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A Brief History of the Polish Union..POLISH UNION of U.S.A. The Polish Union of U.S.A. came into existence years ago on August 27,1890 at St. Paul, Minnesota, then the site of a flourishing Polish colony. Stationed in that thriving Middle West Metropolis was a distinguished Roman Catholic prelate, Monsignor Dominick Majer, who turned out to be a man of destiny. In the discharge of his priestly duties, he recognized the pressing necessity for the establishment of an organization to hurdle the barrier of language, protect the immigrant from unscrupulous strangers, provide for him adequate life insurance benefits, educate him in the ways of the land of his adoption and preserve both his religious faith, and the culture of his native Poland. At his invitation, 94 residents of St. Paul affiliated with three established groups assembled in St. Adalbert's Church to canvass the situation. Msgr. Majer outlined his program to form a national fraternal organization and it was enthusiastically accepted. With characteristic thoroughness, he had prepared a constitution and it was adopted. It made membership available to Catholics of Polish heritage and stressed loyalty to the United States. The name adopted by the organizers was Unja Polska w Ameryce (Polish Union of America). The first president was Jozef Jarosz. Other officers included: Mikolaj Henryk, vice-president; Autoni Ziwiefka, chairman of the board; Michal Zagorski, general secretary; Adam Kruszewski, vice-secretary; Stanislaw Borzych, treasurer; Andrzej Kmszewski and Ignacy Chrosmiak, auditors. |
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The Polish Union prospered from
the beginning. In 1893, it had 3,000 members on its rolls. With
organizational work in full swing, a decision was reached in 1896 to move
national headquarters closer to the Atlantic coast since St. Paul was on
the perimeter and a central location was desirable if the best interests
of the immigrants were to be served. Buffalo, New York, was the choice and
mere the offices remained until 1906, then moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. An
unfortunate incident occurred at the 8th Convention held in Chicago, in
1908, when delegates decided a corporate split of the fraternal. One half
of the membership voted Buffalo, N.Y., and the other half decided to
remain in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Both fraternals share a mutual history. The
fraternal in Buffalo, adopted the name of Polish Union of America and the
membership in Wilkes-Barre, incorporated as Polish Union of the United
States of North America.
Polish Union from its inception offered low interest mortgages to its members. During the depression years of 1930's, when commercial banks were foreclosing on delinquent mortgages, the Polish Union, in a benevolent act towards its members who were unemployed, unable to meet payments, gave them amnesty. Thus, Polish Union saved hundreds of families in Northeastern Pennsylvania from losing their homes. Since its founding, Polish Union was served by the following publications to disseminate news about the fraternal among its members: Slonce (The Sun), Praca (Work); Tygodnik Polski (Polish Weekly), Gornik (The Miner), Dziennik dla Wszystldch (Everybody's Daily), Nowy Swiat (The New World), and the Polish American Journal. During the two World Wars, Polish Union has answered the call of this nation. The fraternal and its individual members purchased millions of dollars of Liberty bonds and War bonds. A total of 3,345 young men and women, members of the Polish Union, served in the armed forces during World War 2. And, 122 members paid the supreme sacrifice during that war. Prior to and at the end of World War 2, Polish Union has had its turbulent years as did many other similar ethnic fraternals. Adding to the problems was when the Insurance Department of the State of Pennsylvania changed the rate structure of the fraternal's insurance portfolio, and instructed Polish Union to convert thousands of its certificates which forced an increase in premium rates. Many members refused to accept the conversion and the higher premium rates and thus dropped their life insurance certificates. There were other factors that have been attributed to the decline of interest in Polish and other ethnic fraternals among third and fourth generations, including intermarriage, overall decline in birth rates, the immigration restrictions, the inability to speak the Polish language, overall change in society and the assimilation of the Polish American into that society; and most important their diversified needs which were served by other civic, social and veteran organizations much more satisfactorily than by ethnic fraternals. In order to combat the apathy amongst the present generation toward ethnic fraternals, following the 1974 Polish Union Convention in Scranton, Pa., the new administration under the leadership of Henry J. Dende, president, accepted the challenge to revitalize the Polish Union by issuing new programs and projects to attract people of all ages, especially the youth. The life insurance portfolio was modernized. The scholarship aid program was expanded. A Fraternal Activities Coordinator as well as a Membership Coordinator were named. The following activities are offered for members and community enrichment: debutante ball, holiday parties for youngsters, coloring contest with public and private school children participating, self improvement classes (charm and poise), ethnic cooking classes, paper cut-out ( wycinanki) classes, family picnics, egg coloring (pisanki) workshop, flag day ceremonies, bus trips, Christmas ornament classes, polka and country dance classes, preservation of Polish customs, e.g., St. Joseph Day party, Easterfare dinner, Christmas wafer (Oplalek) suppers, etc. Thousands of hours are spent by Groups and members in "voluntarism" - visiting the sick at home and at hospitals, assisting families in need, donating food to the poor, financial donations to numerous needy causes, fighting discrimination, and members are doing their part to help keep our streets free from crime. Healthy, vigorous, seasoned, the Polish Union of U.S.A. looks to the past with pardonable pride and to the future with justifiable confidence, as it enters the second century of its existence. Today the business office is completely computerized, and is on the "direct billing" system. Polish Union is financially strong, possessing a solvency of 161.60%, and it has over $ 19-million of life insurance in force. It has its own official monthly newspaper, the Fraternal Journal, which is distributed to every Polish Union family. The officers and board members see a bright future for the organization, as it vows to attract the present generation into its ranks. History in Glass
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