Kashubian Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

of Kashubian descent.

History

The two earliest Kashubian American settlements in the United States were centered around

Winona, Minnesota Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the state of Minnesota. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf. The city is named after legendary figure Winona, who ...

, and

Portage County, Wisconsin Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of th2020 census the population was 70,377. Its county seat is Stevens Point. Portage County comprises the Stevens Point, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the ...

. The Winona settlement included the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

town of Pine Creek and the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

towns of

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

, Fountain City, and Trempealeau. The Portage County settlement included the Wisconsin towns of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, Polonia, and

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

. The Winona settlement is traditionally dated to 1855, but actually began in 1859. The Portage County settlement can be definitively traced back to 1858. Winona is dubbed the "Kashubian Capital of America" because of the large population of Kashubians there. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and the German

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

from 1848-1884, Kashubians emigrated to the United States in three waves through the Kashubian region. While some headed for the Winona area and for Portage County, many Kashubians wound up living in major urban centers such as Buffalo,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. A smaller number of Kashubians settled in small farming communities scattered throughout

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

.Szulist, ''Kaszubi w Ameryce: szkice i materiały.'' By the turn of the century, Kashubian Americans tended to identify themselves completely as

Polish Americans Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

, although in Winona at least the

Kashubian language Kashubian or Cassubian (Kashubian: ', pl, język kaszubski) is a West Slavic language belonging to the Lechitic subgroup along with Polish and Silesian.Stephen Barbour, Cathie Carmichael, ''Language and Nationalism in Europe'', Oxford Univers ...

would survive for another generation or two.

Notable people

* Paul Breza *

Jan Romuald Byzewski Jan Romuald Byzewski, better known in America as Father Romuald Byzewski, was born in the Kaszubian village of Karwia, in the Prussian jurisdiction of Danzig (Gdansk), on Oct. 10, 1842. Biography After graduating from secondary school in Wejherow ...

Jozef Cieminski Józef Franciszek Darzyn Ciemiński ( Borzyszkowy, 4 August 1867- Winona, 1959) was a Polish-born Roman Catholic priest. He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1881 and was ordained as a Priest in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1895. He w ...

Hieronim Derdowski Hieronim Derdowski (March 9, 1852, Wiele, Pomeranian Voivodeship, German Empire – August 13, 1902, Winona, Minnesota, America) ( Kashubian ''Hieronim Derdowsczi'' or ''Jarosz Derdowsczi''), Kashubian-Polish intellectual and activist, was bor ...

* Antoni Klawiter * Jakub W.J. Pacholski *

Anne Pellowski Anna Rose Pellowski, Polish American educator and author, was born June 28, 1933, on the family farm in the Trempealeau County town of Arcadia, Wisconsin, daughter of Alexander and Anna (Dorawa) Pellowski, both of whom were descended from Kashubian ...

Paul Peter Rhode Paul Peter Rhode ( csb, Paweł Pioter Rhode; September 18, 1871 – March 3, 1945) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1915 until his death in 1945. Rhode wa ...

References

{{ethnic groups in the United States Polish American

History

Notable people

See also

Further reading

References