Polonia Triangle ( pl, Trójkąt Polonijny), also known as the Polish Triangle, is located in
West Town, in what had been the historical
Polish Downtown
Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well. Centered on Polonia Tr ...
area of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl about nine feet in diameter is installed at its center. Polonia Triangle derives its name from the
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
word ''Polonia'', which means '
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
diaspora'. Polonia Triangle was considered to be the center or town square of Chicago's
Polish Downtown
Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well. Centered on Polonia Tr ...
, the city's oldest and most prominent
Polish settlement. In many ways it functioned as the capital of the
American Polonia
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 ...
with the headquarters for almost every major Polish organization in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
clustered within its vicinity.
It is bound by
Division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
, Ashland and
Milwaukee Avenue.
Organisations located within its vicinity include the
Polish National Alliance
The Polish National Alliance ( pol. ''Związek Narodowy Polski'', PNA) is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States. The original goal was to mobilize support among Polish Americans for the liberati ...
to the
Polish Daily News. Polonia Triangle is one of 11 neighborhoods included in ''The Labor Trail'' which chronicles Chicago's history of
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
life and struggle. The site is still home to the
Chopin Theatre and is used for processions during
Corpus Christi by parishioners of two of Chicago's
Polish Cathedrals:
St. Stanislaus Kostka and
Holy Trinity Polish Mission
Holy Trinity Church ( pl, Kościół Trójcy Świętej) is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located at 1118 North Noble Street. It is a prime example of the so-called ' Polish Cathedral style' of churches, in both i ...
.
The
Blue Line's
Division/Milwaukee station is also located at the Polonia Triangle.
Controversies
There have been two major controversies relating to Polonia Triangle.
The first dealt with renaming the plaza after writer
Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name.
Algren articulated ...
(1909–1981), whose controversial 1940s novels prominently displayed the
Polish American
Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83 ...
underclass and was taken by
Chicago's Polish community as
Anti-Polonism. A compromise was reached in 1998, where the Triangle kept its name and a newly installed fountain was named after Algren and inscribed with a quote from his 1951 essay ''
Chicago: City on the Make'' around the fountain's base: "For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart".
The second more recent one has been a push by a number of area residents led by Zygmunt Dyrkacz, head of the
Chopin Theatre, to artistically redevelop the Triangle as "the gateway to
Wicker Park".
Redevelopment
Although Polonia Triangle has deteriorated from its heady days as the center of
Polish Downtown
Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well. Centered on Polonia Tr ...
, the entire
West Town area has undergone a renaissance as gentrification has transformed the area. The old "
Polish Broadway" along
Division Street is becoming an increasingly thriving business district, full of nightclubs, restaurants and cafes. These changes have accelerated calls to improve what had become a long neglected area, most recently publicized in the ''
Chicago Reader's'' in depth report titled ''"Wicker Park's Dirty Doorstep: Round two of the battle over the glorified bus stop known as the Polish Triangle"''.
Additionally, the Metropolitan Planning Council along with the Placemaking Movement and WPB (Wicker Park/Bucktown) have jointly undertaken an initiative to redevelop and renovate Polonia Triangle.
References
External links
The Metropolitan Planning Council and the Placemaking Movement's joint initiative to redevelop and renovate Polonia Triangle
{{Coord, 41.903579, -87.667176, format=dms, region:US-IL_type:landmark, display=title
Polish-American culture in Chicago
West Side, Chicago
History of Chicago
Polish communities in the United States