Worcester County's Polish Community

Worcester County's Polish Community
Author: Barbara Proko
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738554549

Polish settlement in Worcester County had humble beginnings: a small group of German Poles in the 1870s. Over the next decades, thousands of Russian and Austrian Poles, fleeing economic and political hardship, pinned their hopes for a better life on jobs in the burgeoning industries of central Massachusetts. Practicing their religion in their native tongue was vital to these devout Catholics. New Englands first Polish parish was founded in Webster, with others following in Worcester, Gardner, West Warren, Clinton, Southbridge, and Dudley. Polish clubs served as central gathering places in Gilbertville, Uxbridge, and South Grafton. Worcester Countys Polish Americans share an intricate web of relationshipsfamily, religious, business, social, cultural, educational, political, and athleticthat celebrates their heritage and sustains them today as one of the regions largest ethnic groups.

The Polish Community of Worcester

The Polish Community of Worcester
Author: Barbara Proko
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738513386

Near the beginning of the twentieth century, thousands of Polish immigrants embarked upon the American Dream in Worcester as the city's lowest-paid mill workers. Slowly, they carved out their own "Polonia," with Millbury Street as the center. By the 1920s, Worcester's Polish community had built a parish with the largest parochial school in the county, established several civic associations, and become an influential group in the city's economy and ethnic composition. The Polish Community of Worcester celebrates the resilient and patriotic spirit of Worcester's Polonia from 1870 through 1970, with rare photographs from private collections and family albums.

America's Communal Utopias

America's Communal Utopias
Author: Donald E. Pitzer
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 564
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807846094

From the Shakers to the Branch Davidians, America's communal utopians have captured the popular imagination. Seventeen original essays here demonstrate the relevance of such groups to the mainstream of American social, religious, and economic life. The co