusyns), members of small east-Slavic speaking communities in the eastern Carpathian region. Ukrainian and Rusin immigrants settled in industrial regions of the United States, such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes states. Large numbers also settled on Canada's western prairies.

Polish, Jewish, and Finnish immigrants were the largest groups from the former Russian Empire, but most came from regions that after 1922 were outside the Soviet Union. Jews from central Belarus or central Ukraine were an exception. Aside from these groups, Lithuanians and Latvians came to the United States during this era, the former greatly outnumbering the latter. Both groups settled in industrial regions of the Northeast and Great Lakes states. Russian Germans from Ukraine and the Volga regions also arrived during this period, settling in the Great Plains and Midwest. Small number of Estonians and Belorussians also arrived in the United States. Following the Russian Revolution and the defeat of anticommunist forces, a small number of so-called "White" Russians settled in the United States.

Soviet Union During World War II

World War II (1939-1945) displaced large numbers of Soviet citizens from their homelands as well as citizens of the three Baltic states, Poland, and Romania. During the war, many people were taken as slave laborers by Germany's Nazi regime to work in factories and farms. Others became prisoners of war or victims of Nazi persecution, and still others were refugees who fled the fighting as well as violence, genocide, and ethnic cleansing that were integral features of the war on the eastern front. Following the Yalta accords of early 1945 that recognized Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, significant portions of Poland, Romania, and all the Baltic states were annexed by the Soviet government, which imposed a regime of terror on the remaining inhabitants.

Postwar legislation put in place to ease earlier national-origin quotas in light of the refugee crisis allowed a significant number of former Soviet citizens into the United States, especially people from the Baltic republics, Belorussians, and Ukrainians. After the end of the national origin quotas in 1965, a trickle of Soviet citizens arrived in the United States during the era of U.S.-Soviet détente, often under family reunification provisions. The so-called refuseniks were a small but important group of anti- Soviet immigrants. Many Soviet immigrants of Jewish ancestry sought to emigrate to Israel or the United States but were denied by the Soviet government, which viewed them with suspicion and prejudice.

Harsh treatment of Soviet Jews became a major human rights issue for Americans during the 1970's. The Jackson-Vanik amendment to the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 penalized the Soviet Union and other countries that restricted the right of emigrants peacefully to leave their homelands. The law effectively pressured the Soviet government into releasing a steady flow of emigrants, primarily dissidents and members of minority religious communities- Jews, evangelical Christians, and Roman Catholics. The majority of these immigrants settled in the United States. The most famous Soviet immigrant of this period was the Nobel Prize-winning writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who settled in Cavendish, Vermont.

Following the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland and the subsequent peaceful revolutions in east-central Europe, communism began to collapse in the Soviet Union, despite the reformefforts of Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the Soviet Union. In 1991, a failed coup against Gorbachev brought an end to the Soviet Union and all of the constituent republics declared independence. The newly independent states, including Russia, continued to send significant numbers of immigrants to the United States.

Many refugees from the Soviet Union who could not obtain Soviet passports, traveled under League of Nations passports such as this one, which was issued shortly after Joseph Stalin took power in the Soviet Union. (Library of Congress)

From the mid-1980's until 2008, more than 1 million legal immigrants were admitted to the United States. from countries of the former Soviet Union, including the three Baltic republics. The three Slavic countries of the FSU contributed the majority of these immigrants. Of the three, Ukraine has provided the most, calculated both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the country's total population. Among the five Central Asian republics, Uzbekistan, the most populous of the group, has sent the most immigrants, followed by Kazakhstan. A significant portion of immigrants from the Central Asian republics appear to have been ethnic Russians. Likewise, immigrant streams fromUkraine and Belarus appear to have included numerous Russians. Immigrants from nearly all the states of the former Soviet Union outside Russia itself speak Russian, and those who speak Russian as their primarily language are in the great majority in several of the countries, most notably Belarus.

Jewish Immigrants

A high proportion of immigrants from the former Soviet Union have been Jewish in heritage. Their precise number is unknown, but estimates have ranged as high as 700,000 immigrants throughout history. Approximately one-half of these immigrants have settled in the greater New York City metropolitan area. Other important centers of immigration have included Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Jewish American organizations have taken the lead role in sponsoring and assisting Jewish arrivals from the former Soviet Union. Data from these organizations indicate that former Soviet Jewish émigrés are older on average than most other immigrant populations. One study found that more than one-third of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union living in the New York area were at least fifty-five years old. Significantly, nearly twothirds of all Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union have close relatives in Israel, indicating the divided destinations of Jewish family migration during the post-Soviet period.

Characteristics of Post-Soviet Immigrants

Post-Soviet émigrés have tended to be better educated than the older waves of immigrants from the former Russian Empire. One study in 2003 found that 34 percent of Ukrainian immigrants in the United States had university educations, compared to 23 percent of non-Ukrainian immigrants. The same study found these immigrants outperforming Ukrainian immigrants to Canada, and other immigrants in the United States in terms of earnings and acquisition of English.

Due to their different socioeconomic standing and experiences in the former Soviet Union, most post-Soviet immigrants have tended to form their own organizations and develop their cultural and social activities apart from established communities. Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union have tended to be secularized and often religiously nonobservant. Although efforts have been made to change that, and Jewish American social service agencies continue to play an important role in serving Jewish immigrants, especially the elderly, the majority of these immigrants remain apart from the community mainstream. A similar situation exists among non-Jewish immigrants, such as Ukrainians, who have not joined existing Ukrainian American organizations in large numbers.

The growth of the Russian-speaking population in the United States during the two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union has spurred the growth of Russian-language media. In 2008, nearly thirty Russian-language and bilingual newspapers and magazines were published within the United States. All but one-New York City's daily Novoye Russkoye Slovo-were weeklies and biweeklies; most were published in the greater New York area. There were also several cable television channels broadcasting in Russian and a New York-area Russian radio network. Most Russian-language television programming is produced in Russia. The growth of new media among new immigrants from the former Soviet Union has been somewhat hampered by competition with ready Internet access to homeland newspapers and the streaming of radio and video broadcasts.

Profile of Former Soviet Union immigrants

Countries of origin

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Primary language

Russian

Primary regions of U.S. settlement

Throughout the United States, with largest concentration in New York

Earliest significant arrivals

1870's

Peak immigration periods

1900-1919, 1990's

Twenty-first century legal residents*

391,577 (48,947 per year)

*Immigrants who obtained legal permanent resident status in the United States.

Source: Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008.

Another important contribution of first-generation immigrants from the former Soviet Union has been widespread entrepreneurship. Small to medium- size start-up firms are common and most cities with any sizeable community of recent Russian or Ukrainian émigrés supports at least a few ethnic delicatessens and gift shops.

Crime

Alongside such positive aspects of post-Soviet immigration to the United States, there have also been growing problems of crime and violence. Russian and post-Soviet organized crime groups with ties to Russian-based mafia and Russian security services have become a major problem in the United States. During the late 1980's, the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn was a notorious area for Russian mafia activities, which often preyed on fellow immigrants in various extortion schemes. Since that time, organized Russian crime operations have expanded throughout the United States. Typically well educated, sophisticated, knowledgeable about computers and international finance, and apparently enjoying the covert support of Russian security agencies, members of the Russian mafia have posed major threats to American law enforcement, despite the arrests and convictions of a few notable racketeers. These groups have also been involved in drug trafficking and prostitution and developed ties to organized crime groups from other ethnic and racial backgrounds. Some youth gang activities have also been observed, including Armenian gangs, such as "Armenian Power" in the Los Angeles area.

The apparent growth of the Russian economy during the middle of the first decade of the twentyfirst century, due to high oil prices, has somewhat reduced emigration fromRussia. However, emigration fromUkraine, Moldova, and the Central Asian republics has remained fairly steady. In 2009, it appeared likely that post-Soviet countries would continue to send immigrants to the United States into the foreseeable future.
John Radzilowski Further Reading

Altshuler, Stuart. The Exodus of the Soviet Jews. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Detailed study of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union.

Finckenauer, James O., and Elin J.Waring. Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture, and Crime. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998. Examination of the criminal activities of Russian immigrants, who are compared to criminal members of other immigrant groups.

Foner, Nancy, ed. New Immigrants in New York. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Collection of sociological essays on seven modern immigrant groups, including Soviet Jews, that addresses how they have interacted with New York City.

Gloecker, Olaf, Evgenija Garbolevsky, and Sabine von Mering, eds. Russian-Jewish Emigrants After the Cold War. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Center for German and European Studies, 2006. Collection of conference papers on Jewish immigrants from Russia in the United States.

Shasha, Dennis, and Marina Shron. Red Blues: Voices from the Last Wave of Russian Immigrants. New York: Holmes & Meier, 2002. Study of Soviet immigration to the United States based on a collection of interviews with immigrants documenting their experiences in America. Includes a foreword by Steven J. Gold.

See also: Brin, Sergey; Canada vs. United States as immigrant destinations; European immigrants; Jewish immigrants; Polish immigrants; Russian and Soviet immigrants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Significance: Immigration to the United States fromseveral of the former Soviet countries is a relatively recent development, but some of the others have long histories of sending people to the United States. Arising out of the Russian Revolution that began in 1917, the Soviet Union expanded into

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Overview

Officially known as the Hellenic Republic, Greece is a mountainous peninsula located in southeastern Europe, between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. With a landmass of 51,000 square miles (132,100 square kilometers), Greece is bordered to the north by Bulgaria and Macedonia. Nearly 2,000 islands surround its eastern, southern, and western borders. The nine major land areas that constitute Greece include Central Pindus, Thessaly, the Salonika Plain, Macedonia/Thrace, Peloponnesus, the Southeastern Uplands, the Ionian Islands, the Aegean Islands, and Crete.

The capital city, Athens, and the cities of Thessaloniki (Salonika), Patras, Volos, and Larissa have the largest populations in Greece, which has a total population of approximately ten million. Ninety-seven percent of the ethnically and linguistically homogeneous nation speaks Greek, and one percent, Turkish. The Eastern Orthodox church is the dominant religion; only about 1.5 percent of the population is Muslim, and a small percentage is Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, or Jewish.

Traditionally, Greeks referred to themselves as "Hellenes" and to the country of Greece as "Hellas." The word "Greek" comes from the Latin Graeci, a name given to the people of this region by the Romans.

The Greek flag features a small white cross in the upper left corner flanked to the right and bottom by alternating white and blue stripes. The white cross symbolizes the Greek Orthodox religion, while the blue stripes stand for the sea and sky, and the white stripes for the purity of the Greek struggle for independence. The national anthem is "The Hymn to Freedom" (" Imnos pros teen elefteeriahn "). The basic monetary unit is the drachma.

HISTORY

Greece is an ancient country that has been continuously occupied from 6000 B.C. , the beginning of its Neolithic period, until the present. The Bronze Age, traditionally divided into early, middle, and late phases, dated from 2800 B.C. to 1000 B.C. It was during this period that Minoan civilization of Crete and the Mycenean civilization of mainland Greece flourished. These civilizations were destroyed around 1000 B.C. just as the individual city-state or "polis" was beginning to experience rapid growth. In 479 B.C. the city-states united to defeat Persia, a common enemy, but national unity proved to be short-lived. The power struggle between Athens and Sparta, the principal city-states, dominated the period.

Athens reached its zenith during the fifth century B.C. , a period known as its Golden Age. At this time Athens experimented with a form of internal democracy unique in the ancient world, achieved a singular culture, and left enduring literary and architectural legacies. Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, Herodotus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus came into prominence, and in 432 B.C. the Parthenon on the Acropolis was completed. The Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C. and a plague that raged through Athens in 430 contributed to bring the Golden Age to an end. For a time Sparta dominated the Greek world, but war and severe economic decline hastened the decline of all of the city-states.

Greece came under Macedonian domination between 338 and 200 B.C. The Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, conquered Greece, Persia, and Egypt to create an empire, and he carried the idea of Hellenism to places as far away as India. The Hellenistic Age that followed Alexander's rule lasted until 146 B.C. As a Roman state from 127 B.C. to A.D. 330, Greece and its city-states had no political or military power. When the Roman Empire was divided in A.D. 395, Greece became part of the Eastern Empire, which continued as the Byzantine Empire until 1453. That year the Turks captured Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, and Greece became part of the Ottoman Empire.

MODERN ERA

Greece's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on March 25, 1821, resulted in the Greek War of Independence, which lasted until 1829, and began the history of independent modern Greece. Great Britain, France, and Russia assisted Greece in its struggle for independence, and Greece came under the protection of these powers by the London Protocol of 1830. In 1832 the Bavarian Otto I became the first king of Greece, and in 1844 a conservative revolutionary force established a constitutional monarchy. George I, who succeeded Otto I, created a more democratic form of government with a new constitution in 1864.

During the 1880s and 1890s, transportation, education, and social services rapidly improved. Then in 1897 a revolt against the Turks in Crete led to war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire and to eventual self-governance for Crete. A revolt by the Military League in 1909 prompted the appointment of Eleuthérios Venizélos as Prime Minister of Greece. Between 1910 and 1933 Venizélos enacted major financial reforms.

During World War I Greece joined the Allied forces in opposing Germany. After the war Greece regained much of the territory it had lost to the Ottoman Empire. But in 1921 Greece began a war against the Turks in Asia Minor and suffered a crushing defeat in 1922. In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, more than 1.25 million Greeks moved from Turkey to Greece, and more than 400,000 Turks in Greece moved to Turkey.

Between the World Wars, the Greek population vacillated between the establishment of a republican form of government and the restoration of monarchy. In 1936 Greece became a military dictatorship under General Ioannis Metaxas, who remained in power until 1944. The Germans occupied Greece during World War II, and the country did not recover until the 1950s, when it began slowly to regain economic and political stability. In 1952 Greece joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and also granted women the right to vote and to hold political office. During 1952 to 1963 Alexander Papagos and Konstantinos Karamanlis each held the office of prime minister.

On April 27, 1967, Colonel George Papadopoulos led a military coup, resulting in the suspension of constitutionally guaranteed rights and the imposition of harsh social controls. Papadopoulos declared Greece a republic in 1973 and put an end to the monarchy before his government was overthrown. In November 1974 Greece held its first free elections in more than a decade. Parliament adopted a new constitution in 1975, and a civilian government was established.

The first Socialist government in Greece gained control in 1981, the year Andreas Papandreou-the son of George Papandreou and a member of the Panhellenic Socialist movement-succeeded conservative Georgios Rallis as prime minister. In 1989 a conservative-communist coalition formed a new government, and pledging that Greece would be an active participant in the greater European community, Papandreou was reelected.

THE FIRST GREEKS IN AMERICA

According to official records, the Greek sailor Don Teodoro or Theodoros, who sailed to America with the Spanish explorer Panfilio de Narvaez in 1528, was the first Greek to land in America. The names of other Greek sailors who may have come to America during this period are John Griego and Petros the Cretan. There is some speculation that Juan De Fuca, who discovered the straits south of Vancouver Island, may have been a Greek named Ionnis Phocas.

One of the first Greek colonies was at New Smyrna near Saint Augustine, Florida. Andrew Turnball and his wife Maria Rubini, daughter of a wealthy Greek merchant, persuaded approximately 450 colonists to journey to America and settle. With the promise of land, Greek colonists primarily from Mani in the south of Greece, as well as Italians, Minorcans, and Corsicans, began arriving in Florida on June 26, 1768. The colony was an overwhelming failure and was officially disbanded on July 17, 1777, but many of the colonists had already moved to neighboring Saint Augustine, where they were becoming successful as merchants and small businessmen. A small community of Greeks also built a chapel and school there.

SIGNIFICANT IMMIGRATION WAVES

The first wave of Greek immigrants included about 40 orphans who had survived the Greek Revolution of 1821 and who were brought to the United States by American missionaries; survivors of the 1822 massacre of Chios by the Turks; and merchant sailors who settled in the Americas. Most of these Greeks were from islands such as Chios, and others came from Asia Minor, Epirus, and Macedonia. By 1860 about 328 Greeks were living in the United States, with the majority residing in California, Arkansas, New York, and Massachusetts.

The U.S. Greek population remained small until the 1880s, when poor economic conditions in Greece prompted many Greeks to immigrate to the United States. During the 1880s most who came were from Laconia (notably, from the city of Sparta), a province of the Peloponnesus in southern Greece. Beginning in the 1890s, Greeks began arriving from other parts of Greece, principally from Arcadia, another province in the Peloponnesus. The largest numbers arrived during 1900-1910 (686) and 1911-1920 (385). Most were young single males who came to the United States to seek their fortunes and wished to return to Greece as soon as possible. About 30 percent of those who came before 1930 did return, some of whom went to fight in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.

The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 reversed the open-door policy of immigration and established quotas. The Act of 1921 limited the number of Greek admittants to 3,063, while the Act of 1924 limited the number to 100. Legal petition increased the quota, and during 1925-1929 about 10,883 Greeks were admitted. Another 17,000 Greeks were admitted under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, and 1,504 were accepted as a result of further legislation in 1957.

The Immigration Act of 1965 abandoned the quota system and gave preference to immigrants with families already established in the United States. The new Greek arrivals usually were better educated than their predecessors and included men and women in equal numbers, as well as family groups.

From 1820 to 1982 a total of 673,360 Greeks immigrated to the United States. After 1982, the number of Greeks entering the United States is as follows: 1983 (3,020); 1984 (2,865); 1985 (2,579); 1986 (2,512); 1987 (2,653); 1988 (2,458); 1989 (2,157); 1990 (2,742); 1991 (1,760); 1992 (1,790). The 1990 Census reported the number of people claiming at least one ancestry as Greek at 1,110,373.

SETTLEMENT

During the 1890s Greeks began settling in major urban areas, including the industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest. The first immigrants settled in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The city of Lowell, Massachusetts, attracted the majority of Greeks, and by 1920 it had the third largest Greek community in the United States. Greeks also settled in the New England towns of Haverhill, Lynn, Boston, Peabody, and Manchester. The largest Greek settlement in the twentieth century was in New York. Greeks also settled in western Pennsylvania, particularly Pittsburgh, and in the Midwestern cities of Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Chicago.

Small Greek communities existed in Galveston, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, but the largest concentration of Greeks in the South was at Tarpon Springs, Florida. In the first half of the twentieth century, this unique settlement of Greeks made its living by sponge diving.

Attracted to mining and railroad work, large numbers of Greeks settled in Salt Lake City, with smaller numbers inhabiting Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada. The heaviest early concentration on the Pacific Coast was in San Francisco. Today, Greeks live primarily in urban areas and are increasingly moving to the South and West. The 1990 Census reveals that New York State still has the largest population of Greeks, with the highest concentration in the Astoria section of the borough of Queens. The next largest populations are in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Florida.

Acculturation and Assimilation

Few negative Greek stereotypes persist. Greeks share the American work ethic and desire for success and are largely perceived as hardworking and family-oriented. They are also said to possess a "Zorba"-like spirit and love of life. However, many Greek Americans perceive the recent Greek immigrants as "foreign" and often as a source of embarrassment.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS

Greeks have an assortment of traditional customs, beliefs, and superstitions to ensure success and ward off evil and misfortune. Old beliefs persist in some communities in the United States. For example, belief in the "evil eye" is still strong and is supported by the Greek Orthodox church as a generalized concept of evil. Precautions against the evil eye ( not endorsed by the church) include wearing garlic; making the sign of the cross behind the ear of a child with dirt or soot; placing an image of an eye over the lintel; wearing the mati, a blue amulet with an eye in the center; and recitation of a ritual prayer, the ksematiasma. Greeks may also respond to a compliment with the expression ptou, ptou, to keep the evil eye from harming the person receiving the compliment. Greeks also "knock wood" to guard against misfortune, and reading one's fortunes in the patterns of coffee dregs remains popular.

PROVERBS

The Greeks "have a saying for it": In wine there is truth; You make my liver swell (You make me sick);

God ascends stairs and descends stairs (Everything is possible for God); An old hen makes the tastiest broth (Quality improves with age); He won't give her any chestnuts (He wouldn't cut her any slack); I tell it to my dog, and he tells it to his tail (To pass the buck); I went for wool, and I came out shorn (To lose the shirt off one's back); Faith is the power of life.

CUISINE

Greek food is extremely popular in the United States, where Greek American restaurants flourish. In Greek restaurants and in the home, many of the traditional recipes have been adapted (and sometimes improved on) to suit American tastes. In Greece meals are great social occasions where friends and family come together and the quantity of food is often impressive. Olive oil is a key ingredient in Greek cooking and is used in quantity. Traditional herbs include parsley, mint, dill, oregano (especially the wild oregano rigani ), and garlic. You will find on most Greek tables olives, sliced cheese (such as feta, kaseri, and kefalotiri ), tomato, and lemon wedges, along with bread. Fish, chicken, lamb, beef, and vegetables are all found on the Greek menu and are prepared in a variety of ways. Soup, salad, and yogurt are served as side dishes. Sheets of dough called phillo are layered and filled with spinach, cheese, eggs, and nuts. Greeks create such masterpieces as moussaka, a layered dish of eggplant, meat, cheese, and bread crumbs sometimes served with a white sauce. Other popular Greek dishes in the United States include souvlakia, a shish kabob of lamb, vegetables, and onions; keftedes,

Greek meatballs; saganaki, a mixture of fried cheese, milk, egg, and flour; dolmathes yalantzi, grape leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts, onions, and spices; and gyros, slices of beef, pork, and lamb prepared on a skewer, served with tomatoes, onions, and cucumber yogurt sauces on pita bread.

Soups include psarosoupa me avgolemono, a rich fish soup made with egg and lemon sauce; spanaki soupa, spinach soup; mayeritsa, an Easter soup made with tripe and/or lamb parts and rice; and fasolatha, a white bean Lenten soup made with tomatoes, garlic, and spices. Salads always accompany a meal. The traditional Greek salad ( salata a la greque ) is made with lettuce or spinach, feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, olives, oregano, and olive oil.

The national drink of Greece is ouzo ("oozoh"), an anise-flavored liquor that tastes like licorice and that remains popular with Greek Americans. Traditionally, it is served with appetizers ( mezethes ) such as olives, cheese, tomato, and lemon wedges. A popular Greek wine, retsina, is produced only in Greece and is imported to the United States.

HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS

Greeks celebrate many Greek Orthodox holy days throughout the year, in addition to Christmas Day, Easter Day, and New Year's Day. Greeks in the United States also celebrate Greek Independence Day on March 25, commemorating their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. In Chicago and New York, cities with a sizable Greek population, people dress in traditional costumes and sing the national anthem. The program of events also includes a parade, public address, folk dance, song, and poetry recitation.

DANCE AND SONGS

Greek music and dance are an expression of the national character and are appreciated by people of all ethnic backgrounds. As Marilyn Rouvelas stated in A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America: "To the uninitiated, the music invites images of intriguing places, food and people. For the Greeks, the sounds and rhythms express their very essence: their dreams, sorrows and joys. Add dancing and nothing more need be said."

Varieties of Greek popular music include dimotika ( thimotika ), laika, and evropaika. Dimotika are traditional rural folk songs often accompanied by a clarinet, lute, violin dulcimer, and drum. Laika is an urban style of song, developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, which may feature the bouzouki, a long-necked stringed instrument. Evropaika is Eurostyle music set to Greek words that is popular with the older generation.

Traditional Greek dances may be danced in a circle, in a straight line, or between couples. The kalamatianos is an ancient dance with many variations in which both men and women participate. It has 12 basic steps and is danced in a semicircle to 7/8 time. All variations are performed by the leader who stands facing the semicircle. The sirtos, perhaps the most ancient dance, is similar to the kalamatianos, but it is more controlled, performed to 2/4 time. First danced in the mountainous region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, the tsamiko, traditionally danced by men, is today performed by both men and women. It was danced by the fighters and rebels in the Greek Revolution of 1821. The hasapiko is a popular folk dance for both men and women that is danced in a straight line, with one dancer holding the shoulder of the other. The sirtaki, a variation of the hasapiko, culminates with the "Zorba" dance popularized in the movie Zorba the Greek. Although the Zorba has no roots in Greek dance history, it does capture the mood and temperament of the Greek spirit. Originating in the Middle East, the tsifteteli is a seductive dance performed by one or two people. The zeibekiko is a personal dance traditionally danced only by men, either singly or as a couple. It is a serious, completely self-absorbed dance in which the dancer freely improvises the steps.

Language

Greek is a conservative language that has retained much of its original integrity. Modern Greek is derived from the Attic Koine of the first century A.D. During Byzantine times, the language underwent modifications and has incorporated many French, Turkish, and Italian words. Modern Greek retained the ancient alphabet and orthography of the more ancient language, but many changes have taken place in the phonetic value of letters and in the spelling. Although about 75 percent of the old words remain from the ancient language, words often have taken on new meanings. Modern Greek also retains from the ancient language a system of three pitch accents (acute, circumflex, grave). In 1982, a monotonic accent (one-stress accent) was officially adopted by the Greek government.

Greeks are fiercely proud of the continuity and relative stability of their language and much confusion and debate persists about "correct Greek." Two separate languages were once widely written and spoken in Greece: demotic Greek ( Demotiki ), the more popular language of the people, and Katharevousa, the "pure" archaic language of administration, religion, education, and literature. In 1967 demotic Greek was recognized as the official spoken and written language of Greece and is the language adopted for liturgical services by the Greek Orthodox church in the United States.

Modern Greek contains 24 characters with seven vowels and five vowel sounds. It is traditionally written in Attic characters; the letters, their names, transliterations, and pronounciations are: "Αα"- alpha/a ("ah"); "Ββ"- veta/v ("v"); "Γγ"- gamma/g ("gh," "y"); "Δδ"- delta/d, dh ("th"); "Εε"- epsilon/e ("eh"); "Ζζ"- zeta/z ("z"); "Ηη"-eta/e ("ee"); "Θθ"- theta/th ("th"); "Ιι"- yiota/i ("ee"); "Κκ"-kappa/k, c ("k"); "Λλ"- lambda/l ("l"); "Μμ"-mu/m ("m"); "Νν"-nee/n ("n"); "Ξξ"- kse/x ("ks"); "Ωω"- omicron/o ("oh"); "Ππ"- pi/p ("p"); "Ρρ"- rho/r ("r"); "Σσ"-sigma/s ("s"); "Ττ"- taf/t ("t"); "Υυ"- ypsilon/y ("ee"); "Φφ"- fee/ph ("f"); "Χχ"- khee/h ("ch" [as in "ach"]); "Ψψ"- psee/ps ("ps" [as in "lapse"]); "Οο"- omega/o ("oh").

Today Greek language schools continue to encourage the study of Greek, and new generations are discovering its rich rewards.

GREETINGS AND OTHER COMMON EXPRESSIONS

Some of the more common expressions in the Greek language include: Ωχι ("ohchi")-No; Ναι ("neh")-Yes; Ευχαριστο (Efcharisto)-Thank you; Καλημερα ("kahleemera")-Good morning; Καλησπερα ("kahleespehrah")-Good afternoon/evening; Γεια σωυσασ ("yah soo"/"yah sahs")-Hello/Good-bye (informal); Χαιρετε ("chehrehteh")-Greetings/Hello (formal); Ωπα! ("ohpah")-Hooray! Toasts may include Για χαρα ("yah chahrah")-For joy; Καλη τυχη ("kahlee teechee")-Good luck. Other popular expressions are Χρωνια πωλλα ("chrohnyah pohllah")- Many years/Happy birthday; Χαλη χρωνια ("kahlee chrohnyah")-Good year; Καλη Σαρακωστη ("kahlee sahrahkohstee")-Good Lent; Καλα Χριστωυγεννα ("kahlah christooghehnna")-Merry Christmas. Expressions used at Easter are Καλω Πασχα ("kahloh pahschah")-Happy Easter (used before Easter); Καλη Ανασταση ("kahlee ahnahstahsee")-Good Resurrection (said after the Good Friday service); Χριστωσ ανεστη ("christohs ahnehstee")-Christ has risen (said after the Good Friday service) and its response, Αλη θωσ ανεστη ("ahleethohs ahnehstee")-Truly he has risen.

Family and Community Dynamics

If there is one self-defining concept among Greeks, it is the concept of philotimo, which may be translated as "love of honor." Philotimo is a highly developed sense of right and wrong involving personal pride and honor and obligation to family and community. It shapes and regulates an individual's relationships as a member of both a family and the community. Because the acts of each individual affect the entire family and community, each person must work to maintain both personal and family honor. It is philotimo that "laid the foundation for Greek success in America," wrote G. Kunkelman in The Religion of Ethnicity.

The idea of family and attachment to the Greek Orthodox church remains strong among Greek Americans. In many communities, the ideal family is still a patriarchy where the man, as husband and father, is a central authority figure and the woman a wife and mother. Children are highly valued, and frequently parents will sacrifice a great deal to see that their children accomplish their goals. Elderly parents may still move in with their children, but "Americanization," with accompanying affluence, assimilation, and mobilization, has rendered this arrangement less practicable.

Another change from traditional Greek custom is the rising number of marriages between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Greeks. The 1994 Yearbook of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America reports that between 1976 and 1992, the number of marriages between Orthodox Greeks was 35,767, while the number between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Greeks was 53,790; the divorce rate is 6,629 and 5,552, respectively.

WEDDINGS

The wedding service conducted by a Greek Orthodox priest may be said in both Greek and in English, but the traditional elements of the Greek wedding remain unchanged. The hour-long ceremony is conducted around a small table on which two wedding crowns, the book of the Gospels, the wedding rings, a cup of wine, and two white candles are placed. The two-part Greek Orthodox wedding includes the betrothal and the wedding proper. During the betrothal the rings are blessed to signify that the couple is betrothed by the church. The priest first blesses the rings and then, with the rings, blesses the couple, touching their foreheads with the sign of the cross. The rings are placed on the bride's and groom's right hands, and the official wedding sponsors ( koumbari ) exchange the rings three times. During the wedding ceremony the bride and groom each hold a lighted white candle and join right hands while the priest prays over them. Crowns ( stephana ) joined with a ribbon are placed on their heads, and the koumbaros (male) or koumbara (female) is responsible for exchanging the wedding crowns three times above the heads of the couple during the service. Traditionally read are the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians and the second chapter of the Gospel of Saint John, which stress the mutual respect and love the couple now owe each other and the sanctity of the married state. After the couple shares a common cup of wine, they are led around the table by the priest in the Dance of Isaiah, which symbolizes the joy of the church in the new marriage. The koumbaros follows, holding the ribbon that joins the crowns. With the blessing of the priest, the couple is proclaimed married, and the crowns are removed.

The wedding reception reflects the influence of both Greek and American tradition and is notable for its abundance of food, dancing, and singing. The wedding cake is served along with an assortment of Greek sweets that may include baklava and koufeta -traditional wedding candy-is often distributed in candy dishes or in bombonieries (small favors given to guests after the wedding).

BAPTISMS AND CHRISMATIONS

The koumbari who act as wedding sponsors usually act as godparents for a couple's first child. The baptism begins at the narthex of the church, where the godparents speak for the child, renouncing Satan, blowing three times in the air, and spitting three times on the floor. They then recite the Nicene Creed. The priest uses the child's baptismal name for the first time and asks God to cleanse away sin. The priest, the godparents, and the child go to the baptismal font at the front of the church, where the priest consecrates the water, adding olive oil to it as a symbol of reconciliation. The child is undressed, and the priest makes the sign of the cross on various parts of the child's body. The godparents rub olive oil over the child's body, and the priest thrice immerses the child in the water of the baptismal font to symbolize the three days Christ spent in the tomb. The godparents then receive the child and wrap it in a new white sheet. During chrismation, immediately following baptism, the child is anointed with a special oil ( miron ), which has been blessed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The child is dressed in new clothing, and a cross is placed around its neck. After the baptismal candle is lighted, the priest and godparents hold the child, and a few children walk around the font in a dance of joy. Finally, scriptures are read, and communion is given to the child.

FUNERALS

The funeral service in the Greek Orthodox church is called kithia. Traditionally, the trisayion (the three holies) is recited at the time of death or at any time during a 40-day mourning period. In the United States the trisayion is repeated at the funeral service. At the beginning of the service, the priest greets the mourners at the entrance of the church. An open casket is arranged so that the deceased faces the altar. During the service mourners recite scriptures, prayers, and hymns, and they are invited by the priest to pay their last respects to the deceased by filing past the casket and kissing the icon that has been placed within. The family gathers around the casket for a last farewell, and the priest sprinkles oil on the body in the form of the cross and says a concluding prayer. After the priest, friends, or family members deliver a brief eulogy, the body is taken immediately for burial ( endaphiasmos ). At the cemetery the priest recites the trisayion for the last time and sprinkles dirt on the casket while reciting a prayer. After the funeral guests and family share a funeral meal ( makaria ), which traditionally consists of brandy, coffee, and paximathia (hard, dry toast). A full meal may also be served, with fish as the main course.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN

As stated in the introduction to American Aphrodite, "Greek-American women have been without a voice since the first Greek immigrants arrived here as wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, usually, but not always, some months behind the menfolk, making no sound, proclaiming no existence." Traditionally, the lives of Greek women have centered on the home, the family, and the Greek Orthodox church. Since the earliest period of settlement in the United States, the burden of preserving Greek culture and tradition has been the responsibility of women. Women among the first and second generations of immigrants became the traditional keepers of songs, dances, and other folk customs and often cut themselves off from the xeni, the foreigners, who were essentially anyone outside the Greek community.

Today many Greek women are seriously challenged in their efforts to accommodate the values of two different worlds. The pressure to remain part of the community, obey parents' rules, and be "good Greek girls" who marry "well" and bear children is still strong. The conflict arises between family loyalty and self-realization, between duty to parents and community and the pursuit of the "American way of life." Many Greek American girls are given less freedom than their male counterparts and tend to remain close to their mothers even after marriage. The pursuit of education and a career is secondary and may even be perceived as "un-Greek" or unwomanly.

Although Greeks tend to be a highly educated ethnic group, the pursuit of higher education remains the province of men. The 1990 Census reports that twice as many Greek men as women received university degrees, with a significantly higher proportion of men going on to receive advanced degrees.

"I felt grateful the Statue of Liberty was a woman. I felt she would understand a woman's heart."

Stella Petrakis in 1916, cited in Ellis Island: An Illustrated History of the Immigrant Experience, edited by Ivan Chermayeff et al. (New York: Macmillan, 1991).

Religion

Theodore Salutos in The Greeks in the United States wrote: "Hellenism and Greek Orthodoxy-the one intertwined with the other-served as the cord that kept the immigrant attached to the mother country, nourished his patriotic appetites and helped him preserve the faith and language of his parents." The Greek Orthodox church helped to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of the immigrant. The early churches grew out of the kinotitos (community) where a symvoulion (board of directors) raised the money to build the church. The first Greek Orthodox church in the United States was founded in New Orleans in 1864. As Greek communities grew, other churches were established in New York (1892); Chicago (1893); Lowell, Massachusetts (1903); and Boston (1903). By 1923, there were 140 Greek churches in the United States.

Today, the liturgy and spirit of the Greek Orthodox church help to keep alive Greek ethnic cultural traditions in the United States. According to Kunkelman, to a Greek American, "ethnicity is synonymous with the church. One is a Greek not because he is a Hellene by birth; indeed many of Greek parentage have abandoned their identities and disappeared into the American mainstream. Rather one is Greek because he elects to remain part of the Greek community and an individual is a member of the Greek community by virtue of his

attachment to the Greek Orthodox church, the framework on which the community rests."

For many, the Greek Orthodox church is the center of community life. In the United States all dioceses, parishes, and churches are under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of North and South America, an autonomous self-governing church within the sphere of influence of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and New Rome. The Ecumenical Patriarch has the power to elect the archbishop and the bishops, directs all church matters outside the American church, and remains the guiding force in all matters of faith. Founded in 1922, the Archdiocese is located in New York City. It supports 62 parishes in the Archdiocesan District of New York, as well as the parishes in ten dioceses across the Americas.

"Orthodox" comes from the Greek orthos (correct) and doxa (teaching or worship). The Greek Orthodox share a common liturgy, worship, and tradition. In its fundamental beliefs, the church is conservative, resistant to change, and allows little flexibility. The Orthodox tradition is an Eastern tradition with the official center of Orthodoxy at Constantinople. After the tenth century Eastern and Western traditions grew apart on matters of faith, dogma, customs, and politics. East and West finally divided on the issue of papal authority.

The basic beliefs of the Orthodox are summarized in the Nicene Creed dating back to the fourth century. The Orthodox believe that one can achieve complete identification with God ( theosis ). All activities and services in the church are to assist the individual in achieving that end. The most important service is the Divine Liturgy in which there are four distinct liturgies: St. John Chrysostom (the one most frequently followed), St. Basil (followed ten times a year), St. James (October 23), and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent and the first three days of Easter Holy Week). The church uses Greek Koine, the language of New Testament Greek, as its liturgical language. The seven sacraments in the church are Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, Communion, Marriage, Holy Unction (Anointing of the Sick), and Holy Orders. The Greek Orthodox calendar has many feast days, fast days, and name days. The most important feast day ("the feast of feasts") is Holy Pascha (Easter Sunday). In addition to Easter, the "twelve great feasts" are the Nativity of the Mother of God, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Presentation of the Mother of God in the Temple, Christmas, Epiphany, the Presentation of Jesus Christ in the Temple, Palm Sunday, Ascension of Jesus Christ, Pentecost, the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, and the Dormition (death) of the Mother of God.

The Greek Orthodox church also follows the Byzantine tradition in its architecture. The church is divided into the vestibule (the front of the church representing the world), the nave (the main area where people assemble), and the sanctuary. The sanctuary is separated from the nave by an iconostasis, a screenlike partition. Only the priests enter the sanctuary. Icons (images of saints) decorate the iconostasis in prescribed tiers. The service takes place in the sanctuary, which contains an altar table and an oblation (preparation) table. The Greek Orthodox church is filled with symbols, including crosses and icons, which create an aura of heaven on earth.

The church continues to face the process of Americanization. The American Orthodox church has many American elements: an American-trained clergy, the introduction of English into the service, modern music written for organ, modern architecture and architectural features (pews, choir lofts, separate social halls). The limited role of women in the church is being questioned. Until the second century, women fully participated in the church as teachers, preachers, and deacons. After that period, however, their roles were limited by official decree. Today women are taking more active leadership roles; however, the question of ordaining women to the priesthood has not been seriously considered.

Internal dissent has plagued the Greek Orthodox community in the United States in recent years. Dissenters have petitioned Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos of Constantinople for the removal of Archbishop Spyridon, appointed leader of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese in the United States in 1996. They claim that Spyridon ignored input from the lay community in church affairs, including the firing of three priests from the faculty of Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts. A spokesperson for the archdiocese commented that this group does not speak for the entire Greek Orthodox community in America, but a New York Times article suggested that the movement against Spyridon reveals that the church is in "serious turmoil."

Employment and Economic Traditions

The first immigrants were for the most part young single men who had no intention of remaining permanently in the United States. They came to work in the large industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest as factory laborers, peddlers, busboys, and bootblacks. Those who went to the mill towns of New England worked in textile and shoe factories, while the Greeks who went West worked in mines and on the railroads. These Greeks often were subject to the padrone system, a form of exploitative indentured servitude employed in many of the larger industrial cities of the North and in the large mining corporations of the West.

Greeks in America have stressed individual efforts and talent and have had a long tradition of entrepreneurship in the United States, and many who were peddlers and street merchants in the United States became owners of small businesses. First-generation Greeks who were fruit and vegetable peddlers became owners of grocery stores; flower vendors opened florist shops. Greeks in Lowell, Massachusetts, became successful in numerous businesses. By 1912, according to a publication of the National Park Service, Lowell: The Story of an Industrial City, they owned "seven restaurants, twenty coffee houses, twelve barber shops, two drug stores, six fruit stores, eight shoeshine parlors, one dry-goods store, four ticket agencies, seven bakeries, four candy stores [and] twenty-two grocery stores."

In the 1920s Greeks owned thousands of confectionery stores across the country and usually owned the candy-manufacturing businesses that supplied the stores. When the candy businesses collapsed, Greeks became restaurant owners. By the late 1920s several thousand Greek restaurants were scattered across the country. Many immigrants of the 1950s and 1960s went into the fast-food restaurant business.

The Greek professional class remained small until the 1940s. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, most Greek professionals were doctors. The next largest group comprised lawyers, dentists, pharmacists, and chemists. A few became professors of literature, philosophy, and the classics. Although the Greeks were slow to develop an academic tradition in this country in part because of low economic incentive, a new professional class began to emerge after World War I. Today Greek Americans engage in many professional academic endeavors. Instead of remaining in family-held businesses, third- and fourth-generation Greek Americans increasingly are pursuing professional careers.

Currently, Greeks are found in almost every occupation and enterprise and constitute one of the wealthier economic groups in the United States. The average per capita income of all persons with Greek ancestry according to the 1990 Census was $18,361.

Politics and Government

Numerous Greek American political and social organizations have existed since the 1880s. These organizations often were made up of Greeks who had come from the same region in Greece. They had a shared sense of Hellenism and a common religion and language and often aligned themselves with native Greek concerns. The kinotitos (community) was an organization similar to the village government in Greece. Although the kinotitos helped to preserve Greek traditions, it sometimes hindered assimilation.

In 1907 the Pan-Hellenic Union was founded to coordinate and incorporate local organizations; to provide a means of helping Greece obtain more territory from the Ottoman Empire; and to support the return of Constantinople to Greece and the consolidation of all Greek colonies in the Eastern Mediterranean under Greek authority. It also helped Greeks to adapt to their new home in the United States. Many Greek immigrants were slowly beginning to accept the fact that they would not be returning to Greece and that the United States was their permanent home. In 1922 the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) was founded. Although the AHEPA supported the assimilation of Greeks to the American way of life, it did not relinquish its strong attachments to Greece. During World War II, the AHEPA was a major contributor to the Greek War Relief Association.

The one issue that mobilized the Greek American community to political action was the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on July 15, 1974. The efforts of well-organized lobby groups to effect an arms embargo against Turkey were impressive. The AHEPA played a leading role in these activities, along with other lobby groups-the American Hellenic Institute and its public affairs committee, the influential United Hellenic American Congress, and the Hellenic Council of America. The Greek Orthodox church and local community organizations also assisted. Primarily because of the successful lobbying of these groups, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Turkey on February 5, 1975.

Greek American politicians were also instrumental in shaping U.S. policy toward the Republic of Macedonia, established after the breakup of the communist Yugoslav federation in the early 1990s. Greece strenuously objected to Macedonia's use of a name that also refers to a region in Greece, and announced a trade embargo against the new country. When, on February 9, 1994, President Clinton announced that the United States would officially recognize Macedonia, Greek American politicians launched an intensive campaign to reverse this policy, gathering 30,000 signatures on a protest petition. Clinton succumbed to this pressure and announced that the United States would withhold diplomatic relations until an envoy could resolve Greece's objections.

Greek political figures are almost overwhelmingly Democratic. They include Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, John Brademas, Paul Spyro Sarbanes, Michael Bilirakis, Andrew Manatos, and George Stephanopoulos. Although Greek Americans traditionally have voted Democratic, their increasing wealth and status have led to an even division within the Greek American community between Republicans and Democrats.

MILITARY

Greek Americans have participated in large numbers in all major wars fought by the United States. Greek American men with veteran status number 90,530; women number 2,635.

Individual and Group Contributions

Greek Americans have made significant contributions in virtually all of the arts, sciences, and humanities, as well as in politics and business. Following is a sample of their achievements.

ACADEMIA

Aristides Phoutridis, a distinguished professor at Yale University, established Helikon, the first Greek student organization, in 1911 in Boston. George Mylonas (1898-1988) had a distinguished career in the fields of Classical and Bronze Age art and archaeology. His numerous books include Mycenae, the Capital City of Agamemnon (1956), Aghios Kosmos (1959), Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (1961), Mycenae and the Mycenean Age (1966), Mycenae's Last Century of Greatness (1968), Grave Circle B of Mycenae (1972), The Cult Center of Mycenae (1972), and The West Cemetery of Eleusis (1975). Theodore Salutos (1910-1980) was a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is well known for his studies of the Greek immigration experience. His most important work, Greeks in the United States (1964), became a model for other works on this topic.

EDUCATION

John Celivergos Zachos (1820-1898), one of 40 orphans who came to the United States during the Greek Revolution of 1821, was associate principal of the Cooper Female Seminary in Dayton, Ohio (1851-1854), principal and teacher of literature in the grammar school of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio (1854-1857), a surgeon during the Civil War, a teacher at Meadville Theological School (1866-1867), and a teacher and curator at Cooper Union in New York until 1898. Michael Anagnos (1837-1906) became the director of the famous Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston where he promoted vocational training and self-help.

FINE ARTS

Christos G. Bastis, born in Trikala, Greece, established the Sea Fare restaurant in New York City, and became a notable collector of ancient sculpture. He donated several works from his collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was an honorary trustee of that institution and a member of the board of trustees of the Booklyn Museum.

JOURNALISM

Constantine Phasoularides published the first Greek American newspaper in New York in 1892, the Neos Kosmos ( New World ). Nicholas Gage (1939- ), born in Lia, is a journalist and writer, associated with the Worcester Telegram and Evening Gazette, Boston Herald Traveler, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. He left the New York Times in 1980 to write Eleni, a work detailing the events surrounding the execution of his mother by Communist guerrillas in Greece in the 1940s.

MILITARY

Captain George Partridge Colvocoresses (1816-1872) distinguished himself as commander of the Saratoga in the Civil War. His son Rear Admiral George P. Colvocoresses fought in the Spanish-American War was appointed the commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.

MUSIC

Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960), a well-known composer-conductor, conducted the Minneapolis Symphony (1937-1949) and the New York Philharmonic. Maria Callas (1923-1977), born Mary Kalogeropoulou, was a noted operatic soprano. Callas made her film debut in Tosca (1941). She is remembered as a true artist for her original interpretations of Bellini, Donizetti, and Cherubini and in her roles as Norma, Medea, Violetta, and Lucia, as well as Tosca.

POLITICS

The first Greek American to be elected to the U.S. Congress was Lucas Miltiades Miller (1824-1902). Miller, a Democrat from Wisconsin, served in Congress from March 4, 1891, to March 3, 1893. Spiro Agnew (1918- ), a Republican who served as governor of Maryland in 1966, became vice president of the United States under Richard Nixon on November 5, 1968, and was reelected as vice president on November 7, 1972. John Brademas (1927- ), a Democrat from Indiana, served in Congress from 1959 to 1981. He became president of New York State University in 1981 until his retirement in 1992. Michael Dukakis (1933- ) was governor of Massachusetts in 1975-1979 and 1983-1991 and was Democratic candidate for president in 1988. Paul Efthemios Tsongas (1941- ), congressman from Massachusetts, served in the House of Representatives during 1974-1979 and in the U.S. Senate during 1979-1985. Paul Spyro Sarbanes (1933- ) was a Democratic congressman from Maryland who was reelected to the Senate in 1982. Gus Yatron (1927- ), Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, served in the U.S. House of Representatives during 1969-1989. George Stephanopoulos (1961- ) was director of communications for President Bill Clinton's administration during 1992-1993 before becoming senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

George Papnicolaou (1883-1961) was professor emeritus of anatomy at Cornell Medical College. His research led him to develop the "pap smear," a test designed to detect cervical cancer. Polyvios Koryllos was a professor of medicine at the University of Athens and Yale University. He is well known for his work in diagnosing tuberculosis. John Kotzias was a neurologist who discovered the drug L-dopa for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

SPORTS

Alex Karras (1935- ) was a well-known football player (a two-time All-American) for the Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1971. He hosted the National Football League's Monday Night Football and has made numerous television appearances. Alex Grammas (1926- ) was a professional baseball player between 1954 and 1963 who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago Cubs. He was a baseball manager in 1969 and 1976-1977. Harry Agganis (1930-1955) distinguished himself in baseball, football, and basketball. Although he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns football team on graduation from Boston University in 1953, he signed with the Boston Red Sox. Jimmy Londos (c. 1895-1975), born Christopher Theophilus, won the world heavyweight wrestling championship on June 25, 1934.

RADIO

WEDC-AM (1240).

"Hellenic American Radio Hour" airs every Saturday, 7:00p.m. to 8:00 p.m. One of the oldest Greek radio shows in the Chicago area (75 years). Features community events, discussion of family problems, religious issues, music, and news from Greece.

Contact: Carmen Castro.

Address: 5475 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60630-1229.

Telephone: (312) 631-0700.

WEEF-AM (1430).

"Greek Orthodox Hours of the Chicago Diocese" airs every Tuesday and Wednesday, 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Discusses topics related to the Greek Orthodox church.

Contact: Paula Rekoumis and Sotirios Rekoumis.

Address: 210 Skokie Valley Road, Highland Park, Illinois 60035.

Telephone: (708) 831-5440.

WNTN-AM (1550).

"Greek Cultural Radio Program of Boston," a non-commercial, one-hour program that broadcasts twice a week. Features topics relating to Greek heritage, customs, and history. In Greek and English.

Contact: Athanasios Vulgaropoulos.

Address: 143 Rumford Avenue, Newton, Massachusetts 02166.

Telephone: (617) 969-1550.

WUNR-AM (1600).

"The Other Program," a talk show where people can call in with questions; "The Athenian Hour," featuring cultural and news events; "Hellenic Voice of Massachusetts"; "Let Us Sing," playing selections of Greek music.

Contact: Jane A. Clarke.

Address: 160 North Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114-2142.

Telephone: (617) 367-9003.

Fax: (617) 367-2265.

Organizations and Associations

American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA). Founded in 1922. The AHEPA is dedicated to the preservation of the Greek national identity in the United States. The oldest Greek fraternal organization in the United States has a membership of more than 500,000 members, with many chapters across the county. It engages in numerous charitable, publishing, and educational activities. It includes the Daughters of Penelope, a women's auxiliary; the Maids of Athens, a girls' organization; and the Sons of Pericles, a boys' organization. Publishes AHEPAN, a bimonthly.

Contact: Timothy Mauiatis, Executive Director.

Address: 1909 Q Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20009.

Telephone: (202) 232-6300.

Fax: (202) 232-2140.

Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society.

Founded in 1931. The Society promotes the values of the family and the Greek Orthodox faith and engages in many charitable, educational, and religious activities on behalf of the church. Its membership of more than 400,000 includes women 18 years and older.

Contact: Eve C. Condakes, President.

Address: 345 East 74th Street, New York, New York 10021-3701.

Telephone: (212) 744-4390.

Fax: (212) 861-1956.

Greek Orthodox Youth Adult League.

Conducts workshops on religious education for Greek youth. Assists the church both nationally and locally, with 6,000 to 10,000 members.

Contact: Tom Kanelos.

Address: 8 East 79th Street, New York, New York 10021.

Telephone: (212) 570-3560.

Fax: (212) 861-2183.

United Hellenic American Congress (UHAC).

Founded in 1974. The UHAC was established to preserve the cultural traditions of Greece. It coordinates many of the cultural activities of the Greek community in the Chicago area. Every year the UHAC issues a Greek Heritage Calendar of Events and is active in promoting the Greek Independence Day parade. The UHAC was a prominent lobbyist in the Greek American protest against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Contact: Andrew Athens, National Chair.

Address: 75 East Wacker Drive, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60601.

Telephone: (312) 345-1000.

Fax: (312) 345-1025.

Museums and Research Centers

Greek-American Folklore Society.

Founded 1983. Society members conduct classes and workshops on traditional dances and songs from every region of Greece. The Society presents hundreds of performances throughout the year and offers exhibits of and lectures on traditional Greek costumes. It coordinates the Panegyri, an annual conference of Greek folklore societies, as well as the Hellenic Folk Music Festival. The Society has 50 to 60 members.

Contact: Paul Ginis.

Address: 29-04 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria, New York 11105.

Telephone: (718) 728-8048.

Hellenic Cultural Museum at Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Opened on May 3, 1992. The museum is considered to be the first Greek cultural museum in the United States. This "people's museum" contains important collections of scrapbooks, diaries, letters, artifacts, newspapers, and photographs documenting the lives of the Greeks who settled in Utah from 1905 to the present. The museum contains a unique display of mining operations.

Contact: Chris Metos.

Address: 279 South 300 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

Telephone: (801) 328-9681.

Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center.

Opened 1992. The center preserves original documents, artifacts, and other archival source materials relating to the Greek American immigrant experience. It also collects the artistic works (crafts, embroideries, furniture) of Greek Americans.

Contact: Elaine Kollintzas, Executive Director.

Address: 400 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610.

Telephone: (312) 467-4622.

Immigration History Research Center.

Located at the University of Minnesota, this center contains important primary source materials on many aspects of the life of Greek immigrants in the United States. The collection includes the papers of the immigrant historian Theodore Salutos.

Contact: Joel Whurl, Curator.

Address: 826 Berry Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55114.

Telephone: (612) 627-4208.

Saint Photios Foundation.

Founded in 1981. A Greek fraternal organization dedicated to preserving a shrine in Saint Augustine, Florida, commemorating the Greeks of New Smyrna, the first Greeks immigrants to arrive in America in 1768. The museum has a small library and cultural exhibit.

Contact: Father Dimitrios Couchell.

Address: 41 Saint George Street, Post Office Box 1960, Saint Augustine, Florida 32085.

Telephone: (904) 829-8205.

Sources for Additional Study

Callincos, Constance. American Aphrodite: Becoming Female in Greek America. New York: Pella, 1990.

Kunkelman, Gary. The Religion of Ethnicity: Belief and Belonging in a Greek-American Community. New York: Garland, 1990.

Moskos, Charles C. Greek Americans: Struggle and Success, second edition. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction, 1989.

Mouzaki, Rozanna. Greek Dances for Americans. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1981.

Pappas, Susan. "The Greek-American Press Marks Its 100th Anniversary This Year," Editor and Publisher, September 1992, pp. 18-19.

Rouvelas, Marilyn. A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America. Bethesda, Maryland: Attica, 1993.

Salutos, Theodore. The Greeks in the United States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964.

Scourby, Alice. The Greek Americans. Boston: Twayne, 1977.

Treasured Greek Proverbs, compiled, edited, and translated by Elaine G. Bucuvalas, Catherine G. Lavrakas, and Poppy G. Stamatos. (1980)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Greek Americans - History, Modern era, The first greeks in america

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Officially known as the Hellenic Republic, Greece is a mountainous peninsula located in southeastern Europe, between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. With a landmass of 51,000 square miles (132,100 square kilometers), Greece is bordered to the north by Bulgaria and Macedonia. Nearly 2,000 islands surround its eastern, southern, and western borders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Significance: Although Greeks have accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total immigrants to the United States, they have formed strong ethnic communities that have kept alive their language, traditions, and religion. Persons of Greek ancestry account for 0.4 percent of the current population of the United States.

Significant numbers of Greeks did not begin immigrating to the United States until the 1880's. However, the first Greek immigrants arrived during the 1820's, when the Greek war of independence from the Ottoman Empire left Greece with a large foreign debt, and the lack of industrialization forced inhabitants to look elsewhere for employment.

Emigrants boarding small boats in Patras, Greece, on their way to the steamship that will take them to America in 1910. (Library of Congress)

After the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, Greece became part of the Ottoman Empire. Inspired by the late eighteenth century revolutions in North America and western Europe, as well as their own sense of Greek nationalism, a group of Greek loyalists planned a rebellion against the Ottoman state. They gained the support of numerous countries, including Great Britain, France, and Russia. Greece became an independent nation after signing the Treaty of Adrianople in 1832.

Immigration Begins

Following the end of its war of independence, Greece faced a number of internal economic challenges. The country was slow to industrialize through the nineteenth century. As late as 1879, more than 80 percent of its people still lived in rural communities. Currants were Greece's chief export product, and their price declined so much that many Greek farmers went bankrupt and were unable to pay their taxes. This poor economic climate prompted many Greeks to emigrate.

With the encouragement of the Greek government, young men began leaving the country during the late nineteenth century in the hope of gaining employment in the United States. Large-scale Greek immigration to the United States began in 1880, with the largest numbers immigrating during the early twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1920, more than 350,000 Greeks immigrated to the United States. About 95 percent of the immigrants who came between 1899 and 1910 were men. In keeping with Greek tradition, these men often worked to secure dowries for their sisters back home. In 1905 alone, Greek immigrants remitted more than four million dollars to their families in Greece. Most did not intend to stay in the United States.

Profile of Greek immigrants

*Immigrants who obtained legal permanent resident status in the United States.

Source: Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008.

Greeks in the United States

Upon arriving in the United States, most Greek immigrants found jobs in various industries. In New England, for example, they worked in textile mills. A particularly large Greek community formed in Lowell, Massachusetts, where many Greek men worked in the mill. In Utah and Colorado, Greeks found work in copper and coal mines. In California they worked in railroad gangs. Many were victimized by padrones, labor brokers who recruited immigrants for jobs in exchange for the immigrants' wages.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Greek immigrants began going into business for themselves. They opened shoeshine parlors, candy shops, and, most notably, restaurants. Their first restaurants served native cuisine to fellow Greeks. In Chicago, some moved into the lunch business, working from street carts that sold inexpensive fare to factory workers. After the Chicago city council banned the sale of food on city streets, the immigrants turned to opening permanent establishments. Using mainly family members for labor and requiring little startup money, the restaurant business was the first stable economic base for Greeks in America. By 1919, one of every three restaurants in Chicago was operated by a Greek.

A major unifying force for the Greek community in America was the church. The first Greek Orthodox Church in the United States, the Holy Trinity of New Orleans, was founded in 1864. By 1918, nearly 130 Orthodox churches had been founded across the country. Local community organizations called kinotis raised the necessary funds to establish the churches. Many Greeks sought the close-knit communities they had in their home country, and the churches provided the immigrants with forums in which to share their common beliefs. During the early twenty-first century, Greek Orthodox churches have continued to serve as cultural and social centers for many Greek communities within the United States.

Immigration from Greece, 1880-2008

Source: Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008. Figures include only immigrants who obtained legal permanent resident status. Records for 1820-1879 show only 375 immigrants from Greece.

Late Twentieth Century Immigration

Prior to 1965, the United States had established quotas restricting immigration from certain countries and ethnic groups. The quotas favored immigrants fromnorthern and western European countries. The Immigration Act of 1924 had imposed harsh restrictions on non-western European immigrant groups. Under that law, only one hundred Greeks per year were allowed entry into the United States.

In 1965, the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act. Whereas previous immigration acts had imposed quotas by country, the 1965 act established hemispheric quotas, and distributed visas based on job skills and family reunification. Many Greek Americans used the new law to bring members of their families to the United States. Between 1960 and 1980, more than 170,000 Greeks immigrated to the United States, many with family reunification visas.

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, approximately 1.4 million persons of Greek ancestry were living in the United States. They resided in all fifty states, with the greatest numbers living in large cities such as Chicago, New York City, and Detroit. Many Greek immigrants have assimilated into American culture, but have remained strongly connected to Greek traditions, religion, and ethnicity.
Bethany E. Pierce Further Reading
Contopoulos, Michael. The Greek Community of New York City: Early Years to 1910. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Aristide D. Caratzas, 1992. History of one of the largest concentrations of Greek immigrants in any American city.

Moskos, Charles. Greek Americans: Struggle and Success. 2d ed. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1989. Scholarly study of Greeks in America through the 1980's.

Orfanos, Spyros D., ed. Reading Greek America: Studies in the Experience of Greeks in the United States. New York: Pella, 2002. Collection of essays examining a variety of issues surrounding Greek immigrants.;

Saloutos, Theodore. The Greeks in the United States. Rev. ed.NewYork: Greekworks.com, 2007.Comprehensive study of Greek immigrants. Includes an introduction by Charles Moskos, and historiographical essay by Alexander Kitroeff.

Scourby, Alice. The Greek Americans. Boston: Twayne, 1984. Broad study of Greek Americans with background information on Greek history, several chapters on immigrants, and a chapter on changes in Greek American family structures.

See also: Congress, U.S.; Economic opportunities; History of immigration after 1891; Huffington, Arianna; Immigration Act of 1921; Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965; Italian immigrants; Quota systems; Turkish immigrants; Yugoslav state immigrants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Significance: Although Greeks have accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total immigrants to the United States, they have formed strong ethnic communities that have kept alive their language, traditions, and religion. Persons of Greek ancestry account for 0.4 percent of the current

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skip to main content

22 June 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Empire Windrush at Tilbury Dock, Essex, the beginning of a new chapter in the story of London. The 802 Caribbean citizens onboard were the first of 500,000 Commonwealth citizens who settled in Britain between 1948 and 1971. They were invited to live as British citizens and help rebuild the "mother country", but many faced prejudice and unequal treatment that continues until today.

Alwyn Collinson

Digital Editor

18 June 2018

Transcript

So how long did the journey take that time?
Sam King: Three weeks. We left on the 24th of May, which was Empire Day, and arrived in Tilbury on the 22nd of June. Now, the reason why we took so long, after a while out of Jamaica officially the boat developed engine trouble and we had to go in to Bermuda for three days. We don't believe in English. I being born in the Colonies, if the English man told me something I am not going to accept it I'm not bright, but I'm not stupid. History told me that. We felt, and the newspaper anyway said it, that they didn't want us. And they were trying to find a way in Parliament to stop us, but legally they could not. So we stayed about two and a half days in Bermuda. So we left on the 24th in May and arrived the 22nd of June.

Empire Windrush: from Nazi troopship to symbol of change

Transcript

Try and get to the background, Jamaica is a colony. Boats do not leave from Jamaica to England apart from banana boats. Banana boats carry about 15, 20 passengers. They are normally students going to university, top fliers or civil servants going backward and forward. The average man do not come to rule. The average man do not get a chance to go on their own. And that's what happened in the colonies. But by the grace of God, the Empire Windrush had taken immigrants from England to Australia, and had some British troops coming to Jamaica. Now we were ex-servicemen we would like to join the service in Jamaica but you can't, because you're from the colonies. They took certain men from England to come to Jamaica. But that troop ship had berth for about four, or call it five hundred people. And it was the first time in history you ever had a ship leaving Jamaica with about five hundred troop deck or berth.

This picture shows the Windrush in 1930, docked at the Port of London under the name Monte Rosa. Originally a German cruise ship, the ship was seized by the Nazi regime and used to transport troops during the Second World War. She was captured by the British at the end of the war and renamed the Empire Windrush. In 1948, she happened to stop over at Kingston, Jamaica, to pick up some British servicemen. Since the ship was not full, passage was offered to Britain for £28- if you travelled in the uncomfortable open berths of the "troop deck". Even this was a lot of money to the average Jamaican: Sam King remembers it as five weeks' wages, or about the cost of three cows.

People took passage on the Empire Windrush for many reasons: some were seeking employment in Britain, others hoped to rejoin the Army or Royal Air Force. Many simply had deep curiosity about the "mother country". Sam King described his desire to raise his children in a country with greater educational opportunities: "I didn't want one of my children to be born in a colony."

The Empire Windrush's arrival on 22 June 1948 marked the beginning of a period of migration that would eventually see over 500,000 Commonwealth citizens settle in Britain between 1948 and 1971. This is now referred to as the 'Windrush generation'. Even at the time Londoners saw it as a significant moment. Journalists and film crews crowded Tilbury Docks, although a sign on the ship warned passengers not to talk to reporters.

(Windrush segment starts 45 seconds in.)

One famous moment that has captured the spirit of the Windrush in song was a recording by Pathé news of the Trinidadian Calypso singer Aldwin Roberts (aka "Lord Kitchener"). He performed the specially-written song "London Is the Place for Me" live. His song most famously was played at the end of the first Paddington film in 2014.

Mixed reception

Transcript

What happened when the Empire Windrush docked?
Sam King: All right. About a day out they arrived they realized that we are going to dock and give the British their due they are reasonable fair. Once they had realized that we were going to land we were told that people who had somewhere to go - Go. The people who did not have anywhere to go they would provide accommodation at Clapham deep shelter. As it worked out it was a Jamaican Brian ... oh ... call him Brian who were in England who went to the Colonial Office and said look these people had nowhere to go. They seeking work you have to do something. And from what I can give the British authorities they came up, they send coaches to the docks at Tilbury and said if you had nowhere to go they didn't encourage you if you had nowhere to go you could come to Clapham deep shelter and you will a bed and a blanket or whatever it is. And they did that. Once we arrived in England and we knew that everything was all right it wasn't plain sailing.

Transcript

Were you looking for somewhere to buy or to rent or ...
Sam King: Oh no, no. No, no. Not rent. You couldn't get a place to rent. You're a black man you knock on a door they...You have an ad. I'm not trying to say you wouldn't get one. And there's a room at Stockwell for rent you go, Good afternoon madam there's a room for rent - Sorry no blacks. There's nothing you can do.

2018: commemoration and controversy

The Windrush generation has recently made headlines again: not for commemorative reasons but due to issues with the law relating to their immigration status. Despite being British citizens on arrival in the UK (many from colonies that were not yet independent countries), and having the support of the law and government at the time of their arrival, some of the Windrush generation or their descendants do not have proof of citizenship that satisfies subsequent governments.

Although many have spent most of their lives here, some of these individuals have been threatened with deportation if they cannot prove their right to remain in Britain. In 2009 the Home Office destroyed the passenger records of the Windrush, meaning it is impossible for some individuals to now prove they are in the UK "legally".

150,000 people have called for an "amnesty" for those arriving between 1948 and 1971. Patrick Vernon, who created the petition, states: "As a country, we don't recognise the Windrush generation's contribution... their art and politics had a major impact on the community". This too is not without controversy. David Lammy, Labour MP and the son of Guyanese passengers on the Windrush, has said that the term amnesty is offensive as it implies wrongdoing on the part of the passengers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How did the Empire Windrush change London? | Museum of London

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why was the Empire Windrush's arrival so significant? To mark the 70th anniversary, we discuss the impact of the ship's arrival at Tilbury Dock, Essex.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Overview

Poland, the seventh largest country in Europe, occupies an area of 120,727 square miles-some-what larger than the state of Nevada. Located in east-central Europe, it is bordered to the east by Russia and the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Germany to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north. Drained by the Vistula and Oder Rivers, Poland is a land of varied land-scape-from the central lowlands, to the sand dunes and swamps of the Baltic coast, to the mountains of the Carpathians to the south. Its 1990 population of just over 38 million is largely homogeneous ethnically, religiously, and linguistically. Minority groups in the country include Germans, Ukrainians and Belarusans. Ninety-five percent of the population is Roman Catholic, and Polish is the national language. Warsaw, located in the central lowlands, is the nation's capital. Poland's national flag is bicolor: divided in half horizontally, it has a white stripe on the top half and a red one on the bottom. Polish Americans often display a flag similar to this with a crowned eagle at its center.

HISTORY

The very name of Poland harkens back to its origins in the Slavic tribes that inhabited the Vistula valley as early as the second millennium B.C. Migrations of these tribes resulted in three distinct subgroups: the West, East, and South Slavs. It was the West Slavs who became the ancestors of modern Poles, settling in and around the Oder and Vistula valleys. Highly clannish, these tribes were organized in tight kinship groups with commonly held property and a rough-and-ready sort of representative government regarding matters other than military. These West Slavs slowly joined in ever-larger units under the pressure of incursions by Avars and early Germans, ultimately being led by a tribe known as the Polanie. From that point on, these West Slavs, and increasingly the entire region, were referred to as Polania or later, Poland. Under the Polanian duke Mieszko and his Piast dynasty, further consolidation around what is modern Poznan created a true state; and in 966, Mieszko was converted to Christianity. It is this event that is commonly accepted as the founding date of Poland. It is doubly important because Mieszko's conversion to Christianity- Roman Catholicism-would link Poland's fortunes in the future to those of Western Europe. The East Slavs, centered at Kiev, were converted by missionaries from the Greek church, which in turn linked them to the Orthodox east.

Meanwhile, the South Slavs had been coalescing into larger units, forming what is known as Little Poland, as opposed to Great Poland of the Piasts. These South Slavs joined Great Poland under Casimir I and for several generations the new state thrived, checking the tide of German expansionism. But from the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, the new kingdom became fragmented by a duchy system that created political chaos and civil war among rival princes of the Piast lineage. Following devastations caused by Tatar invasions in the early thirteenth century, Poland was defenseless against a further tide of German settlement. One of the last Piasts, Casimir III, succeeded in reunifying the kingdom in 1338, and in 1386 it came under the rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty when the grand duke of Lithuania married the crown princess of the Piasts, Jadwiga. Known as Poland's Golden Age, the next two centuries of Jagiellonian rule enabled Poland-Lithuania to become the dominant power in central Europe, encompassing Hungary and Bohemia in its sphere of influence and producing a rich cultural heritage for the nation, including the achievements of such individuals as Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik, 1473-1543). At the same time, Poland enjoyed one of the most representative governments of its day as well as the most tolerant religious climate in Europe.

But with the end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1572, the kingdom once again fell apart as the landed gentry increasingly assumed local control, sapping the strength of the central government in Krakow. This state of affairs continued for two centuries until Poland was so weakened that it suffered three partitions: Austria took Galicia in 1772; Prussia acquired the northwestern section in 1793; and Tsarist Russia possessed the northeastern section in 1795). By the end of the three partitions, Poland had been completely wiped off the map of Europe. There would not be an independent Poland again for a century and a half, though a nominal Kingdom of Poland was established within the Russian Empire by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In both Russia and Germany a strict policy of suppression of the Polish language and autonomous education was enforced.

After World War I, an independent Poland was once again re-established. With Josef Pilsudski (1867-1935) as its president and dictator from 1926 to 1935, Poland maintained an uneasy peace with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. But with the onset of World War II, Poland was the first victim, and once again the nation was subsumed into other countries: Germany and the Soviet Union initially, and then solely under German rule. The Nazis used Poland as a killing ground to subdue and eradicate Polish culture by executing its intellectuals and nobles, and to "settle" the Jewish question once and for all by exterminating the Jews of Europe. In camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau this gruesome strategy was put into effect, and by the end of the war in 1945, Poland had lost a fifth of its population, half of which-over three million-were Jews.

Liberation, however, did not mean freedom, for after the war Poland fell under the Soviet sphere; a communist state was set up and Poland once again had become a fiefdom to a foreign power. In 1956 Poland's workers went on a general strike in protest to Moscow's heavy-handed domination. Though brutally suppressed, the strike did force Poland's new leader Wladysław Gomułka to relax some of the totalitarian controls imposed by Warsaw and Moscow, and farms were decollectivized. Through successive leadership of Edward Gierek and General Wojciech Jaruzelski, however, the economic conditions worsened and the Poles struggled increasingly for more autonomy from Moscow. By 1980 three events had coincided that would be decisive for Poland's future: the Soviet Union was going bankrupt; Karol Cardinal Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II; and a new and illegal union, Solidarity, had been formed under Lech Wałesa. These last two especially brought Poland into international focus. By 1989, Solidarity won concessions from the government including participation in free elections. After their overwhelming victory, which brought to power their leader Lech Wałesa as President, Solidarity set up a coalition government with the communists; and with the fall of the Soviet Union, Poland along with all of central Europe, regained new breathing room in its heartland. The difficult task now confronting the country is a transformation from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, one that causes enormous dislocations including unemployment and runaway inflation.

THE FIRST POLES IN AMERICA

Poles numbered among the earliest colonists in the New World and today, as their numbers exceed ten million, they represent the largest of the Slavic groups in America. Though claims have been made for Poles sailing with Viking ships exploring the New World before 1600, there is no hard evidence to support them. By 1609, however, Polish immigrants do appear in the annals of Jamestown, having been recruited by the colony as skilled craftsmen to create products for export. These immigrants were integral in the establishment of both the glassmaking and woodworking industries in the new colonies. An early Polish explorer, Anthony Sadowski, set up a trading post along the Mississippi River which later became the city of Sandusky, Ohio. Two other names of note occur in the early history of what would become the American republic: the noblemen Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817) and Casimir Pułaski (1747-1779) both fought on the rebel side in the Revolutionary War. Pulaski, killed in the battle of Savannah, is still honored by Polish Americans-Polonia as the ethnic community is referred to-by annual marches on October 11, Pulaski Day.

SIGNIFICANT IMMIGRATION WAVES

Since the times of those earliest Polish settlers- romantics, adventurers and men simply seeking a better economic life-there have been four distinct waves of immigration to the United States from Poland. The first and smallest, occasioned by the partitioning of Poland, lasted from roughly 1800 to 1860 and was largely made up of political dissidents and those who fled after the dissolution of their national homeland. The second wave was far more significant and took place between 1860 and World War I. Immigrants during this time were in search of a better economic life and tended to be of the rural class, so-called za chleben (for bread) emigrants. A third wave lasted from the end of World War I through the end of the Cold War and again comprised dissidents and political refugees. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Poland's democratic reforms, there has been yet a fourth wave of a seemingly more temporary immigrant group, the wakacjusze, or those who come on tourists visas but find work and stay either illegally or legally. These economic immigrants generally plan to earn money and return to Poland.

The first wave of immigrants, from approximately 1800 to 1860, was largely made up of intellectuals and lesser nobility. Not only the partitioning of Poland, but insurrections in 1830 and 1863 also forced political dissidents from their Polish homeland. Many fled to London, Paris and Geneva, but at the same time New York and Chicago also received its share of such refugees from political oppression. Immigration figures are always a problematic issue, and those for Polish immigrants to the United States are no different. For much of the modern era there was no political entity such as Poland, so immigrants coming to America had an initial difficulty in describing their country of origin. Also, there was with Poles, more so than other ethnic immigrant groups, more back-and-forth travel between host country and home country. Poles have tended to save money and return to their native country in higher numbers than many other ethnic groups. Additionally, minorities within Poland who immigrated to the United States confuse the picture. Nonetheless, what numbers that exist from U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service records indicate that fewer than 2,000 Poles immigrated to the United States between 1800 and 1860.

The second wave of immigration was inaugurated in 1854 when about 800 Polish Catholics from Silesia founded Panna Maria, a farming colony in Texas. This symbolic opening of America to the Poles also opened the flood gates of immigration. The new arrivals tended to cluster in industrial cities and towns of the Midwest and Middle Atlantic States-New York, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis-where they became steelworkers, meatpackers, miners, and later autoworkers. These cities still retain their large contingents of Polish Americans. A lasting legacy of these Poles in America is the vital role they played in the growth and development of the U.S. labor movement, Joseph Yablonski of the United Mine Workers only one case in point.

Confusion over exact numbers of Polish immigrants again becomes a problem during this period, with large under reporting, especially during the 1890s when immigration was highest. Most agree, however, that between mid-nineteenth century and World War I, some 2.5 million Poles immigrated to the United States. This wave of immigration can be further broken down to two successive movements of Poles from different regions of their partitioned

country. The first to come were the German Poles, who tended to be better educated and more skilled craftsmen than the Russian and Austrian Poles. High birthrates, overpopulation, and large-scale farming methods in Prussia, which forced small farmers off the land, all combined to send German Poles into emigration in the second half of the nineteenth century. German policy vis-a-vis restricting the power of the Catholic church also played a part in this exodus. Those arriving in the United States totalled roughly a half million during this period, with numbers dwindling by the end of the century.

However, just as German Polish immigration to the United States was diminishing, that of Russian and Austrian Poles was just getting underway. Again, overpopulation and land hunger drove this emigration, as well as the enthusiastic letters home that new arrivals in the United States sent to their relatives and loved ones. Many young men also fled from military conscription, especially in the years of military build-up just prior to and including the onset of World War I. Moreover, the journey to America itself had become less arduous, with shipping lines such as the North German Line and the Hamburg American Line now booking passage from point to point, combining overland as well as transatlantic passage and thereby simplifying border crossings. Numbers of Galician or Austrian Poles total approximately 800,000, and of Russian Poles-the last large immigration contingent- another 800,000. It has also been estimated that 30 percent of Galician and Russian Poles arriving between 1906 and 1914 returned to their homelands.

The influx of such large numbers of one ethnic group was sure to cause friction with the "established" Americans, and during the last half of the nineteenth century history witnesses intolerance toward many of the immigrants from divergent parts of Europe. That the Poles were strongly Catholic contributed to such friction, and thus Polonia or the Polish Americans formed even tighter links with each other, relying on ethnic cohesiveness not only for moral support, but financial, as well. Polish fraternal, national, and religious organizations such as the Polish National Alliance, the Polish Union, the Polish American Congress, and the Polish Roman Catholic Union have been instrumental in not only maintaining a Polish identity for immigrants, but also in obtaining insurance and home loans to set the new arrivals on their own feet in their new country. Such friction abated as Poles assimilated in their host country, to be supplanted by new waves of immigrants from other countries. Polish Americans have, however, continued to maintain a strong ethnic identity into the late twentieth century.

With the end of World War I and the re-establishment of an independent Polish state, it was believed that there would be a huge exodus of Polish immigrants returning to their homeland. Such an exodus did not materialize, though immigration over the next generation greatly dropped off. U.S. immigration quotas imposed in the 1920s had much to do with this, as did the Great Depression. But political oppression in Europe between the wars, displaced persons brought on by World War II, and the flight of dissidents from the communist regime did account for a further half million immigrants- many of them refugees-from Poland between 1918 and the late 1980s and the fall of communism.

The fourth wave of Polish immigration is now underway. This is comprised mostly of younger people who grew up under communism. Though not significant in numbers because of immigration quotas, this newest wave of post-Cold War immigrants, whether they be the short-term workers, wakacjusze, or long-term residents, continue to add new blood to Polish Americans, ensuring that the ethnic community continues to have foreign-born Poles among its contingent. Estimates from the 1970 census placed the number of either foreign born Poles or native born with at least one Polish parent at near three million. Over eight million claimed Polish ancestry in their background in the 1980 census and 9.5 million did so in the 1990 census, 90 percent of whom were concentrated in urban areas. A large part of such identity and cohesiveness was the result of outside conditions. It has been noted that initial friction between Polish immigrants and "established" Americans played some part in this inward looking stance. Additionally, such commonly held beliefs as folk culture and Catholicism provided further incentives for communalism. Newly arrived Poles generally had their closest contacts outside Polish Americans with their former European neighbors: Czechs, Germans, and Lithuanians. Over the years there has been a degree of friction specifically between the Polish American community and Jews and African Americans. However, during the years of partition, Polish Americans kept alive the belief in a free Poland. Such cohesiveness was further heightened in the Polish American community during the Cold War, when Poland was a satellite of the Soviet Union. But since the fall of the Soviet empire and with free elections in Poland, this outer threat to the homeland is no longer a factor in keeping Polish Americans together. The subsequent increase in immigration of the fourth wave of younger Poles escaping difficult transition times at home has added new numbers to immigrants in the United States, but it is yet to be seen what their effect will be on Polish Americans. As yet, these recent immigrants have played no part in the power structure-not being members of the fraternal organizations. What their effect in the future will be is unclear.

Acculturation and Assimilation

In a society so homogenized by the effects of mass media, such ethnic enclaves as the amorphous reaches of Polish Americans is clearly affected. Despite the recent emphasis on multiculturalism and a resurgent interest in ethnic roots, Polish Americans like other ethnic groups become assimilated more and more rapidly. Using language as a

"W e wanted to be Americans so quickly that we were embarrassed if our parents couldn't speak English. My father was reading a Polish paper. And somebody was supposed to come to the house. I remember sticking it under something. We were that ashamed of being foreign."

Louise Nagy in 1913, cited in Ellis Island: An Illustrated History of the Immigrant Experience, edited by Ivan Chermayeff et al. (New York: Macmillan, 1991).

measure, it can be seen how quickly such absorption occurs. In a 1960 survey of children of Polish ethnic leaders, 20 percent reported that they spoke Polish regularly. By 1990, however, the U.S. census reported that only 750,000 Polish Americans spoke Polish in the home.

As part of the European emigration, Polish immigrants have had an easier time racially than many other non-European groups in assimilating or blending into the American scene. But this is only a surface assimilation. Culturally, the Polish contingent has held tightly to its folk and national roots, making Polonia more than simply a name. It has been at times a country within a country, Poland in the New World. By and large, Poles have competed

well and succeeded in their new homeland; they have thrived and built homes and raised families, and in that respect have participated in and added to the American dream. Yet this process of assimilation has been far from smooth as witnessed by one fact: the Polish joke. Such jokes have at their core a negative representation of the Poles as backward and uneducated simpletons. It is perhaps this stereotype that is hardest for Polish Americans to combat, and is a legacy of the second wave of immigrants, the largest contingent between 1860 and 1914 made up of mostly people from Galicia and Russia. Though recent studies have shown Polish Americans to have high income levels as compared to British, German, Italian, and Irish immigrant groups, the same studies demonstrate that they come in last in terms of occupation and education. For many generations, Polish Americans in general did not value higher education, though such a stance has changed radically in the late twentieth century. The professions are now heavily represented with Polish Americans as well as the blue collar world. Yet the Polish joke persists and Polish Americans have been actively fighting it in the past two decades with not only educational programs but also law suits when necessary. The days of Polish Americans anglicizing their names seem to be over; along with other ethnic groups Polish Americans now talk of ethnic pride.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS

It had been noted that clans and kinship communities were extremely important in the early formation of Slavic tribes. This early form of communalism has been translated into today's world by the plethora of Polish American fraternal organizations. By the same token, other traditions out of the Polish rural and agrarian past still hold today.

Gospodarz may well be one of the prettiest sounding words in the Polish language-to a Pole. It means a landowner, and it is the land that has always been important in Poland. Ownership of land was one of the things that brought the huge influx of Poles to the United States, but less than ten percent achieved that dream, and these were mainly the German Poles who came first when there was still a frontier to carve out. The remaining Poles were stuck in the urban areas as wage-earners, though many of these managed to save the money to buy a small plot of land in the suburbs. Contrasted to this is the Górale, or mountaineer. To the lowlanders of Greater Poland, the stateless peoples of the southern Carpathians represented free human spirit, unbridled by convention and laws. Both of these impulses runs through the Polish peoples and informs their customs.

An agrarian people, many Poles have traditions and beliefs that revolve around the calendar year, the time for sowing and for reaping. And inextricably linked to this rhythm is that of the Catholic church whose saints' days mark the cycle of the year. A strong belief in good versus evil resulted in a corresponding belief in the devil: witches who could make milk cows go dry; the power of the evil eye, which both humans and animals could wield; the belief that if bees build a hive in one's house, the house will catch on fire; and the tradition that while goats are lucky animals, wolves, crows and pigeons all bring bad luck.

PROVERBS

Polish proverbs display the undercurrents of the Polish nature, its belief in simple pragmatism and honesty, and a cynical distrust of human nature: When misfortune knocks at the door, friends are asleep; the mistakes of the doctor are covered by the earth; the rich man has only two holes in his nose, the same as the poor man; listen much and speak little; he whose coach is drawn by hope has poverty for a coachman; if God wills, even a cock will lay an egg; he who lends to a friend makes an enemy; no fish without bones; no woman without a temper; where there is fire, a wind will soon be blowing.

CUISINE

The diet of Polish Americans has also changed over the years. One marked change from Poland is the increased consumption of meat. Polish sausages, especially the kielbasa -garlic-flavored pork sausage-have become all but synonymous with Polish cuisine. Other staples include cabbage in the form of sauerkraut or cabbage rolls, dark bread, potatoes, beets, barley, and oatmeal. Of course this traditional diet has been added to by usual American fare, but especially at festivities and celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, Polish Americans still serve their traditional food. Polish Americans have, in addition to the sausage, also contributed staples to American cuisine, including the breakfast roll, bialys, the babka coffeecake, and potato pancakes.

TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

Traditional clothing is worn less and less by Polish Americans, but such celebrations as Pulaski Day on October 11 of each year witness upwards of 100,000 Polish Americans parading between 26th Street and 52nd Street in New York, many of them wearing traditional dress. For women this means a combination blouse and petticoat covered by a full, brightly colored or embroidered skirt, an apron, and a jacket or bodice, also gaily decorated. Headdress ranges from a simple kerchief to more elaborate affairs made of feathers, flowers, beads, and ribbons decorating stiffened linen. Men also wear headdresses, though usually not as ornate as the women's-felt or straw hats or caps. Trousers are often white with red stripes, tucked into the boots or worn with mountaineering moccasins typical to the Carpathians. Vests or jackets cover white embroidered shirts, and the favorite colors replicate the flag: red and white.

HOLIDAYS

In addition to Pulaski Day, which President Harry Truman decreed an official remembrance day in 1946, Polish American celebrations consist mainly of the prominent liturgical holidays such as Christmas and Easter. The traditional Christmas Eve dinner, called wigilia, begins when the first star of the evening appears. The dinner, which is served upon a white tablecloth under which some straw has been placed, consists of 12 meatless courses-one for each of the apostles. There is also one empty chair kept at the table for a stranger who might chance by. This vigil supper begins with the breaking of a wafer, the oplatek, and the exchange of good wishes; it moves on to such traditional fare as apple pancakes, fish, pierogi or a type of filled dumpling, potato salad, sauerkraut and nut or poppy seed torte for dessert. To insure good luck in the coming year one must taste all courses, and there must also be an even number of people at the table to ensure good health. The singing of carols follows the supper. In Poland, between Christmas Eve and the Epiphany (January 6, or "Three Kings") "caroling with the manger" takes place in which carolers bearing a manger visit neighbors and are rewarded with money or treats. In Poland, the Christmas season comes to a close with Candelmas day on February 2, when the candles are taken to church to be blessed. It is believed that these blessed candles will protect the home from sickness or bad fortune.

The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is celebrated by much feasting. Poles traditionally fried pą1451czki (fruit-filled doughnuts) in order to use the sugar and fat in the house before the long fast of Lent. In the United States, especially in Polish communities, the day before Ash Wednesday has become popularized as Pączki Day; Poles and non-Poles alike wait in line at Polish bakeries for this pastry. Easter is an especially important holiday for Polish Americans. Originally an agrarian people, the Poles focussed on Easter as the time of rebirth and regeneration not only religiously, but for their fields as well. It marked the beginning of a farmer's year. Consequently, it is still celebrated with feasts which include meats and traditional cakes, butter molded into the shape of a lamb, and elaborately decorated eggs ( pisanki ), and a good deal of drinking and dancing.

HEALTH ISSUES

There are no documented health problems specific to Polish Americans. Initially skeptical of modern medicine and more likely to try traditional home cures, Polish Americans soon were converted to the more modern practices. The creation of fraternal and insurance societies such as the Polish National Alliance in 1880, the Polish Roman Catholic Union in 1873, and the Polish Women's Alliance in 1898, helped to bring life insurance to a larger segment of Polonia. As with the majority of Americans, Polish Americans acquire health insurance at their own expense, or as part of a benefits package at their place of employment.

Language

Polish is a West Slavic language, part of the Lekhite subgroup, and is similar to Czech and Slovak. Modern Polish, written in the Roman alphabet, stems from the sixteenth century. It is still taught in Sunday schools and parochial schools for children. It is also taught in dozens of American universities and colleges. The first written examples of Polish are a list of names in a 1136 Papal Bull. Manuscripts in Polish exist from the fourteenth century. Its vocabulary is in part borrowed from Latin, German, Czech, Ukrainian, Belarusan, and English. Dialects include Great Polish, Pomeranian, Silesian and Mazovian. Spelling is phonetic with every letter pronounced. Consonants in particular have different pronunciation than in English. "Ch," for example is pronounced like "h" in horse; "j" is pronounced like "y" at the beginning of a word; "cz" is pronounced "ch" as in chair; "sz" is pronounced like "sh" as in shoe; "rz" and "z" are pronounced alike as the English "j" in jar; and "w" is pronounced like the English "v" in victory. Various diacriticals are also used in Polish: "ż," "ź," "ń," "ć," "ś," "ą," "ę," and "ł."

GREETINGS AND OTHER POPULAR EXPRESSIONS

Typical Polish greetings and other expressions include: Dzien dobry ("gyen dobry")-Good morning; Dobry wieczor ("dobry viechoor")-Good evening; Dowidzenia ("dovidzenyah")-Good-bye; Dozobaczenia ("dozobahchainya")-Till we meet again; Dziekuje ("gyen-kuyeh")-Thank you; Przepraszam ("psheprasham")-I beg your pardon; Nie ("nyeh")-No; Tak ("tahk")-Yes.

Family and Community Dynamics

Typically, the Polish family structure is strongly nuclear and patriarchal. However, as with other ethnic groups coming to America, Poles too have adapted to the American way of life, which means a stronger role for the woman in the family and in the working world, with a subsequent loosening of the strong family tie. Initially, single or married men were likely to immigrate alone, living in crowded quarters or rooming houses, saving their money and sending large amounts back to Poland. That immigration trend changed over the years, to be replaced by family units immigrating together. In the 1990s, however, the immigration pattern has come full circle, with many single men and women coming to the United States in search of work.

Until recently, Polish Americans have tended to marry within the community of Poles, but this too has changed over the years. A strong ethnic identity is maintained now not so much through shared traditions or folk culture, but through national pride. As with many European immigrant groups, male children were looked upon as the breadwinners and females as future wives and mothers. This held true through the second wave of immigrants, but with the third wave and with second and third generation families, women in general took a more important role in extra-familial life.

As with many other immigrant groups, the Poles maintain traditions most closely in those ceremonies for which the community holds great value: weddings, christenings and funerals. Weddings are no longer the hugely staged events of Polish heritage, but they are often long and heavy-drinking affairs, involving several of the customary seven steps: inquiry and proposal; betrothal; maiden evening and the symbolic unbraiding of the virgin's hair; baking the wedding cake; marriage ceremony; putting to bed; and removal to the groom's house. Traditional dances such as the krakowiak, oberek, mazur, and the zbo'jnicki will be enjoyed at such occasions, as well as the polka, a popular dance

among Polish Americans. (The polka, however, is not a Polish creation.) Also to be enjoyed at such gatherings are the national drink, vodka, and such traditional fare as roast pork, sausages, barszcs or beet soup, cabbage rolls and poppy seed cakes.

Christenings generally take place within two weeks of the birth on a Sunday or holiday; and for the devoutly Catholic Poles, it is a vital ceremony. Godparents are chosen who present the baby with gifts, more commonly money now than the traditional linens or caps of rural Poland. The christening feast, once a multi-day affair, has been toned down in modern times, but still involves the panoply of holiday foods. The ceremony itself may include a purification rite for the mother as well as baby, a tradition that goes back to the pre-Christian past.

Funerals also retain some of the old traditions. The word death in Polish (śmierċ) is a feminine noun, and is thought of as a tall woman draped in white. Once again, Catholic rites take over for the dead. Often the dead are accompanied in their coffins by strong shoes for the arduous journey ahead or by money as an entrance fee to heaven. The funeral itself is followed by a feast or stypa which may also include music and dancing.

EDUCATION

Education has also taken on more importance. Where a primary education was deemed sufficient for males in the early years of the twentieth century- much of it done in Catholic schools-the value of a university education for children of both sexes now mirrors the trend for American society as a whole. A 1972 study from U.S. Census statistics showed that almost 90 percent of Polish Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 had graduated from high school, as compared to only 45 percent of those over age 35. Additionally, a full quarter of the younger generation, those between the ages 25 and 34, had completed at least a four-year university education. In general, it appears that the higher socio-economic class of the Polish American, the more rapid is the transition from Polish identity to that of the dominant culture. Such rapid change has resulted in generational conflict, as it has throughout American society as a whole in the twentieth century.

Religion

Poland is a largely Catholic nation, a religion that survived even under the anti-clerical reign of the communists. It is a deeply ingrained part of the Polish life, and thus immigrants to the United States brought the religion with them, Initially, Polish American parishes were established from simple meetings of the local religious in stores or hotels. These meetings soon became societies, taking on the name of a saint, and later developed into the parish itself, with priests arriving from various areas of Poland. The members of the parish were responsible for everything: financial support of their clergy as well as construction of a church and any other buildings needed by the priest. Polish American Catholics were responsible for the creation of seven religious orders, including the Resurrectionists and the Felicians who in turn created schools and seminaries and brought nuns from Poland to help with orphanages and other social services.

Quickly the new arrivals turned their religious institution into both a parish and an okolica, a local area or neighborhood. There was rapid growth in the number of such ethnic parishes: from 17 in 1870 to 512 only 40 years later. The number peaked in 1935 at 800 and has tapered off since, with 760 in 1960. In the 1970s the level of church attendance was beginning to drop off sharply in the Polish American community, and the use of English in the mass was becoming commonplace. However, the newest contingent of Polish refugees has slowed this trend, raising attendance once again, and helping to restore masses in the Polish language at many churches.

All was not smooth for the Polish American Catholics. A largely Protestant nation in the nineteenth century, America proved somewhat intolerant of Catholics, a fact that only served to separate immigrant Poles from the mainstream even more. Also, within the church, there was dissension. Footing all the bills for the parish, still Polish American Catholics had little representation in the hierarchy. Such disputes ultimately led to the establishment of the Polish National Church in 1904. The founding bishop, Reverend Francis Hodur, built the institution to 34 churches and over 28,000 communicants in a dozen years' time.

Employment and Economic Traditions

As has been noted, the Polish immigrants were largely agrarian except for those intellectuals who fled political persecution, By and large they came the United States hoping to find a plot of land, but instead found the frontier closed and were forced instead into urban areas of the Midwest and Middle Atlantic states where they worked in steel mills, coal mines, meatpacking plants, oil refineries and the garment industry. The pay was low for such work: the average annual income for Polish immigrants in 1910 was only $325. The working day was long, as it was all across America at the time, averaging a ten-hour day. But still Polish Americans managed to save their money and by 1910 it is estimated that these immigrants had been able to send $40 million back to their relatives and loved ones in Russian and Austrian Poland. The amount was so large in fact, that a federal commission was set up to investigate the damages to the U.S. economy that such an outflow of funds might create.

Families pulled together in Polonia, with education coming second to the need for young boys to contribute to the annual income. The need for such economies began to decline after World War I, however, and by 1920 only ten percent of Polish Americans families derived income from the labor of children, and two-thirds were supported by the head of family. Over the years of the twentieth century- except for the years of the Great Depression-the economic situation of Polish Americans has steadily improved, with education taking on increasing importance, creating a parallel rise in Polish Americans in the white collar labor market. By 1970 only four percent were laborers; 23 percent were craftsmen.

Polish Americans have also been important in the formation of labor unions, not only swelling the membership, but also providing leaders such as David Dubinsky of the CIO and, as has been noted, Joseph Yablonski of the United Mine Workers.

Politics and Government

Though heavily concentrated in nine industrial states, Polish Americans did not, until the 1930s, begin to flex their political muscle. Language barriers played a part in this, but more important was the fact that earlier immigrants were too concerned with family and community issues to pay attention to the national political scene. Even in Chicago, where Polish Americans made up 12 percent of the population, they did not elect one of their own to the U.S. Congress until 1920. The first Polish American congressional representative was elected from Milwaukee in 1918.

Increasingly, however, Polish Americans have begun playing a more active role in domestic politics and have tended to vote in large numbers for the Democrats. Al Smith, a Democrat and Roman Catholic who was opposed to Prohibition, was one of the first beneficiaries of the Polish American block vote. Though he lost the election, Smith received an overwhelming majority of the Polish American vote. The Great Depression mobilized Polish Americans even more politically, organizing the Polish American Democratic Organization and supporting the New Deal policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt. By 1944 this organization could throw large numbers of Polish American votes Roosevelt's way and were correspondingly compensated by federal patronage. Prominent Polish American members of congress have been Representatives Dan Rostenkowski and Roman Pucinski, both Democrats from Illinois, and Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland. Maine's Senator Edmund Muskie was also of Polish American heritage.

RELATIONS WITH POLAND

Internationally Polish Americans have been more active politically than domestically. The Polish National Alliance, founded in 1880, was-in addition to being a mutual aid society-a fervent proponent of a free Poland. Such a goal manifested itself in very pragmatic terms: during World War I, Polish Americans not only sent their young to fight, but also the $250 million they subscribed in liberty bonds. Polish Americans also lobbied Washington with the objective of a free Poland in mind. The Polish American Congress (PAC) was created in 1944 to help secure independence for Poland, opposing the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, which established Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe. During this same time, Polish American socialists formed the Pro-Soviet Polish American Council, but its power waned in the early years of the Cold War. PAC, however, fought on into the 1980s, supporting Solidarity, the union movement in Poland largely responsible for the downfall of the communist government. Gifts of food, clothing and lobbying in Washington were all part of the PAC campaign for an independent Poland and the organization has been very active in the establishment of a free market system in Poland since the fall of the communist government.

Individual and Group Contributions

Polish Americans comprised only 2.5 percent of the U.S. population according to the 1990 census, but they have influenced the nation's sciences and popular culture in greater proportion.

ACADEMIA

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), a pioneer of cultural anthropology, emphasized the concept of culture in meeting humankind's basic needs; he taught at Yale late in his life, after writing such important books as Argonauts of the Western Pacific and The Sexual Life of Savages in Northwestern Melanesia. Linguist Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950), born in Warsaw, came to the United States in 1918; his work in linguistics focussed on the power of the different value and meaning of words in different languages in an effort to reduce misunderstanding; he founded the Institute of General Semantics in 1938 in Chicago, and his research and books- including Manhood and Humanity and Science and Sanity -have been incorporated in modern psychology and philosophy curricula as well as linguistics.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

Oleg Cassini, Polish Italian, also made a name in fashion. Ruth Handler (1917- ), co-founder of Mattel toy company and creator of the Barbie doll, was born to Polish immigrant parents in Colorado. William Filene (1830-1901) was born in Posen and founded Boston's Filene department store. Iowa's largest department store, Younker's, was founded by three Polish immigrant brothers-Samuel, Marcus, and Lipma Younker-in 1850. The food industry in America has also had prominent Polish Americans among its ranks. Mrs. Paul's Fish is the creation of Polish American Edward J. Piszek (1917- ). Leo Gerstenzang (1923- ) was a Polish immigrant from Warsaw who invented the Q-Tip cotton swab.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hollywood has had its fair share of Polish-born men and women who have helped to shape that industry, including Harry and Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Entertainers and actors such as Sophie Tucker and Pola Negri also managed to hide their ethnic roots by changing their names. The pianist and performer Liberace (1919-1987), half-Polish and half-Italian, was born Władzie Valentino Liberace. More recently, the Polish-born Hollywood and international cinematographer Hubert Taczanowski has made outstanding contributions.

LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM

Jerzy Kosinski (1933-1991), the Polish-born novelist, came to the United States after World War II; his Painted Bird relates the experiences of a small boy in Nazi-occupied Poland and is one of the most stirring and troubling novels to come out of that time. The poet Czesław Miłosz (1911- ), naturalized in 1970, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980. Born in Lithuania of Polish parents, Miłosz studied law and served in the diplomatic corps as well as establishing a name for himself as a poet before immigrating in 1960; some of his best known works are The Captive Mind, The Issa Valley, and The Usurpers. The cartoonist Jules Feiffer (1929- ), known for his offbeat and biting wit, was born to Polish immigrant parents in the United States.

MUSIC

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977), is just one of the musical luminaries to carry on the Ignacy Paderewski tradition; born in London of Polish and Irish parents; Stokowski, a renowned conductor, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1915; he was best known as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years, and for popularizing classical music in America; his appearance in the 1940 Disney film, Fantasia, is an example of such popularizing efforts. The jazz drummer Gene Krupa (1909-1973), the measure for drummers long after, was also of Polish heritage; Krupa was born in Chicago and played with Benny Goodman's orchestra before forming his own band in 1943; he revolutionized the role of the drummer in a jazz band.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

In addition to above-mentioned members of congress, two other recent Polish Americans have made their names in Washington. Leon Jaworski (1905-1982) was the prosecutor in the 1973 Watergate investigation of then President Richard Nixon; and Zbigniew Brzezinski, born in Warsaw in 1928 and naturalized in 1958, was an important advisor to President Carter from 1977 to 1980 on the National Security Council.

SCIENCE

The biochemist Casimir Funk (1884-1967) was, in 1912, the first to discover and use the term vitamin; his so-called vitamin hypothesis postulated that certain diseases such as scurvy and pellagra resulted from lack of crucial substance in the body; Funk also went on to do research in sex hormones and cancer; he lived in the United States from 1939 until his death. Dr. Stanley Dudrick developed the important new method of vein feeding termed IHV- intravenous hyperalimentation.

SPORTS

Many notable Polish Americans have made their names household words in baseball. Included among these are the pitcher Stan Coveleski (1888-1984) whose 17-year career from 1912-1928 earned him a place in the Hall of Fame in 1969; Stan Musial (1920- ), right field, another member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, who played for St. Louis from 1941 to 1963; Carl Yastrzemski (1939- ), left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, was voted to the Hall of Fame in 1989; and Al Simmons (1902-1956), born Aloysius Harry Szymanski, who played center field for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1924-1944. In football there have been numerous outstanding Polish American players and coaches, Chicago's Mike Ditka (1939- ) a stand-out among these, playing as a tight end for the Bears from 1961 to 1972 and later coaching the team to a Super Bowl championship in 1985; a Hall of Fame player, Ditka has most recently worked as a television sports commentator.

VISUAL ARTS

Korczak Ziolkowski (1909-1982), an assistant to Gutzon Borglum in the monumental Mount Rushmore project in South Dakota, continued that monumental style with a 500-foot by 640-foot statue of Chief Crazy Horse still being blasted out of solid rock in the Black Hills by his family.

PRINT

Dziennik Zwiazkowy/Polish Daily News.

Published in Polish, it covers national and international news with a special emphasis on matters effecting the Polish American community.

Contact: Wojciech Bialasiewicz, Editor.

Address: 5711 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60646-6215.

Telephone: (773) 763-3343.

Fax: (773) 763-3825.

E-mail: polish@popmailinsnet.com

Gazeta Polska.

Polish-language newspaper.

Address: 5242 West Diversey Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60639.

Telephone: (312) 685-1281.

Fax: (312) 283-1675.

Glos.

Polish-language newspaper.

Contact: Andrzej Dobrowolski, Editor.

Address: 140 Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11222.

Glos Polek/Polish Women's Voice.

Biweekly publication of the Polish Women's Alliance of America.

Contact: Mary Mirecki-Piergies, Editor.

Address: 205 South Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068.

Fax: (708) 692-2675.

Published weekly in Polish, it provides national and international news for the Polish American community as well as information about Polish activities and organizations domestically.

Contact: Malgorzata Terentiew-Cwiklinski, Editor.

Address: 2619 Post Road, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481.

Telephone: (715) 345-0744.

Fax: (715) 345-1913.

Narod Polski.

Publication of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America.

Contact: Kathryn G. Rosypal, Editor.

Address: 984 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622-4101.

Telephone: (773) 278-3210 or (800) 772-8632.

Fax: (778) 278-4595.

Online: http://www.prcua.org/narod.htm .

New Horizon: Polish American Review.

Contains items of interest to the Polish community.

Contact: B. Wierzbianski, Editor.

Address: 333 West 38th Street, New York, New York 10018-2914.

Telephone: (212) 354-0490.

Nowy Dziennik/Polish Daily News.

Polish-language newspaper.

Contact: Boleslaw Wierzbianski, Editor.

Address: 333 West 38th Street, New York, New York 10018-2914.

Telephone: (212) 594-2266.

Fax: (212) 594-2383

E-mail: listy@dziennik.com or deptula@dziennik.com.

Perspectives.

A Polish American educational and cultural bimonthly.

Contact: Krystyna Kusielewicz, Editor.

Address: c/o Marta Korwin Rhodes, 7300 Connecticut Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20815-4930.

Telephone: (202) 554-4267.

Polish American Journal.

Official organ of the Polish Union of the United States. Published monthly, it covers national, international, and regional news of interest to Polish Americans.

Contact: Mark Kohan, Editor.

Address: 1275 Harlem Road, Buffalo, New York 14206-1960.

Telephone: (716) 893-5771.

Fax: (716) 893-5783.

Polish American Studies.

A journal of the Polish American Historical Association devoted to Polish American history and culture.

Contact: James S. Pula, Editor.

Address: 984 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622.

Polish American World.

Published weekly, it reports on activities and events in the Polish American community and on life in Poland.

Contact: Thomas Poskropski, Editor.

Address: 3100 Grand Boulevard, Baldwin, New York 11510.

Telephone: (516) 223-6514.

Polish Digest.

Covers history of Poland, news from Poland, and Polish culture.

Contact: Leszek Zielinski, Editor.

Address: c/o Horyzonty, 1924 North Seventh Street, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081-2724.

Telephone: (715) 341-6959.

Fax: (715) 346-7516.

Polish Fest News.

Contact: Ray Trzesniewski, Jr., Editor.

Address: Polish Festivals, Inc., 7128 West Rawson Avenue, Franklin, Wisconsin 53132.

Telephone: (414) 529-2140.

Polish Heritage.

A quarterly review of the American Council for Polish Culture.

Contact: Wallace M. West, Editor.

Address: 6507 107th Terrace, Pinellas Park, Florida 34666-2432.

Telephone: (813) 541-7875.

Polish Heritage Society Biuletyn.

Monthly newsletter of the Polish Heritage Society; encourages the preservation and understanding of Polish and Polish American culture and history.

Contact: Pat McBride, Editor.

Address: P.O. Box 1844, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501-1844.

Telephone: (616) 456-5353.

Fax: (616) 456-8929.

Polish Review.

Scholarly journal of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America devoted to the study of Polish history and culture.

Contact: Joseph W. Wieczerzak, Editor.

Address: 208 East 30th Street, New York, New York 10016.

Telephone: (212) 686-4164.

Fax: (212) 545-1130.

Swiat Polski/Polish World.

Published weekly in Polish.

Contact: Ewa Matuszewski, Editor.

Address: 11903 Joseph Campau Street, Hamtramck, Michigan 48212.

Telephone: (313) 365-1990.

Fax: (313) 365-0850.

E-mail: sszcze4594@aol.com.

Zgoda.

Published by the Polish National Alliance of North America, contains fraternal, cultural, sports, and general news in Polish and English.

Contact: Wojciech A. Wierzewski, Editor.

Address: 6100 North Cicero Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60646-4385.

Telephone: (773) 286-0500.

Fax: (773) 286-0842.

E-mail: pnazgoda@ais.net.

RADIO

WBRK-AM.

Polish American Programming.

Contact: Tom Wotjkowski.

Address: 100 North Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201.

Telephone: (413) 442-1553.

WCSS-AM.

"Polka Party."

Contact: Dan Kielbasa.

Address: 6 Genessee Lane, Amsterdam, New York 12010.

Telephone: (518) 843-2500.

WEDC-AM.

"Polish Sunshine Hour."

Contact: Halina Gramza.

Address: 5475 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60630.

Telephone: (312) 631-0700.

TELEVISION

WCIU-TV.

"Polevision," a daily two-hour show airs between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. with programs in both Polish and English.

Contact: Robert Lewandowski.

Address: Board of Trade Building, 141 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

Telephone: (312) 663-0260.

Organizations and Associations

American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC).

National federation of groups devoted to fostering and preserving Polish ethnic heritage in the United States.

Contact: Dr. Kaya Mirecka-Ploss, Executive Director.

Address: 2025 O Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

Telephone: (202) 785-2320.

American Institute of Polish Culture (AIPC).

Furthers knowledge of and appreciation for the history, science, art, and culture of Poland.

Contact: Blanka A. Rosenstiel, President.

Address: 1440 79th Street Causeway, Suite 117, Miami, Florida 33141.

Telephone: (305) 864-2349.

Fax: (305) 865-5150.

Polish American Congress (PAC).

Umbrella organization for local and national Polish organizations in the United States with more than three million combined members. Promotes improved quality of life for Polish Americans and people in Poland.

Contact: Eugene Rosypal, Executive Director.

Address: 5711 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60646-6215.

Telephone: (773) 763-9944.

Fax: (773) 763-7114.

E-mail: pacchgo@mindspring.com.

Online: http://www.polamcon.org .

Polish American Historical Association (PAHA).

Concerned with Polish Americana and the history of Poles in the United States.

Address: 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622.

Telephone: (773) 384-3352.

Fax: (773) 384-3799.

Polish Falcons of America.

Founded in 1887, the Polish Falcons have a membership of 31,000 in 143 groups or "nests." Established as a fraternal benefit insurance society for people of Polish or Slavic descent, the Falcons also took on a strong nationalist sentiment, demanding a free Poland. The society promotes athletic and educational events and provides a scholarship fund for those majoring in physical education. The Falcons also publish a bi-monthly publication in Polish, Sokol Polski.

Contact: Wallace Zielinski, President.

Address: 615 Iron City Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15205.

Telephone: (412) 922-2244.

Fax: (412) 922-5029.

Online: http://www.polishfalcons.org .

Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA).

Promotes Polish genealogical study and establishes communication among researchers.

Contact: Stanley R. Schmidt, President.

Address: 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622.

E-mail: PGSAmerica@aol.com. Online: http://www.pgsa.org .

Polish National Alliance of the United States (PNA).

Founded in 1880, the PNA has a membership of 286,000 made up of nearly 1,000 regional groups. Originally founded as a fraternal life insurance society, PNA continues this original role while also sponsoring education and cultural affairs. It maintains a library of 14,000 volumes.

Contact: Edward Moskal, President.

Address: 6100 North Cicero, Chicago, Illinois 60646-4385.

Telephone: (773) 286-0500 or (800) 621-3723.

Fax: (773) 286-0842.

E-mail: pnazgoda@ais.net.

Online: http://www.pna-znp.org/index.html .

Polish Roman Catholic Union of America.

Founded in 1873, the Roman Catholic Union has a membership of 90,000 in 529 groups. Founded as a fraternal benefit life insurance society, the union sponsors sports and youth activities, and conducts language school as well as dance and children's programs. It also has a library of 25,000 volumes.

Contact: Josephine Szarowicz, Secretary General.

Address: 984 Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60622.

Telephone: (773) 278-3210.

Fax: (773) 278-4595.

Polish Surname Network (PSN).

Collects and disseminates genealogical information on surnames of Polish heritage. Provides fee-based research, research analysis, and translation services.

Contact: Mary S. Hartig, Executive Officer.

Address: 158 South Walter Avenue, Newbury Park, California 91320.

Polish Union of the United States.

Founded in 1890, the Polish Union has a membership of 12,000 in 100 groups. This fraternal benefit life insurance society bestows the Copernicus Award to a student excelling in astronomy. Publishes the monthly Polish American Journal.

Contact: Wallace S. Piotrowski, President.

Address: 4191 North Buffalo Street, Orchard Park, New York 14127-0684.

Telephone: (716) 667-9782.

Polish Women's Alliance of America.

Founded in 1898, the Polish Women's Alliance has a membership of 65,000 in 775 groups or chapters. It is a fraternal benefit life insurance society administered by women and maintains a library of 7,500 volumes on Polish and American culture and history.

Contact: Delphine Lytell, Pres.

Address: 205 South Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068.

Telephone: (708) 384-1200.

Fax: (847) 384-1222.

E-mail: pres@pwaa.org.

Online: http://www.pwaa.org .

Museums and Research Centers

Many public libraries, including the Los Angeles Public Library, New York Public Library/Donnell Library Center, Boston Public Library, Denver Public Library, Miami/Dade Public Library, and the Detroit Public Library, have extensive Polish language collections to serve the Polish American communities.

American Institute for Polish Culture.

Founded in 1972 to promote the appreciation for history, culture, science and art of Poland, the American Institute for Polish Culture sponsors exhibits, lectures, and research and maintains a 1,200-volume library and publishes books on history and biography.

Contact: Blank A. Rosenstiel, President.

Address: 1440 79th Street, Causeway, Suite 403, Miami, Florida 33141.

Telephone: (305) 864-2349.

Center for Polish Studies and Culture.

Founded in 1970 at St. Mary's College, the Center for Polish Studies promotes research in the teaching of Polish and arranges educational exchanges. It also maintains a library, art gallery, and a museum of artifacts from Polish Americans.

Contact: Janusz Wrobel.

Address: St. Mary's College, Orchard Lake, Michigan 48034.

Telephone: (810) 682-1885.

Kosciuszko Foundation.

Founded in 1925, the Kosciuszko Foundation is named after the Polish nobleman who fought in the American revolution. The foundation is a clearing-house for information on Polish and American cultural affairs. Also known as the American Center for Polish Culture, the foundation has a reference library and arranges educational exchanges as well as administers scholarships and stipends.

Contact: Joseph E. Gore, President.

Address: 15 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021.

Telephone: (212) 734-2130.

Polish Museum of America.

Founded in 1937, the Polish Museum preserves artifacts of the Polish American experience and mounts displays of costumes, religious artifacts and Polish art. It also maintains a 25,000-volume library for researchers and the Polish American Historical Association which is concerned with the history of Poles in America.

Contact: Dr. Christoph Kamyszew, Director and Curator.

Address: 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622.

Sources for Additional Study

Bukowczyk, John. And My Children Did Not Know Me: A History of the Polish-Americans. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.

Fox, Paul. The Poles in America. New York: Arno Press, 1970.

Lopata, Helena Znaniecka. Polish Americans: Status Competition in an Ethnic Community, second edition. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transactions Publishers, 1974; reprinted, 1994.

Morawska, Ewa. The Maintenance of Ethnicity: A Case Study of the Polish American Community in Greater Boston. San Francisco: R&E Associates 1977.

Renkiewicz, Frank. The Poles in America, 1608-1972: A Chronology and Fact Book. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1973.

Wytrwal, Joseph. America's Polish Heritage: A Social History of the Poles in America. Detroit, Michigan: Endurance Press, 1961.

Zieleniewicz, Andrzej. Poland, translated, revised, and edited by Robert Strybel, Leonard Chrobot, Robert Geryk, Joseph Swastek, and Walter Ziemba. Orchard Lake, Michigan: Center for Polish Studies and Culture, 1971.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Polish Americans - History, The first poles in america, Significant immigration waves

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Poland, the seventh largest country in Europe, occupies an area of 120,727 square miles-some-what larger than the state of Nevada. Located in east-central Europe, it is bordered to the east by Russia and the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Germany to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Overview

Latvia is situated in Eastern Europe on the Baltic Sea, bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. With a population in 1993 of about 2.6 million and a surface area of 24,903 square miles (64,600 square kilometers), Latvia-one of the three Baltic nations-is larger than Estonia but smaller than Lithuania. Nearly 69 percent of Latvia's population lives in cities, especially the capital, Rîga, which is home to about a third of the nation's people.

Although Latvia has always had a diverse population, the country's ethnic composition has become a growing issue among Latvians concerned with preservation of their culture. In 1993, according to Latvian government statistics, 53.5 percent of inhabitants were ethnic Latvians, while 33.5 percent were Russians. In some regions, particularly in southeastern Latvia as well as in the capital city of Rîga, ethnic Russians outnumber ethnic Latvians. Other ethnic groups often found in Latvia include Belarussians, Estonians, Germans, Gypsies, Jews, Lithuanians, Poles, and Ukrainians. The leading religions in Latvia include Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. The official language of the country is Latvian, and the national flag consists of three horizontal stripes (maroon on top and bottom, white in the middle).

HISTORY

Latvia's experience as an independent nation has been limited. Inhabited as early as 9000 B.C., the region now called Latvia only began taking on a national identity in the mid-nineteenth century. The Latvians' ancestors-early tribes of Couronians, Latgallians, Livs, Selonians, and Semgallians- were established in the area by about 1500 B.C. Through the centuries, these pagan tribes gradually developed their society and culture, but beginning in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries they came under subjugation from German invasions. In particular, the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire forcibly Christianized the tribes and built an economic and political system that continued in power until the twentieth century. The Germans were responsible for the growth of Rîga, established in 1201, as an important Baltic Sea port that continues today to serve as a transportation link between western Europe and Russia.

As the Russian Empire expanded in the 1600s, German military control of the Baltic region weakened. Beginning in the 1620s and into the 1700s, the northern part of Latvia was under Swedish rule, while the south and the east came under Polish-Lithuanian domination. Only the Duchy of Courland, in western Latvia by the Baltic Sea, maintained some independence. The Duchy of Courland even managed to briefly extend its influence beyond its home, establishing colonies in Gambia in Africa (1651) and on the Caribbean Sea island of Tobago (1654).

With the signing of the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, settling the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, the region that would later become Latvia came under the political and military rule of the Russian czar. Its economy, however, continued to be controlled by German barons who lived off the labor of Latvian peasants. Latvians began to gain some economic power after 1819, when serfs in the Baltic provinces were emancipated by the Russians.

Industrialization and the emergence of the socalled "National Awakening" in the late nineteenth century created discontent among Latvians over their social and political relationships with the Russians and the Germans. That discontent led to the 1905 Revolution in Latvia. Although the revolution failed, it served to bring together the Latvian working class and intelligentsia and to heighten hopes for independence. A year after the 1917 Russian Revolution, Latvia declared its independence and was a sovereign nation until its occupation by Soviet troops in 1940. In June of 1941, during the final three days of the Russian occupation of Rîga before its fall to the Germans, an estimated 30,000 Latvians were shepherded onto boxcars and deported to Siberia. Thousands died in what is now known among Latvians as the Baigais gads ("The Year of Terror"). "Liberated" by German troops in 1941, Latvia again fell under Soviet rule by the end of World War II. Forcefully incorporated into the Soviet Union, Latvia only regained independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

THE FIRST LATVIANS IN AMERICA

Some historical evidence suggests that the first Latvians in North America may have settled with Swedish and Finnish migrants in the area of Delaware and Pennsylvania around 1640. In the late 1600s, a group from the island of Tobago migrated to Massachusetts. Latvians were also among the thousands of fortune seekers who headed to California during the 1849 Gold Rush. Two histories of Latvians in America claim that Mārtiņš Buciņš, believed to be a Latvian sailor, was among the first to die during the American Civil War.

SIGNIFICANT IMMIGRATION WAVES

Latvian American immigrants consist of two distinct groups: those immigrants-often called veclatvieši, or Old Latvians-who settled in the United States before World War II, and those who arrived after the war. Immigration before World War II is generally divided into three phases. The first phase began in 1888 with the arrival of several young men in Boston. (Among them was Jēkabs Zībergs [1863-1963], who became one of the most important Latvian American community leaders in the pre-World War II era.) Like other Latvian immigrants who followed in the early years of the twentieth century, these men journeyed to America in search of their fortunes-or to escape being drafted into the Russian czar's army. Politically, the early immigrants were further divided into two groups: one devoted to the creation of an independent Latvia; the other, influenced by socialism, concerned with freeing Latvian workers from the oppression of imperial Russia. This division was mirrored in Latvian American society.

The early immigrants were usually young, single men, although some single women and families also came to the States at the end of the nineteenth century. They settled primarily in East Coast and Midwest cities, such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago, as well as in some cities on the West Coast, including Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. Scattered immigrants also settled in rural areas, although usually not in great enough numbers to form long-lasting communities. In most cities, in fact, Latvians were so few in number that they failed to create the sort of ethnic neighborhoods for which other groups, such as the Italians or Poles, are known. Only in the Roxbury district of Boston did an urban Latvian neighborhood develop. Latvians also attempted to create a rural colony in Lincoln County in north central Wisconsin, but political differences and hard economic conditions sapped the community of its members, which at one point is said to have numbered about 2,000. The first Lutheran church built by Latvians in America was erected in Lincoln County in 1906.

Among the early wave of immigrants were several hundred Latvian Baptists who also settled in various East Coast locations. Perhaps the best-known Latvian Baptist settlement was in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia, where beginning in 1906 a community was formed that eventually grew to about 100 individuals.

The next wave of immigration of Old Latvians began around 1906, following the failed 1905 Revolution in the Latvian province of the Russian empire. Many Latvian political leaders, as well as rank-and-file revolutionaries, faced certain death if caught by Russian soldiers, so they chose instead to emigrate and to continue the revolutionary movement from abroad. Most of the revolutionaries who arrived in the United States had more radical political views than the earlier Latvian immigrants, and this resulted in splits not only between conservative and leftist Latvians but also among the leftists themselves.

With the beginning of World War I, Latvia became a battleground between German and Russian forces. Latvian migration came to a halt until the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, when many revolutionary Latvians returned to their homeland to work for the creation of a Bolshevik government (a forerunner to the Communist party) in Latvia as well as in Moscow. Among those returning was Fricis Roziņš (1870-1919), a radical Marxist philosopher who had immigrated to America in 1913. He returned in 1917 to head a short-lived Latvian Soviet government. A few nationalist Latvian Americans returned to Latvia after the country declared independence in 1918.

The next wave of immigration was more of a trickle. U.S. immigration quotas put in place in 1924 limited the number of Latvians who could settle in America, while the creation of a free Latvia and the promise of better economic times in the homeland- coupled with the Great Depression in the United States-generally discouraged immigration.

The number of Latvians who journeyed to America before World War II is difficult to determine. Figures compiled by Francis J. Brown and Joseph Slabey Roucek, published in Our Racial and National Minorities in 1937, show that 4,309 Latvians came to the United States before 1900; 8,544 from 1901-1910; 2,776 from 1911-1914; 730 from 1915-1919; 3,399 from 1921-1930; and 519 from 1930-1936. Until the 1930 census, the U.S. government lumped Latvians in with Lithuanians and Russians. Ten years later, the census counted 34,656 people of Latvian origin, about 54 percent of them foreign-born.

World War II's ravages of Latvia turned many Latvians into refugees. Fearing the Soviet communists, they headed to western Europe. By the end of the war, an estimated 240,000 Latvians-more than a tenth of the country's population-were camped in Displaced Persons (DP) facilities in Germany, Austria, and other countries. About half were eventually repatriated to Latvia, but the rest resettled in Germany, England, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the United States, as well as in other countries. As documented by Andris Skreija in his unpublished thesis on Latvian refugees, an estimated 40,000 Latvians immigrated to the United States from 1949 to 1951 with the help of the U.S. government and various social service and religious organizations. Many of these Latvians had been members of the professional class in their homeland, but in America they often had to take jobs as farmhands, custodians, or builders until they managed to find better paying positions.

Most Latvian DPs settled in larger cities, such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. As with the Old Latvians, the DPs failed to create neighborhoods and had to rely on social events, the telephone, the mail, and the press to create a sense of community. In a few eastern cities, the newer immigrants found that some Old Latvian colonies remained active. (Some organizations and congregations begun by the Old Latvians, such as the Philadelphia Society of Free Letts, founded in 1892, continue to operate today.) In most cases, however, the Latvian DPs had to start from scratch and within a few years had managed to create a rather complete social and cultural world that included schools, credit unions, choirs, dance groups, theater troupes, publishers and book sellers, churches, veterans' groups, and political organizations.

Unlike the Old Latvians, many of whom considered themselves immigrants, the Latvian DPs saw themselves as living in trimda, or exile, and dreamed of the day they could return to a free Latvia. Since the reestablishment of an independent Latvia in 1991, however, few have returned,

although about 9,000 have declared dual citizenship as a way to offer political support to the reemerging nation. Many frequently travel to their homeland and provide financial and material support for relatives and various organizations. A number of Latvian Americans have been elected to the Saeima, or Parliament, in Latvia. According to the 1990 report of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a total of 75,747 persons claimed Latvian ancestry, 27,540 of whom were born abroad. From 1980 to 1990, the census reports, 1,006 Latvians arrived in the United States.

Acculturation and Assimilation

The Latvians of the pre-World War II immigration are generally thought to have assimilated quickly into the American mainstream, while the exiles of the post-World War II period have maintained their ethnic distinctiveness but now are facing deepening concerns about their future.

In a 1919 article in Literary Digest, the attitude of Latvians (or Letts, as they were known then) toward acculturation was described thus: "Their first aim, except among the radical element, is to secure admission to American citizenship. Their children all are educated in our public schools, and the second generation of Letts are thorough Americans in the majority" ("Letts in the United States," Literary Digest, 21 June 1919; p. 37). While it may be true that many of the Old Latvians were eager to seek American citizenship, many also continued to keep up their interest in Latvia, especially between 1918 and 1920, when Latvia declared and fought for independence. At the same time, as the Literary Digest article noted, some Latvians who held leftist political views may have resisted becoming part of the American system. In 1919, for example, about 1,000 Latvians were among those immigrants who helped found the Communist Party of America.

Except for the political radicals among them, pre-World War II Latvian immigrants tended to assimilate easily. According to Brown and Roucek, 60.9 percent of the 20,673 foreign-born Latvians in the United States had been naturalized by 1930, while another 10.5 percent had declared their intention to be naturalized. Most Latvians, like other immigrants, started out in low-paying, unskilled jobs, but over the years gained experience and higher socioeconomic status. A report of the Committee on Racial Groups of the Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary Inc., written about 1930, had this to say about the Latvians in Massachusetts: "The Lettish people cannot be classified among the rich, but neither are they poor. Many of them own their own homes. Partly due to the fact that the Letts are scattered, there are no Lettish banks, corporations, or big businesses that are worth mentioning. The same is true of the professional workers. Mostly, they are skilled workers, such as carpenters, machinists, painters, wood finishers, tool makers, railroad workers, garage mechanics. Some of them, however, have taken up farming as their chosen profession and are successful farmers" (Committee on Racial Groups of the Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary Inc., Historical Review, 1930).

Latvians did not experience much of the stereotyping that plagued southern, central, and eastern European immigrants during the early twentieth century. This is most likely due to the fact that the Latvians were a little-known group. In one incident in Boston in 1908, however, Latvians as a group briefly made the front pages of local newspapers after three Latvians robbed a saloon at gunpoint. The newspaper coverage, the Boston-based magazine Arena complained, made the Latvians look like "a bloodthirsty, murderous people, lawless, criminal and altogether undesirable citizens" (Andris Straumanis, "'This Sudden Spasm of Newspaper Hostility': Stereotyping of Latvian Immigrants in Boston Newspapers, 1908," Ethnic Forum, Volume 13, No. 2, and Volume 14, No. 1, 1993-1994).

The arrival of the Latvian DPs after World War II sparked an era of heightened ethnic maintenance. Fiercely anticommunist, they saw the Soviet occupation of their homeland not only as an infringement on their right to autonomy but also as an effort to eradicate Latvians altogether. Migration of Russians and other non-Latvian groups into Latvia, part of a Soviet effort at "Russification," became a threat to Latvian culture. Latvian DPs in the United States reacted by launching a number of political and cultural movements to fight assimilation and help make Americans aware of Latvia's plight. Weekend Latvian schools were organized in several cities, while summer camps offered children and adults cultural immersion. Runāsim latviski ("Let's speak Latvian") was as much a political statement as an expression of cultural preservation. Marriage outside of the Latvian group often was discouraged, because it might mean that children of mixed couples would not learn the language.

As with the Old Latvians, few cultural misconceptions exist about post-World War II Latvians. Indeed the biggest difficulties Latvians have faced are their small numbers and the erasure, before 1991, of Latvia from many world maps. As a result, few Americans know anything about Latvians- and often confuse Europe's Balkan states with the Baltic countries, of which Latvia is a part.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS

Like many other ethnic groups, the Latvians in the United States have adopted some American ways, but they also maintain a cultural heritage from the homeland. Until the late nineteenth century, when industrialization created demand for workers in several Latvian cities, Latvians remained rural. As a result, many of the traditions, customs, and beliefs still acknowledged by Latvian Americans are based on agricultural life. Others are drawn from more ancient Latvian culture. For example, in the Latvian tradition, a bride-to-be proved her worthiness by knitting many intricately designed wool mittens, as well as linen handkerchiefs and wool socks. The more she had in her dowry, the more worthy she might appear to her suitor. In the States, wool mittens and socks are sometimes used as adornments in wedding ceremonies.

Among the Latvian people's strongest traditions are their songs, called dainas, and their interest in folk culture. The dainas- simple verses that tell old stories and reveal the wisdom of centuries of Latvian culture-were handed down orally over generations. Beginning in the nineteenth century, as interest in Latvian nationalism grew, folklorists transcribed about 900,000 of these songs, culminating in a multi-volume collection compiled by Krisjānis Barons (1835-1923). Even at the end of the twentieth century, dozens of Latvian ensembles maintained the musical tradition in the United States, often performing at community events and in ethnic festivals. On a grander scale, Latvians in America and in Latvia have organized song festivals that feature performances of traditional folk songs and dances, choral music, and even musicals and plays. These song festivals serve as a ritual, reminding Latvians of their common ideals. The first such festival was held in Latvia in 1873; the tradition has since been carried on in the States, beginning in Chicago in 1953.

CUISINE

Traditional Latvian foods include pīrāgi, pastry stuffed with bacon or ham; Jāņu siers, a cheese usually made for the Midsummer Eve's holiday; various soups; sauerkraut; potato salad; smoked fish and eel; and beer. At major celebrations, such as holidays and birthdays, a popular sweetbread-the kliņg'eris, flavored with raisins and cardamom and shaped like a large pretzel-is served. Because of the work involved in preparing many of these dishes, as well as the difficulty in obtaining some ingredients, many of these foods are now prepared only for special occasions. The foods tend to be rich, although Latvian Americans have been known to modify recipes by using lower-fat ingredients and less salt.

TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

Folk costumes are worn by Latvian Americans primarily when performing in song groups or dance troupes. Men's costumes are characterized by monotone (white, gray, or black) wool trousers and coats, white shirts, and black boots. Women's costumes usually include an embroidered white linen blouse and a colorful ankle-length wool skirt. Both men and women wear wide, bright belts and silver jewelry. Unmarried women wear a vaiņags (crown) on their heads, while married women wear a cap or kerchief. The designs of costumes are characteristic of specific locales in Latvia.

HOLIDAYS

Latvian Christians observe Easter and Christmas, attending church services and getting together with relatives and friends. At Easter, eggs are colored using onion skins rather than paint. The skins are wrapped around uncooked eggs, which are then boiled. One Easter dinner custom is to play a game to determine whose egg is strongest: two people each hold an egg, the ends of the eggs are knocked together, and the person whose egg does not break goes on to challenge someone else. At Christmas, an evergreen tree is brought into the home and decorated. Before Christmas gifts are opened, a line of poetry or words from a song are recited. At New Year's, some Latvians still observe a custom of "pouring one's fortune." The person who wishes to know what his or her fortune will be in the New Year pours a ladle filled with molten lead into a bucket of cold water. The shape of the hardened lead is then examined to determine the future.

Perhaps the favorite Latvian holiday, however, comes in June, during the summer solstice-the longest day of the year. Called Jāņi (also known as St. John's Eve or Midsummer's Eve) in Latvia the day was a traditional celebration of nature's fertility. An elaborate feast was prepared-including the symbolic Jāņu siers, a rich cheese-and the home was decorated with oak leaves and flowers. The celebration, featuring bonfires and sing-alongs, lasted through the night and well into the following morning. In the United States, many of these customs survive; in modern Latvia, Jāņi is an official holiday.

HEALTH ISSUES

Latvians in the United States have largely accepted modern medical treatments, although some folk cures are still used by some families. A number of Latvians have entered the medical profession. In addition to health insurance offered through their place of employment or through government programs, many Latvians also have joined the Latvian Relief Fund of America ( Amerikas latviešu palīdzības fonds ), founded in 1952. No illnesses specific to Latvian Americans are known.

Language

Latvian, along with Lithuanian, is considered part of the small Baltic language group of the Indo-European family. It is one of the oldest languages still spoken in Europe. Latvian uses the Latin alphabet, although the letters "q," "w," "x," and "y" are not part of the alphabet. In addition, Latvian uses diacritical marks on some letters ("ā," "č," "ē," "g'," " ī," "ķ," "ļ," "ņ," "ŗ," "š," and "ž") to differentiate long or soft sounds from short or hard sounds. Latvian words are stressed on the first syllable, and written Latvian is largely phonetic.

Due to Latvia's location and its history, the country's language has been influenced by German, Russian, and Swedish. During the 50-year occupation of Latvia by the former Soviet Union, the influence of Russian became particularly strong. A few dialects in addition to standard Latvian can still be heard in Latvia, most notably Latgallian, spoken in the heavily Catholic southeastern province of Latgale. In the United States, Latvian cultural leaders and schools have battled against the encroachment of English into their mother tongue; since Latvia regained independence in 1991 and declared Latvian rather than Russian the official language, more and more English words are creeping into Latvian.

Latvian continues to be used in the United States most widely among the first generation of post-World War II immigrants. According to the 1990 U.S. Census Bureau report, about 13 percent of those persons who claim Latvian ancestry-most of them aged 65 and older-said they do not speak English very well. Among second and third generation Latvian Americans, usage has dropped significantly, in some cases because of intermarriage. Latvian is still used in church services in many congregations, although some churches have begun to use English as a way to attract and serve non-Latvian speakers. In the United States, only one Latvian-language newspaper is published (the semi-weekly Laiks of Brooklyn, New York), but there are several small Latvian-language magazines and numerous church newsletters.

GREETINGS AND OTHER POPULAR EXPRESSIONS

Perhaps the most widespread salutation in Latvian is Sveiks ! ("svayks")-Greetings! It is commonly used when greeting friends but is also seen on bumper stickers on cars driven by Latvian Americans. Other terms include: Apsveicu ("ap-svaytsu")-Congratulations; Atā ("a-tah")-Goodbye; Daudz laimes dzimšanas dienā ("daudz laimes dzim-shan-as dien-ah")-Happy birthday; Labdien ("labdien")-Good day; Labrīt ("labreet")-Good morning; Labvakar ("labvakar")-Good evening; Lūdzu ("loodz-u")-Please; Paldies ("pal-dies")- Thank you; Priecīgus svētkus ("prie-tsee-gus svehtkus")-Happy holidays, used at Christmastime; Uz redzēšanos ("uz redz-eh-shan-os")-Until we meet again.

Family and Community Dynamics

Latvians in the United States tend to have small nuclear families, usually not exceeding two adults and two children. According to the 1990 census, a total of 37,574 households of Latvian ancestry were reported. Of those, 12,341 had only one family member (32.8 percent); 14,211 (37.8 percent) had two; 5,010 (13.3 percent) had three; and 3,985 (10.6 percent) had four. A total of 86.9 percent of children under the age of 18 were living with two parents. Most families are middle-class; the median household income in 1989 was $38,586. Four percent of Latvian families received public assistance in 1989.

Within the post-World War II Latvian emigre population, young men and women have been encouraged to seek each other out in the hope that new Latvian families would result. For some youth, however, the close-knit nature of Latvian community life made it difficult to transform longtime acquaintances into romantic involvement. Others, perhaps realizing that their involvement in the Latvian community would make a relationship outside

the ethnic group difficult, seem to have deliberately sought out Latvian mates. But because the rate of marriage to non-Latvians has continued to increase over the years, older Latvians have become concerned that Latvian culture in the United States might be threatened. At one point in the early 1970s, it was even suggested that Latvian newspapers should not carry announcements of marriages involving non-Latvians. Among Latvian men, according to the 1990 census, 62.3 percent were married, one percent were separated, and 6.4 percent were divorced. Among women, 50.9 percent were married, one percent were separated, and 8.8 percent were divorced.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN

Latvia extended broad democracy to its inhabitants and guaranteed equal rights to women. In the States, women have often been placed in such traditional roles as homemaker and cook. Despite their accomplishments in the professions, women for many years were not seen at the helm of the most influential local and national Latvian institutions. In recent years, however, that has been changing. For example, the Latvian newspaper Laiks, published since 1949, is now edited by a woman, Baiba Bičole.

EDUCATION

The Old Latvians, while recognizing the value of education, did not appear to want or to be able to afford college degrees. By 1911-more than 20 years after the first Latvian immigrants had arrived in the United States-only two individuals had obtained American university degrees, the first one being a woman, Anna Enke, who studied at the University of Chicago.

The majority of Latvians who came to the United States after World War II had received at least some higher education in their homeland. Many were already academic or cultural leaders, and they placed high value on education for their children. The 1990 census indicates that about 34 percent of people claiming Latvian ancestry had earned bachelor's degrees or higher. Between 1940 and 1982, according to a 1984 study, 28 percent of Latvian men outside the Soviet Union who had earned bachelor's degrees studied in the engineering sciences, while another 15.6 percent studied in the humanities. Among women, 22.5 percent studied humanities and 16.9 percent studied medicine.

Religion

In 1935, 55.1 percent of religious Latvians followed the Lutheran faith, 24.4 percent were Roman Catholic, and 8.9 percent were Greek Orthodox ( Cross Road Country-Latvia, edited by Edgars Dunsdorfs [Waverly, Iowa: Latvju Grāmata, 1953]; p. 360). Although it is difficult to obtain accurate figures, the majority of Latvians in the United States follow the Lutheran faith, but there also are adherents of the Catholic and Baptist faiths, as well as a small group of dievturi, followers of a folk religion.

The first Latvian Lutheran church service in the United States was organized by the Boston Latvian Society in 1891. The earliest known congregation, St. John's Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, was formed in 1893 in Philadelphia and continued to operate more than a century later. The Rev. Hans Rebane (1862-1911) became the first Latvian Lutheran minister ordained in America. Rebane, of Estonian and Latvian heritage, also served Estonian and German congregations. Together with Jēkabs Zībergs, he began Amerikas Vēstnesis ( America's Herald, 1896-1920), a nationalist and religiously oriented newspaper based in Boston; Zībergs also published an almanac and other religious materials. In a few short years, additional Latvian congregations were established in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago, northern Wisconsin, San Francisco, and other locations. Radical Latvians in the United States criticized these early churchgoers; to them, the church in Latvia-largely controlled by German-appointed pastors-contributed to the oppression of Latvian peasants. By World War II, only a few congregations remained, but the arrival of Latvian DPs beginning in 1949 gave them new life.

Latvian Lutheran DPs saw theirs as a church in exile. Although a Lutheran church still existed back in Latvia, its activities were suppressed by the Soviet regime. The Latvian Lutheran church in the United States remains conservative but in many cities has become a focus of community activity. Many congregations have organized Saturday or Sunday schools offering language and cultural heritage lessons in addition to religious instruction. In cities where Latvians acquired their own church buildings, the facilities often double as cultural centers where concerts or other programs might be presented.

A key issue for Lutheran clergy has been whether they can continue to preach Christianity at the expense of Latvian ethnic maintenance. Attempts by some pastors to introduce English into religious instruction have in the past been met by resistance. Like other Latvian social and cultural institutions in the United States, the Lutheran church is concerned about decreasing membership, which erodes both the vitality of congregations as well as their financial base. According to Latvian statistics published in 1993, the number of church members totaled 26,265 in 1978, but dropped steadily to 18,557 over the next 15 years.

Latvian Baptists were also active in the States by the late 1880s. The first Latvian Baptist congregation was founded in Philadelphia in 1900; by 1908 congregations were also meeting in Boston, Chicago, and New York, as well as in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Latvian Baptists published a number of magazines and newsletters before World War II, including the monthly Amerikas Latvietis ( America's Latvian, 1902-1905) and Jaunā Tēvija ( The New Fatherland, 1913-1917).

Latvian American Catholic groups also sprang up after World War II, but they were not large enough in any city to have their own church. Latvian Catholics are represented by the American Latvian Catholic Association ( Amerikas latviešu katoļu apvienība ), formed in 1954.

Also active in the United States are the dievturi, followers of a folk religion registered as the Latvian Church Dievturi Inc., which developed in the 1920s in Latvia. The dievturi look to ancient Latvian culture, particularly folk songs, for their beliefs and are credited for their efforts in maintaining old folkways.

Employment and Economic Traditions

Many of the Old Latvians who left their homeland were either farmers or factory workers. Upon arriving in the United States, they at first took jobs as unskilled laborers; later, however, some moved into management and professional positions. Unlike the Old Latvians, many of the DPs had held professional positions in Latvia before migrating to America. Most, however, were unable to immediately resume their professional careers-at least until they had mastered English and proven their qualifications.

According to the 1990 census, 38,132 persons of Latvian ancestry were counted in the nation's civilian labor force, of which 1,653 (4.2 percent) were unemployed. About 48 percent of Latvians in the labor force had positions in management and the professions; 30 percent had jobs in technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. Almost three-fourths of the Latvians in the labor force worked in the private sector, about 16 percent had jobs in government and education, and about 10 percent were self-employed.

Like other Americans, Latvians were among those affected by the economic recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s. When a family was forced to relocate to other parts of the mainland States in search of employment, the move sometimes had a dramatic effect on Latvian social and cultural life. In Minneapolis, for example, when two young but large families had to move in the mid-1980s, their departure resulted in enrollment in the small Latvian Saturday school being trimmed by about a third.

Politics and Government

Latvian Americans have always been politically active. Before Latvia declared its independence, radical Old Latvians were particularly active in working for the creation of a socialist government in their homeland as well as in the United States. The first Latvian socialist organization, the Lettish Workingmen's Society, was started in Boston in 1893. By World War I, almost every city where Latvians could be found also had at least one socialist club. With the arrival of revolutionary Latvians after the failed 1905 Revolution, Latvian radicalism moved further to the left. Latvians were among those immigrants who helped form the American communist movement in 1919. Radicals produced a number of newspapers and other publications, but the most important was the Boston-based weekly Strādnieks ( The Worker, 1906-1919). The failure to establish a permanent socialist government in Latvia following the 1917 Russian Revolution- compounded by U.S. government repression of radical activities during the "Red Scare" of the 1920s-largely put an end to Latvian radical activity in America.

The radicals were opposed by nationalist Latvians who sought independence for their homeland. Under the leadership of Jēkabs Zībergs, Christopher Roos (1887-1963), and others, the nationalists organized in 1917 to support the American World War I military effort by selling Liberty Bonds. The American National Latvian League ( Amerikas latviešu tautiskā savienība [ALTS]) was formed the next year in Boston to represent Latvian interests in the United States. When their homeland declared independence later in 1918, ALTS representatives urged America to recognize the new nation of Latvia; de jure recognition came in 1922.

Soviet occupation of Latvia during World War II was criticized by nationalist Latvians in the States, who sought to inform the American public about atrocities committed by the Russians. The arrival of Latvian DPs after the war heightened political activity among Latvian Americans. A number of Latvian civic and political organizations were founded, including the American Latvian Association in 1951 and the American Latvian Republican National Federation in 1961. Latvians also joined with Estonians and Lithuanians to form groups such as the Baltic Appeal to the United Nations (BATUN), to press world governments to oppose Soviet power in their homelands.

Officially, the U.S. government never recognized the incorporation of the Baltic countries into the Soviet Union. Attempts by U.S. diplomats to ease tensions with the Soviets usually drew swift criticism from the Baltic groups. At election time, the Republican party tended to evoke more support from Latvians than the Democrats-particularly among the first generation of Latvian immigrants, who felt the Republicans had a stronger anticommunist foreign policy platform. Within the Latvian community, efforts during the 1970s and 1980s by some Latvian Americans to establish cultural exchanges with Soviet Latvia were viewed with suspicion and criticism.

Reestablishment of Latvian independence in 1991 opened the door to direct political involvement in the homeland. Latvian immigrants and their descendants were allowed to reclaim their pre-World War II citizenship and voting rights; by May of 1993 more than 8,700 Latvian Americans held dual U.S. and Latvian citizenship, according to American Latvian Association statistics. In June of 1993, during the first free democratic elections after the end of Soviet rule, a number of Latvian Americans were elected to Parliament. Among them were twin brothers Olg'erts Pavlovskis (1934- ) and Valdis Pavlovskis (1934- ), both of whom returned to Latvia to take government posts.

Individual and Group Contributions

Latvians have made a number of contributions to American culture and society. The following sections list some of their achievements.

ART

Florida's famed Coral Castle, a sculpture garden carved from coral, was created over a 30-year period by Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951), a Latvian immigrant. Leedskalnin, jilted by the girl he wanted to marry, journeyed to the United States and decided to build the sculpture garden as a testament to his love for her. The garden (located in Homestead, Florida) was completed in 1940 and was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1984.

EDUCATION

Edgars Andersons (1920-1989) was a prolific historian who taught at San Jose State University in California. A specialist in European and early American history, he received a Distinguished Academic Achievement Award in 1978. Oswald Tippo (born 1911), a botanist by training, held several top academic posts during his career, including chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

FILM, TELEVISION, AND THEATER

Actress Rutanya Alda (1942- ) has appeared in numerous film, stage, and television productions, including The Long Goodbye (1973), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), The Deer Hunter (1978), and Prancer (1989). Actor Buddy Ebsen (born 1908), best known for his television roles as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in Barnaby Jones, is of Latvian and Danish parentage. Chicagoan Mārīte Ozere (1944- ) was crowned Miss U.S.A. in 1965. Actress Laila Robins (1959- ) has appeared in several feature films, including Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), A Walk on the Moon (1987), An Innocent Man (1989), and Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990). Anita Stewart (1895-1961) appeared in the silent movies Hollywood (1923) and Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925).

INDUSTRY

Augusts Krastiņš (1859-1942) began building gasoline-powered automobiles in 1896, several years before Henry Ford. The Cleveland, Ohio-based Krastin Automobile Company operated until 1904. Leon "Jake" Swirbul was a cofounder of the Grumman Aircraft Company and helped lead the company's production of fighter planes for the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1946 Swirbul became president of the company, which is now part of Northrop Grumman Corporation.

LITERATURE AND JOURNALISM

Anšlevs Eglītis (1906-1993), a novelist and movie critic, wrote many popular Latvian books and was a frequent contributor to the Latvian American newspaper Laiks. Jānis Freivalds (1944- ) has worked as a journalist, consultant, and entrepreneur. In 1978 he published a novel, The Famine Plot. Peter Kihss (1912-1984) spent nearly 50 years working as a journalist, including 30 years for the New York Times.

MUSIC

Several Latvian Americans have made significant contributions to symphonic music and opera, such as concert pianist Artūrs Ozoliņš (1946- ), who has recorded with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and composer Gundaris Pone (1932-1993), whose work received international recognition but whose radical politics did not endear him to Latvian Americans. Alternative pop singer-songwriter Ingrid Karklins (1957- ) of Austin, Texas, has released two albums, A Darker Passion (1992) and Anima Mundi (1994), some of which draws inspiration from traditional Latvian instruments and songs. The Quags, a Latvian rock group in Philadelphia, have made some recordings.

SCIENCE

John Akerman (1897-1972), a professor of aeronautics, had a long career teaching and researching at the University of Minnesota. Akerman Hall on the Minneapolis campus is named in his honor. Lectures about the Star of Bethlehem by retired astronomy professor Kārlis Kaufmanis (1910- ) have become a popular Christmas attraction in Minnesota. Mārtiņš Straumanis (1898-1973) was a professor of metallurgy at the University of Missouri at Rolla.

SPORTS

Latvians in America and in Latvia have become ardent fans of the San Jose Sharks team of the National Hockey League. Two Latvians, goalie Arturs Irbe (1967- ) and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh (1972- ), were acquired by the team in 1991. Gundars Vetra (c. 1967- ) was the first Latvian to play for a National Basketball Association team. He was recruited by the Minnesota Timberwolves after playing for the Russian-led Unified Team in the 1992 Olympics.

PRINT

A semi-weekly Latvian-language newspaper published in Brooklyn, New York.

Contact: Ilavars Spilners, Editor.

Address: 7307 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11209-2466.

Telephone: (718) 836-6382.

Fax: (718) 748-1426.

Latvian Dimensions.

Published by the American Latvian Association, it offers a national perspective on issues of interest to Latvians.

Contact: Elisa Freimanis, Editor.

Address: American Latvian Association, P.O. Box 4578, 400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850-3131.

Telephone: (301) 340-1914.

Fax: (301) 340-8732.

RADIO

WVVX-FM (103.1).

Chicago Association of Latvian Organizations ( Čikāgas latviešu organizāciju apvienība ) sponsors a program.

Contact: Juris Valainis.

Address: 210 Skokie Valley Road, Highland Park, Illinois 60035.

Telephone: (847) 831-5250.

Fax: (847) 831-5296.

Organizations and Associations

American Latvian Association in the U.S. ( Amerikas latviešu apvienība, ALA).

Founded in 1951, the ALA is largest Latvian association in the United States; it has about 9,000 members and represents approximately 160 organizations. In the past, it served as an umbrella organization that coordinated the political, cultural, and educational activities of Latvian communities and lobbied the U.S. government for legislation and policies supporting independence for Latvia. Since independence was achieved, the ALA has given increased attention to welfare and education efforts in Latvia.

Contact: Anita Terauds, Secretart General.

Address: 400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850-3121.

Telephone: (301) 340-1914.

Fax: (301) 340-8732.

E-mail: alainfo@alausa.org.

Online: http://www.alausa.org/ .

American Latvian Catholic Association ( Amerikas latviešu katoļu apvienība, ALKA).

Founded in 1954, the ALKA represents the interests of Latvians of the Roman Catholic faith, many of whom trace their heritage to the Latgale province in southeastern Latvia.

Address: 2235 Ontonagon Street, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506.

American Latvian Youth Association ( Amerikas latviešu jaunatnes apvienība, ALJA).

Founded in 1952 and incorporated in 1964, the ALJA is a national organization for Latvian youth, generally those under age 30. It has served as a voice for its members in the exile community. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was especially active on the political front, organizing demonstrations at the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., and in other locations. Some former officers of the association have gone on to other leadership posts in the Latvian American community as well as in newly independent Latvia.

Contact: Pçteris Burìelis, Information Director.

Address: 10 Lois Lane, Katonah, New York 10536.

Telephone: (914) 232-2192.

E-mail: burgelis@pitnet.net.

Online: http://www.alja.org/ .

Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ( Latvieš evaņg'eliski luteriskā baznīca Amerikā, LELBA).

Founded in 1975, the LELBA carries on the work of a Latvian American church association formed in 1957. Before 1975, local Latvian Lutheran congregations belonged to one of the U.S. churches, such as the American Lutheran Church. Since then, many have dropped their ties to U.S. churches and now are only members of LELBA. As of 1994, LELBA included 53 congregations in the United States; not all congregations, however, have their own churches or ministers.

Contact: Rev. Uldis Cepure, Chairman of the Board.

Address: 2140 Orkla Drive, Golden Valley, Minnesota 55427.

Telephone: (612) 546-3712.

Founded in 1945 in Belgium, this is a global organization of war veterans-primarily those who fought in the two Latvian divisions organized during the German occupation of Latvia in World War II. Aside from offering support for disabled Latvian veterans, Daugavas Vanagi also supports cultural and educational efforts and works to preserve the history of the Latvian military. The organization has national and local chapters in several countries.

Address: 3220 Rankin Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418.

Telephone: (612) 781-7132.

Fax: (612) 789-2602.

Museums and Research Centers

Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, Inc.

Independent, nonprofit research association. Focuses on Baltic area, including the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and Baltic literature, history, and economics.

Contact: Kalle Merilo.

Address: 3465 East Burnside Street, Portland, Oregon 97214-2050.

Telephone: (908) 852-5258.

Fax: (908) 852-3233.

E-mail: aabs@teleport.com.

Online: http://www.lanet.lv/members/aabs/aabs.html .

Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies.

Houses Latvian material in its archives, including some records of St. John's Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Contact: John Tenhula, President.

Address: 18 South Seventh Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106.

Telephone: (215) 925-8090.

Fax: (215) 925-8195.

E-mail: balchlib@hslc.org.

Online: http://libertynet.org/~balch .

Immigration History Research Center.

Devoted to collecting archival materials concerning eastern, central, and southern European immigrants, as well as immigrants from the Middle East, the IHRC continues to expand its Latvian collection of books, newspapers, serials, and manuscripts. In 1993 the center embarked on a two-year project to organize materials pertaining to Displaced Persons from Latvia and Ukraine.

Contact: Joel Wurl, Curator.

Address: University of Minnesota, 826 Berry Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55114.

Telephone: (612) 627-4208.

Fax: (612) 627-4190.

E-mail: ihrc@tc.umn.edu.

Online: http://www.umn.edu/ihrc .

Latvian Museum.

Housed in the Latvian Lutheran Church in Rockville, Maryland, the museum opened in 1980 and provides an overview of Latvian life in the homeland and in exile.

Address: 400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

Latvian Studies Center.

Serves as a focus for students of Latvian heritage. It includes a growing library and archives of Latvian materials that have been donated to the center by Latvians from throughout the country.

Contact: Maira Bundža.

Address: Western Michigan University, 1702 Fraternity Village Drive, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006.

Telephone: (616) 343-1922.

Fax: (616) 343-0704.

Sources for Additional Study

Andersons, Edgars, and M. G. Slavenas. "The Latvian and Lithuanian Press," The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analysis and Handbook, edited by Sally M. Miller. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1987; pp. 229-245.

The Baltic States: A Reference Book. Tallinn, Estonia: Tallinn Book Printers, 1991.

Dreifelds, Juris. Latvia in Transition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Kārklis, Maruta, Līga Streips, and Laimonis Streips. The Latvians in America, 1640-1973: A Chronology and Fact Book. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1974.

Latvia, prepared by Geography Department. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1992.

Lieven, Anatoly. The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1993.

Misiunas, Romuald J., and Rein Taagepera. The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-1980. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

Plakans, Andrejs. The Latvians: A Short History. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 1995.

Šīmanis, Vito Vitauts. Latvia. St. Charles, Illinois: Book Latvia, 1984.

Straumanis, Alfreds. "Latvian American Theatre," Ethnic Theatre in the United States, edited by Maxine Schwartz Seller. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983; pp. 277-318.

Veidemanis, Juris. Social Change: Major Value Systems of Latvians at Home, as Refugees, and as Immigrants. Greeley: Museum of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado, 1982.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Latvian Americans - History, The first latvians in america, Significant immigration waves

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Latvia is situated in Eastern Europe on the Baltic Sea, bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. With a population in 1993 of about 2.6 million and a surface area of 24,903 square miles (64,600 square kilometers), Latvia-one of the three Baltic nations-is larger than Estonia but smaller than Lithuania.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe and the Arab lands seek a new home in the Jewish state.

The years between 1948 and 1951 witnessed the largest migration ever to reach the shores of modern Israel. This influx began at a time when the state was in the throes of its greatest struggle for survival, the War of Independence, and continued throughout a period troubled by both security concerns and economic hardship. In the mid‑1950s, a second wave arrived in Israel. The immigrants of the country's first decade radically altered the demographic landscape of Israeli society as well as the balance between Israel and the Jewish diaspora. Many of today's social issues are rooted in this mass migration: Israel's rapid economic growth, social stratification, and the formation of new political frameworks and elites.

Dimensions

Some 688,000 immigrants came to Israel during the country's first three and a half years at an average of close to 200,000 a year. As approximately 650,000 Jews lived in Israel at the time of the establishment of the state, this meant in effect a doubling of the Jewish population, even in light of the fact that some 10 percent of the new immigrants left the country during the next few years. Although immigration declined rapidly during the early 1950s, another 166,000 arrived in the middle of the decade.

Origins

The first immigrants to reach the new state were survivors of the Holocaust, some from displaced persons camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy, and others from British detention camps in Cyprus. The remnants of certain communities were transferred virtually in their entirety, for example Bulgarian and Yugoslavian Jewry. Large sections of other communities, such as those from Poland and Rumania, came to Israel during the first years. After the initial influx of European Jews, the percentage of Jews from Moslem countries in Asia and Africa increased considerably (1948 ‑ 14.4%, 1949 ‑ 47.3%, 1950 ‑ 49.6%, 1951 ‑ 71.0%). During 1950 and 1951, special operations were undertaken to bring over Jewish communities perceived to be in serious danger, for example, the Jews of Yemen and Aden (Operation Magic Carpet) and the Jewish community in Iraq (Operation Ezra and Nehemia). During the same period, the vast majority of Libyan Jewry came to the country. Considerable numbers of Jews immigrated from Turkey and Iran as well as from other North African countries (Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria).

Immigration to Israel (1948‑1951) by Major Countries of Origin (#s in thousands)

* Poland 106.4

* Yemen and Aden 48.3

* Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria 45.4

* Bulgaria 37.3

* Turkey 34.5

* Libya 3 1.0

* Iran 21.9

* Czechoslovakia 18.8

* Hungary 14.3

* Germany, Austria 10.8

* Egypt 8.8

* USSR 8.2

* Yugoslavia 7.7

Source: Moshe Sicron, "The Mass Aliyah ‑ Its Dimensions, Characteristics and Influences on the Structure of the Israeli Population," in Mordechai Naor, ed., Olim and Ma'abarot 1948‑1952 (Jerusalem: 1986): 34 (Hebrew). During the period between 1955 and 1957, most (62%) immigrants came from North African countries.

Characteristics

There were considerable differences between the immigrants from European countries and those from Asia and Africa. The survivor population was usually older and contained fewer children. On the other hand, the Jews from developing countries in Asia and Africa tended to have a large number of children but a smaller elderly population. The European immigrants were generally better educated. Neither group however, resembled the profile of pre‑state immigration: a significantly lower percentage of the post‑1948 immigrants were in the primary wage earning group (only 50.4% in the 15‑45 age group as compared to 66.8% in earlier immigration waves) and consequently fewer could participate in the work force of the new state. The newer immigrants had less education: 16% of those aged 15 and above had completed secondary education as compared to 34% among the earlier settlers. Women, especially among the immigrants from Asia and Africa, tended less to work outside the home. The professions of the new arrivals were also different than those of their predecessors: few had engaged in agriculture and most had been either small craftsmen (tailors, cobblers, carpenters, smiths) or traders and peddlers.

Effects on the Israeli Population

First and foremost, the mass migration led to a steep rise in the Israeli Jewish population. Not only was the population doubled within a short period of time, but the high fertility rate of many of the newcomers led to continued population increase in the years ahead. This growth was significant both with regard to the ratio between Jews and non‑Jews in Israel and to the demographic role of Israel in the Jewish world. Secondly, due to the large percentage of immigrants from Asia and Africa and to their higher fertility rate, the mass migration led to a change in the ethnic composition of Israeli society. An indication of this trend can be seen in the rise of the proportion of foreign‑born Israelis who were born in Asia and Africa. In November 1948 this proportion stood at 15.1%, but by the end of 1951 it had risen to 36.9%.

Thirdly, the new state now had to deal with a considerable population that to a large extent lacked agricultural or modern professional skills, or the same degree of modem education as the veteran population. Moreover, due to an under‑representation of that age group that could best adapt vocationally to new social and economic conditions, it was difficult to quickly integrate the new population. One of the most important social issues in Israel resulted from the difficulties involved in absorbing the new immigrants.
Reprinted with permission from The Jewish Agency.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Mass Migration to Israel of the 1950s | My Jewish Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe and the Arab lands seek a new home in the Jewish state. The years between 1948 and 1951 witnessed the largest migration ever to reach the shores of modern Israel.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Listen to voices of the Vietnamese refugee experience on the First Days Story Project from American Experience PBS.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hear the immigration stories of real immigrant kids who have recently immigrated to the United States from Asia, Africa, and Europe. See videos, maps, and photos.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Immigrant Story is the American Story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We chronicle, document and archive the voices and stories of immigrants in short, accessible formats and provide curated, customized and relevant content to enhance empathy and create an inclusive community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
GET INVOLVED AND CELEBRATE WITH US!

Find an event in your community to #CelebrateImmigrants during #ImmigrantHeritageMonth in June

Find an event nearby

Share your #CelebrateImmigrants story

Write Your Story

Draft a digital message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram responding to the prompt, "I #CelebrateImmigrants Because..." and tell us why you are joining the movement this Immigrant Heritage Month.

Take a Picture

Take a picture or find a picture of yourself, a family member, person in your community, organization, or item of personal significance that represents your immigrant tradition.

Share on Social

Share your message on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the hashtag #CelebrateImmigrants

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
#CelebrateImmigrants: June is Immigrant Heritage Month

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find an event in your community to #CelebrateImmigrants during #ImmigrantHeritageMonth in June Find an event nearby Draft a digital message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram responding to the prompt, "I #CelebrateImmigrants Because..." and tell us why you are joining the movement this Immigrant Heritage Month.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Immigration Museum, in the historic Old Customs House, Melbourne, engages visitors with the history and experiences of immigration and cultural diversity that have contributed to shaping modern Australia.