View source for Poles in Chicago

{{Short description|none}}
{{Ethnic Chicago sidebar}}
[[Image:Gateway Theatre (Chicago).jpg|thumb|The [[Gateway Theatre (Chicago)|Gateway Theatre]] in [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]] is the seat of the [[Copernicus Foundation]]. The theater's [[Baroque]] spire is a replica of the [[Warsaw Royal Castle|Royal Castle]] in [[Warsaw]]]]

Both immigrant [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Polish Americans|Americans of Polish heritage]] live in [[Chicago, Illinois]]. They are a part of worldwide ''[[Polish diaspora|Polonia]]'', the [[Polish language|Polish]] term for the Polish [[Diaspora]] outside of [[Poland]]. '''Poles in Chicago''' have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of [[Chicago]] from its very beginning. [[Polish people|Poles]] have been a part of the [[history of Chicago]] since 1837, when Captain Joseph Napieralski, along with other veterans of the [[November Uprising]] first set foot there.<ref>Lodesky, James D. ''Polish Pioneers in Illinois 1818-1850'', XLibris (2010), p. 79</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}<ref name="parot19">Parot, Joseph J. ''Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850–1920'', [[Northwestern University Press]] (1981), p. 19</ref> As of the [[2000 U.S. census]], Poles in Chicago were the largest [[European American]] ethnic group in the city, making up 7.3% of the total population.<ref>Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850-1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 18</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP2&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on&-geo_id=16000US1714000|title=Chicago city, Illinois - Profile of Selected Social Characteristics: 2000|date=2000-04-01|work=American FactFinder|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=23 January 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212060450/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP2&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on&-geo_id=16000US1714000|archive-date=12 February 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, according to the 2006–2008 [[American Community Survey]], [[German American]]s and [[Irish American]]s each had slightly surpassed Polish Americans as the largest European American ethnic groups in Chicago. German Americans made up 7.3% of the population, and numbered at 199,789; Irish Americans also made up 7.3% of the population, and numbered at 199,294. Polish Americans now made up 6.7% of Chicago's population, and numbered at 182,064.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US1714000&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on |title=American FactFinder - Results |access-date=2010-06-24 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200211183407/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US1714000&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on |archive-date=2020-02-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Polish is the fourth most widely spoken language in Chicago behind English, Spanish, and Mandarin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Language Access |url=https://www.chicago.gov/content/city/en/depts/mayor/supp_info/office-of-new-americans/language-access.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=www.chicago.gov |language=en}}</ref> 

According to Census estimates as of 2023, the Polish ancestry population in the broader [[Chicago metropolitan area]] numbers 721,538, making it the metropolitan region with the highest Polish population in the country, and likely the most Polish metropolitan area in the world outside of Poland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/table?t=Ancestry&g=310XX00US16980 |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Can Chicago Brag about the Size of its Polish Population? |url=https://www.wbez.org/curious-city/2015/10/26/can-chicago-brag-about-the-size-of-its-polish-population#:~:text='%E2%80%9D,relevant%20contest%20between%20metropolitan%20regions. |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=WBEZ |language=en}}</ref> While it is often claimed that Chicago has or had the highest Polish population outside of Warsaw, this is unlikely to ever have been the case, given the population of Łódź and Wrocław has historically outpaced the Polish ancestry population in Chicago.<ref name=":0" />

==History==
A number of Poles contributed to the history of the city together with Captain Napieralski, a veteran of Cross Mountain{{clarify|date=June 2014}} during the [[November Uprising]]. Along with him came other early Polish settlers such as Major Louis Chlopicki, the nephew of General [[Józef Chłopicki]] who had been the leader of the same insurrection. Not to mention certain A. Panakaske (Panakaski) who resided in the second ward in the 1830s as well as J. Zoliski who lived in the sixth ward with records of both men having cast their ballots for [[William B. Ogden]] in the 1837 mayoral race in Chicago.<ref name="parot19"/>

===Distribution===
According to Dominic Pacyga, most of the Poles who first came to Chicago settled in five distinct parts of the city.<ref>Pacyga, Dominic "Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago: Workers on the South Side, 1880–1922" [[University of Chicago Press]], 1991, pp. 41–42</ref> The first of those '''Polish Patches''', as they were colloquially referred to, was located on the [[Neighborhoods of Chicago|Near Northwest Side]]. Centering on the [[Polish Triangle]] at the intersection of [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)|Milwaukee]] and Ashland avenues with Division street it later became known as '''[[Polish Downtown, Chicago|Polish Downtown]]'''. The second large settlement, developed in [[Lower West Side, Chicago|Pilsen]] on the west side near 18th street and Ashland avenue. Poles established two separate enclaves in the [[Union Stockyards|Stock Yard]] district, one in [[Bridgeport, Chicago|Bridgeport]], the other in the [[Back of the Yards]] near 47th street and Ashland avenue. Another Polish neighborhood developed in the area around the massive [[US Steel|Illinois Steel works]] in [[South Chicago]] in the area colloquially referred to as "the Bush".

Polish communities in Chicago were often founded and organized around parishes mostly by [[peasant]] immigrants who named their neighbourhoods after them, like ''Bronislawowo'', named after St. Bronislava.'''*''' Sometimes the neighbourhoods are contiguous so its difficult to say precisely where one ends and one begins, as in the case of 'Stanislawowo' by the church of [[St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (Chicago, Illinois)|St. Stanislaus Kostka]] and 'Trojcowo' by [[Holy Trinity Polish Mission]] in the former area of [[Polish Downtown]].

===Initial historical Polish patches===
[[Image:Stjohncantius.JPG|thumb|right|[[St. John Cantius in Chicago|St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church]], one of Chicago's '[[Polish Cathedral]]s'. ]]
In [[Polish Language|Polish]] the ending 'owo' in e.g., Bronislawowo functions similar to [[English language|English]] 'ville' in Johnsville or 'ton' in Charleston. When added to a name of a saint, it indicates a Polish sounding town or a village. This is a colloquial phenomenon, not present in educated Polish; however, it persists in the names of different Polish areas of Chicago.

'''[[Polish Downtown]]'''- ''([[Pulaski Park, Chicago|Pulaski Park]], [[River West, Chicago|River West]], [[Bucktown, Chicago|Bucktown]], [[Wicker Park, Chicago|Wicker Park]], [[East Village, Chicago|East Village]], and [[Noble Square, Chicago|Noble Square]])''

*Trojcowo – The area around [[Holy Trinity Polish Mission]]
*Stanislawowo – The area around [[St. Stanislaus Kostka in Chicago]]
*Kantowo – The area around [[St. John Cantius in Chicago]]
*Mlodziankowo – The area around [[Holy Innocents in Chicago]]
*Fidelisowo – The area around St. Fidelis
*Helenowo – The area around St. Helen
*Marianowo – The area around [[St. Mary of the Angels in Chicago]]
*Jadwigowo – The area around [[St. Hedwig's in Chicago]]

'''[[Lower West Side, Chicago|Lower West Side]]'''
*Wojciechowo – The area around [[St. Adalbert's in Chicago]]
*Annowo – The area around St. Anns in Chicago
*Romanowo – The area around St. Roman's
*Kazimierzowo – The area around the former St. Casimir's

'''[[Bridgeport, Chicago|Bridgeport]]'''
*NMP Nieustajacej Pomocy – The area around [[St. Mary of Perpetual Help]]
*Barbarowo – The area around [[St. Barbara in Chicago]]

'''[[Back of the Yards]]'''
*Jozefowo – The area around [[St. Joseph's in Chicago]]
*Janowo – The area around St. John of God
*Sercanowo – The area around Sacred Heart

'''[[South Chicago]]'''
*Niepokolanowo – The area around [[Immaculate Conception in Chicago]]
*Michalowo – The area around [[Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church (Chicago)|St. Michael's in Chicago]]
*Magdalenowo – The area around St. Mary Magdalene
*Bronislawowo – The area around St. Bronislava

===Subsequent historical Polish patches===
Later as Poles grew in number and advanced economically, they migrated further out into outlying areas.<ref name="parot75">Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850–1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 75</ref> The result was that the [[West Town, Chicago|West Town]]/[[Logan Square, Chicago|Logan Square]] settlement in [[Polish Downtown, Chicago|Polish Downtown]] spread westward along North Avenue and northwestward along [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)|Milwaukee]] thereby creating a "Polish Corridor" which tied in contiguous areas such as [[Norwood Park, Chicago|Norwood Park]], [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]], [[Portage Park, Chicago|Portage Park]], and [[Belmont Cragin, Chicago|Belmont-Cragin]].<ref name="parot75" /> The same kind of advance occurred in the other original areas of Polish settlements so that [[Polish people|Poles]] from both the [[Lower West Side, Chicago|Lower West Side]] and the [[Back of the Yards]] moved into both sides of [[Archer Avenue (Chicago)|Archer Avenue]], giving rise to sizable Polish settlements on the [[Southwest Side, Chicago|Southwest Side]] of the city such as [[McKinley Park, Chicago|McKinley Park]], [[Garfield Ridge, Chicago|Garfield Ridge]], [[Brighton Park, Chicago|Brighton Park]] and [[Archer Heights, Chicago|Archer Heights]].<ref name="parot75" /> On the far [[Southeast Side, Chicago|Southeast Side]], the [[South Chicago]] "steel mill settlements" spilled over into [[Pullman, Chicago|Pullman]], [[Roseland, Chicago|Roseland]], [[East Side, Chicago|East Side]], [[Hegewisch, Chicago|Hegewisch]] and [[Calumet City, Illinois|Calumet City]] as well as into [[Lake County, Indiana|Lake County]] in [[Northwest Indiana]], where thriving Polish communities were found in [[Hammond, Indiana|North Hammond]], [[Whiting, Indiana|Whiting]], the Indian Harbor section of [[East Chicago, Indiana|East Chicago]] and several neighborhoods in the newly built industrial city of [[Gary, Indiana|Gary]].<ref name="parot75" />

====North Side of Chicago====
[[Image:Polish Village.jpg|thumb|A Polish store along [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)|Milwaukee Avenue]] in [[Chicago's Polish Village]].]]
'''[[Lincoln Park, Chicago|Lincoln Park]]'''
*Jozafatowo or Kaszubowo – The area around the parish of [[St. Josaphat's in Chicago]] which was initially heavily [[Kashubians|Cassubian]]

'''[[Lincoln Square, Chicago|Lincoln Square]]'''
*U Przemienienia – The area around the parish of Transfiguration

'''[[Avondale, Chicago|Avondale]]'''
''[[Chicago's Polish Village]]'':
*[[Avondale, Chicago#Jackowo|Jackowo]] – The area around [[St. Hyacinth Basilica]]
*[[Avondale, Chicago#Wacławowo|Waclawowo]] – The area around [[St. Wenceslaus]]

'''[[Irving Park, Chicago|Irving Park]]'''
*[[Villa District|Polskie Wille]] - The [[List of Chicago Landmarks|landmark]] [[Villa District]], historically known as the ''"Polish [[Kenilworth, Illinois|Kenilworth]]"''
*Niepokalanowo/ Małe Kaszuby – The area around Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as ''[[Irving Park, Chicago#Little Cassubia|Little Cassubia]]''

'''[[Portage Park, Chicago|Portage Park]]'''
*Władysławowo – The area around the parish of [[St. Ladislaus in Chicago]]

'''[[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]]'''
*Konstancowo – The area around the parish of St. Constance

'''[[Norwood Park, Chicago|Norwood Park]]'''
*Teklowo – The area around the parish of St. Thecla

'''[[Belmont Cragin]]'''
*Jakubowo – The area around St. James
*U Biskupa/ Biskupowo (Stanislawowo) – The area around the parish of [[St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr]]

'''[[Humboldt Park, Chicago|Humboldt Park]]'''
*Franciszkowo – The area around the parish of St. Francis of Assisi

====South Side of Chicago====
'''[[McKinley Park, Chicago|McKinley Park]]'''
*Piotropawlowo – The area around the parish of Ss Peter and Paul

'''[[Archer Heights, Chicago|Archer Heights]]'''
*Brunowo – The area around the parish St. Bruno

'''[[Garfield Ridge, Chicago|Garfield Ridge]]'''
*Kamilowo – The area around the parish of St. Camillus by [[Midway Airport]]

'''[[Brighton Park, Chicago|Brighton Park]]'''
*U Pieciu Braci – The area around Five Holy Martyrs
*Pankracowo – The area around the parish of St. Pancratius

'''[[South Lawndale, Chicago|South Lawndale]]'''
*U Dobrego Pasterza/ Pasterzowo – The area around the parish of Good Shepherd

'''[[West Elsdon, Chicago|West Elsdon]]'''
*Turibiuszowo – The area around the parish of St. Turibius

'''[[Roseland, Chicago|Roseland]]'''
*Salomejowo – The area around the parish of St. Salomea

'''[[Hegewisch, Chicago|Hegewisch]]'''
*Florianowo – The area around the parish of St. Florian

Over the course of the city's development as the city's Polish community climbed further up the economic ladder and were followed by new waves of immigrants the concentration of Poles shifted to different areas of the city.

==Religion==
[[File:Holy Trinity Polish Mission facade 090321.jpg|thumb|right|[[Holy Trinity Church (Chicago, Illinois)|Holy Trinity Polish Mission]].]]
As in Poland, the overwhelming majority of [[Polish people|Polish]] immigrants who settled in Chicago were culturally very devout [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholics]].  Though almost all of the [[Polish Americans]] remained loyal to the Catholic Church after immigrating, a [[Polish National Catholic Church|breakaway Catholic church]] was founded in 1897 in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]. Polish parishioners founded the church to assert independence from the Catholic Church in America. The split was in rebellion from the church leadership, then dominated by Irish  and German clergy, and lacking in Polish speakers and Polish church leaders. The [[Bucktown, Chicago|Bucktown]] campus of the former [[All Saints Cathedral, Chicago|Cathedral of All Saints]] still stands as a testament to this community of faith.  The current [[Cathedral]] and Cemetery complex on the city's periphery by [[Rosemont, Illinois|Rosemont]] remains active and is still independent from the authority of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

Poland is also home to followers of [[Protestantism]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. Small groups of both of these groups are present Chicago. One of the most celebrated painters of religious icons in North America today is a Polish American Eastern Orthodox priest, Fr. [[Theodore Jurewicz]], who singlehandedly painted [[New Gračanica Monastery]] in [[Third Lake, Illinois]], over the span of three years.<ref>[http://www.newgracanica.com/monastery.htm Serbian Monastery of New Gracanica – History<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221012143/http://www.newgracanica.com/monastery.htm |date=2009-02-21 }}</ref>

While large numbers of [[Jews]] from the former lands of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] immigrated to the [[Chicago area]], they faced a historical trajectory far different from that of their Christian counterparts.  In the process of [[Americanization]], many [[Jews in Poland|Polish Jews]] in Chicago would lose their identification with Poland, with notable exceptions. There have also been small numbers of [[Islam in Poland|Muslims]], mostly [[Lipka Tatars]] originating from the [[Białystok]] region.

==The Polish presence in Chicago today==
[[Image:20070822 Polish Museum.JPG|thumb|The [[Polish Museum of America]]. ]]

===Institutions===
Chicago bills itself as the largest Polish city outside of Poland with approximately 800,000 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/detailed-race-ethnicities-2020-census.html | title=Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census }}</ref> people of Polish ancestry in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]]. Chicago's Polish presence is felt in the large number of [[Polish American]] organizations located there, including the [[Polish Museum of America]], the [[Polish American Association]], the [[Polish National Alliance]] and the [[Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America]]. A column fragment of [[Wawel Castle]], the onetime seat of [[Kings of Poland|Poland's royalty]], has been incorporated into [[Chicago]]'s [[Chicago Landmark|landmark]] [[Tribune Tower]] as a visual tribute to Chicago's large Polish populace.

===Culture===
[[File:19990213 53 along Milwaukee Ave. (6652822343).jpg|thumb|right|'Polish singing bar' on Milwaukee Avenue, circa 1999]]
Chicago also has a thriving Polish cultural scene. The [[Polish Arts Club of Chicago]] was founded in 1926. The city hosts the Polish Film Festival of America where various [[Polish film]]s are screened during the weeklong festival every October. Polish stage productions in both [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[English language|English]] are regularly staged at numerous venues throughout the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]]. The most prominent venues among these are the [[Chopin Theatre|Chopin]] and [[Gateway Theatre (Chicago)|Gateway Theatres]]. The [[Gateway Theatre (Chicago)|Gateway]], which is also the seat of the [[Polish Cultural Center in Chicago]] is the home of the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra. The Lira Ensemble, the only professional performing arts company outside of Poland that specializes in Polish music, song, and dance is Artist-in-Residence at Loyola University Chicago. Chicago is also host to several [[Polish folk dances]] ensembles that teach traditions to Polish-American children.

Chicago celebrates its Polish Heritage every [[Labor Day]] weekend at the [[Taste of Polonia]] Festival in [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]], attended by such political notables as President [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Dick Cheney]], [[Newt Gingrich]], [[Hadassah Lieberman]], Congresswoman [[Melissa Bean]], and [[Tipper Gore]].<ref>[http://www.usaweekend.com/05_issues/050515/050515travel_diverse.html#chicago America the diverse - Chicago’s Polish neighborhoods (5/15/2005)]''USA Weekend Magazine''.</ref> Illinois, due to the influence of this large population, is also one of the few states that celebrates [[Casimir Pulaski Day]]. Some schools and government services in the metro area are closed for the holiday.

''[[The Almanac of American Politics]] 2004'' states that "Even today, in [[Archer Heights, Chicago|Archer Heights]]'' [a neighborhood of Chicago], ''you can scarcely go a block without hearing someone speaking Polish". This may be anachronistic because, although once true, today the Archer Heights neighborhood is predominately Mexican-American and Mexican, with many of the Polish former residents having died or moved to the suburbs.  This is reflected in many of the businesses which served the Polish community having been replaced with businesses which serve the Mexican community.  Polish-language business signs, once ubiquitous in Archer Heights, are now quite rare, while Spanish-language signs are seen on many businesses in the area.

Much of 1950s Chicago Polish youth culture was captured in the 1972 musical ''[[Grease (musical)|Grease]]'', in which the majority of characters had Polish surnames (Zuko, Dumbrowski, Kenickie); [[Jim Jacobs]], who conceived ''Grease'', based the musical on his real-life experiences in a Chicago high school. Much of the Polish-American nature of the musical was discarded when ''Grease'' was made into a [[Grease (film)|feature film]] in 1978, casting non-Polish actors in the lead roles, and subsequent productions have also followed the film's lead in toning down the Chicago Polish influences.

==Ponglish==
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2018}}
Some  of Chicago ''[[Polish diaspora|Polonia]]'' (the Polish term for members of the [[expatriate]] Polish community) speak the American sub dialect of [[Ponglish]] (usually referred to as Chicagowski by local Poles) a fusion of the [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[English language|English]] languages. Ponglish is a common (to greater or lesser degree, almost unavoidable) phenomenon among persons [[bilingual]] in Polish and English, and its avoidance requires considerable effort and attention. Ponglish is a manifestation of a broader phenomenon, that of [[Language transfer#Examples|language interference]].

==Notable persons==
{{expand section|date=May 2015}}

===Actors, singers, and directors===
* [[Stanley Andrews]], born Stanley Andrzejewski, an American actor who played the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''[[Little Orphan Annie]]''
* [[Carlos Bernard]], born Carlos Bernard Papierski, an American actor and director, best known for his role as [[Tony Almeida]] in ''[[24 (television show)|24]]''
* [[Casey Siemaszko|Casey]] and [[Nina Siemaszko]] – American actors
* [[Danny Pudi]], an American actor best known for his role as [[Abed Nadir]] in ''[[Community (TV series)|Community]]'', born in Chicago to a Polish mother and an Indian father

===Writers and authors===
* [[Stuart Dybek]] – writer of fiction and poetry
* [[John Guzlowski]] – author

===Businessmen and entrepreneurs===
* [[John S. Flizikowski]] – architect of residential, church, and commercial buildings during the late 19th and early 20th centuries
* [[Paul Bragiel]] – [[Silicon Valley]] entrepreneur & venture capitalist, [[Colombia]] national team cross country skier

===Musicians and composers===
* [[Jack Benny]], born Benjamin Kubelsky, American comedian, vaudevillian, radio, television and film actor, and violinist
* [[Walter Jagiello]] - polka musician known as L'il Wally who was one of the first two inductees into the [[International Polka Association]] Polka Hall of Fame. 
* [[Feliks Konarski]] – [[poet]], [[songwriter]], and [[cabaret]] performer
* [[Krzysztof Klenczon]] – singer and songwriter and member of the group [[Czerwone Gitary]]
* [[Ray Manzarek]] – keyboardist of [[The Doors]]
* [[Artur Rodziński]] [[conducting|conductor]] of opera and symphonic music
*[[Flora Zygman]] – pianist, music educator

===Clergy===
* [[Vincent Barzynski]] – [[Roman Catholic]] priest and organizer

===Painters, sculptors, and artists===
* [[Jerzy Kenar]] – sculptor 
* [[Richard Nickel]] – [[architectural photographer]] and [[historical preservationist]]
* [[Ed Paschke]] – [[Painting|painter]]
* [[Mary Stanisia]] – American [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] artist and painter
* [[John J. Szaton]] – sculptor
* [[Stanisław Szukalski]] – [[painting|painter]] and [[sculptor]]
* Katarzyna Mecinski (also known as ''Fifty na Pol'') - [[YouTube]] vlogger

===Government officials and politicians===
* [[Ben Adamowski]]—politician, [[Cook County, Illinois]] state's attorney, switched from Democrat to Republican and gave [[Richard J. Daley]] his closest race for mayor
* [[Andrzej Czuma]] – politician, lawyer and historian, an activist of the Polish anti-Communist opposition in the [[People's Republic of Poland|Polish People's Republic]]
* [[Peter Kiołbassa]] (1837–1905) Democratic politician in the [[City of Chicago]] who helped organize St. Stanislaus Kostka parish
* [[John Kluczynski]] – [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] representing [[Illinois's 5th congressional district]]
* [[Robert Martwick]] – [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] member of the [[Illinois House of Representatives]]
* [[Roman Conrad Pucinski]] – [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] Politician and [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]]
* [[Daniel David "Dan" Rostenkowski]] – [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] and Chairman of the [[U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]]
* [[John Francis Smulski]] American politician and businessman.

===Scholars===
* [[Oskar Lange]] – [[economist]] and [[diplomat]]
* [[Marta Ptaszynska]] – [[University of Chicago]] professor

===Sports===
* [[Krzysztof Hausner]] – football right-wing forward, most notable for his performances for [[KS Cracovia (football)|Cracovia Krakow]]
* [[Mike Krzyzewski]] – Basketball coach
* [[Al Piechota]] – [[Professional baseball]] player whose career spanned 15 seasons
* [[Moose Skowron]] - [[Professional baseball]] player, eight-time All Star

===Criminals===
* [[Ted Kaczynski]] – [[Evergreen Park, Illinois|Evergreen Park]] math professor and terrorist
* [[Tillie Klimek]] –  [[serial killer]]
* Steven Kazmierczak – [[Northern Illinois University shooting]] of February 14, 2008
* [[John Wayne Gacy]] – [[serial killer]]
* [[Wanda Stopa]] – murderer and lawyer

==See also==
{{Portal|Chicago|Poland}}
* [[Diaspora politics in the United States]]
* [[Felician Sisters]]
* [[Polish Cathedral style]] churches
* [[Polish Constitution Day Parade]]
* [[Polish Falcons]]
* [[Polish Roman Catholic Union of America]]
* [[Resurrectionist Congregation]]
*''[[Fourth Partition (film)|Fourth Partition]]'', a 2013 documentary film

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Erdmans, Mary Patrice. ''Opposite Poles: Immigrants and Ethnics in Polish Chicago, 1976-1990''. [[Penn State University Press]], 1998.
* {{cite book |last=Pacyga |first=Dominic A. |date=2019 |title=American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226406619 }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Polish diaspora in Chicago}}
* [http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,8&vid=060109e Former President of Poland Lech Walesa speaking on the role of Poles in Chicago in the end of communism in Poland]
* [http://polsort.com/?ln=en Polish Localizer] Polsort – Polish Businesses and Organizations in Chicago
* Current Polish patches: [http://polsort.com/search.php?cmd=search&ln=en&words=church&zipCode=60634&city=Chicago&state=IL&distance=all&results=20&ln=en Polish Masses in Chicago Area] provided by Polsort

{{Chicago}}
{{Ethnicity in Chicago, Illinois}}
{{Polish Americans by location}}

[[Category:Polish-American culture in Chicago| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Chicago]]
[[Category:History of Chicago]]
[[Category:Polish communities in the United States]]