Both immigrant

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and Americans of Polish heritage live in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. They are a part of worldwide '' Polonia'', the Polish term for the Polish

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

outside of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

from its very beginning.

have been a part of the

history of Chicago Chicago has played a central role in American Economy of the United States, economic, Culture of the United States, cultural and Politics of the United States, political history. Since the 1850s Chicago has been one of the dominant metropoli ...

since 1837, when Captain Joseph Napieralski, along with other veterans of the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

first set foot there.Parot, Joseph J. ''Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850–1920'',

Northwestern University Press Northwestern University Press is an American publishing house affiliated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It publishes 70 new titles each year in the areas of continental philosophy, poetry, Slavic and German literary criticis ...

(1981), p. 19 As of the 2000 U.S. census, Poles in Chicago were the largest

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

ethnic group in the city, making up 7.3% of the total population. However, according to the 2006–2008

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

s and

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

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. Polish is the fourth most widely spoken language in Chicago behind English, Spanish, and Mandarin. According to Census estimates as of 2023, the Polish ancestry population in the broader

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

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. 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.

History

A number of Poles contributed to the history of the city together with Captain Napieralski, a veteran of Cross Mountain during the

. Along with him came other early Polish settlers such as Major Louis Chlopicki, the nephew of General

Józef Chłopicki Józef Grzegorz Chłopicki (; 14 March 1771 – 30 September 1854) was a Polish general who was involved in fighting in Europe at the time of Napoleon and later. He was born in Kapustynie in Volhynia and was educated at the school of the Basilia ...

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 William Butler Ogden (June 15, 1805 – August 3, 1877) was an American politician and railroad executive who served as the first Mayor of Chicago. He was referred to as "the Astor of Chicago." He was, at one time, the city's richest citizen ...

in the 1837 mayoral race in Chicago.

Distribution

According to Dominic Pacyga, most of the Poles who first came to Chicago settled in five distinct parts of the city. The first of those Polish Patches, as they were colloquially referred to, was located on the Near Northwest Side. Centering on the

Polish Triangle Polonia Triangle (), or the Polish Triangle, is a plaza located in West Town, Chicago, West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown (Chicago), Polish Downtown area of Chicago. A single-tiered fountain made of black iron with a bowl ...

at the intersection of

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and Ashland avenues with Division street it later became known as

Polish Downtown Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of Poles in Chicago and of other Polish Americans throughout North America. Centered on Polonia Triangle ...

. The second large settlement, developed in Pilsen on the west side near 18th street and Ashland avenue. Poles established two separate enclaves in the Stock Yard district, one in

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

, the other in the

Back of the Yards The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

near 47th street and Ashland avenue. Another Polish neighborhood developed in the area around the massive Illinois Steel works in

South Chicago South Chicago, formerly known as Ainsworth, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. This chevron-shaped community is one of Chicago's 16 lakefront neighborhoods near the southern rim of Lake Michigan 10 miles south of downtow ...

in the area colloquially referred to as "the Bush". Polish communities in Chicago were often founded and organized around parishes mostly by

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

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 and 'Trojcowo' by

Holy Trinity Polish Mission Holy Trinity Church () is a historic Catholic Church, Catholic church of the 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 its opulence and grand sc ...

in the former area of

Initial historical Polish patches

In Polish the ending 'owo' in e.g., Bronislawowo functions similar to 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.

- ''( Pulaski Park, River West, Bucktown, Wicker Park, East Village, and Noble Square)'' *Trojcowo – The area around

*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 *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

*NMP Nieustajacej Pomocy – The area around St. Mary of Perpetual Help *Barbarowo – The area around St. Barbara in Chicago

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

*Niepokolanowo – The area around Immaculate Conception in Chicago *Michalowo – The area around 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.Parot, Joseph, J. "Polish Catholics in Chicago, 1850–1920, Northwestern University Press (1981), p. 75 The result was that the West Town/ Logan Square settlement in

spread westward along North Avenue and northwestward along

thereby creating a "Polish Corridor" which tied in contiguous areas such as Norwood Park, Jefferson Park, Portage Park, and Belmont-Cragin. The same kind of advance occurred in the other original areas of Polish settlements so that

from both the Lower West Side and the

moved into both sides of Archer Avenue, giving rise to sizable Polish settlements on the Southwest Side of the city such as McKinley Park, Garfield Ridge, Brighton Park and Archer Heights. On the far Southeast Side, the

"steel mill settlements" spilled over into Pullman, Roseland, East Side, Hegewisch and

Calumet City Calumet City ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 36,033 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Calumet City (commonly referred to locally as "Cal City") was founded in 1893 ...

as well as into Lake County in

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed "The Region" after the Calumet Region, is an unofficial region of Northern Indiana, northern Indiana, United States that is located at the northwestern corner of the state. Though there is no official definition of th ...

, where thriving Polish communities were found in North Hammond, Whiting, the Indian Harbor section of East Chicago and several neighborhoods in the newly built industrial city of Gary.

North Side of Chicago

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

*Jozafatowo or Kaszubowo – The area around the parish of St. Josaphat's in Chicago which was initially heavily Cassubian Lincoln Square *U Przemienienia – The area around the parish of Transfiguration Avondale '' Chicago's Polish Village'': * Jackowo – The area around St. Hyacinth Basilica * Waclawowo – The area around St. Wenceslaus Irving Park * Polskie Wille - The

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

Villa District, historically known as the ''"Polish

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

"'' *Niepokalanowo/ Małe Kaszuby – The area around Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as '' Little Cassubia'' Portage Park *Władysławowo – The area around the parish of St. Ladislaus in Chicago Jefferson Park *Konstancowo – The area around the parish of St. Constance 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 *Franciszkowo – The area around the parish of St. Francis of Assisi

South Side of Chicago

McKinley Park *Piotropawlowo – The area around the parish of Ss Peter and Paul Archer Heights *Brunowo – The area around the parish St. Bruno Garfield Ridge *Kamilowo – The area around the parish of St. Camillus by

Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Chicago Loop, Loop business district, and divided between the city's C ...

Brighton Park *U Pieciu Braci – The area around Five Holy Martyrs *Pankracowo – The area around the parish of St. Pancratius South Lawndale *U Dobrego Pasterza/ Pasterzowo – The area around the parish of Good Shepherd West Elsdon *Turibiuszowo – The area around the parish of St. Turibius Roseland *Salomejowo – The area around the parish of St. Salomea 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

Holy Trinity Polish Mission facade 090321

As in Poland, the overwhelming majority of Polish immigrants who settled in Chicago were culturally very devout

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Though almost all of the

Polish Americans Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

remained loyal to the Catholic Church after immigrating, a breakaway Catholic church was founded in 1897 in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

. 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 campus of the former Cathedral of All Saints still stands as a testament to this community of faith. The current

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

and Cemetery complex on the city's periphery by Rosemont remains active and is still independent from the authority of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Poland is also home to followers of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. 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 New Gračanica Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox monastery complex is located in Third Lake, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. The complex houses a scaled-up replica of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo. It is a part of the Diocese ...

Third Lake, Illinois Third Lake is a village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,111. History The Alexander Druce Family were the earliest residents of the settlement in ...

, over the span of three years. While large numbers of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from the former lands of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

immigrated to the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

, they faced a historical trajectory far different from that of their Christian counterparts. In the process of

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

, many

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

in Chicago would lose their identification with Poland, with notable exceptions. There have also been small numbers of

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, mostly

Lipka Tatars The Lipka Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group and minority in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century. The first Tatar settlers tried to preserve their Pagan tradi ...

originating from the

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

region.

The Polish presence in Chicago today

Institutions

Chicago bills itself as the largest Polish city outside of Poland with approximately 800,000 people of Polish ancestry in the

. Chicago's Polish presence is felt in the large number of

Polish American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

organizations located there, including the

Polish Museum of America The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to numerous Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes in its growing collection. Founded in ...

, the Polish American Association, the Polish National Alliance and the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America. A column fragment of

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

, the onetime seat of Poland's royalty, has been incorporated into

Tribune Tower The Tribune Tower is a , 36-floor Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic skyscraper located at 435 Magnificent Mile, North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The early 1920s international design competition for the tower bec ...

as a visual tribute to Chicago's large Polish populace.

Culture

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 The history of cinema in Poland is almost as long as the history of cinematography, and it has universally recognized achievements, even though Polish films tend to be less commercially available than films from several other European nations. A ...

s are screened during the weeklong festival every October. Polish stage productions in both Polish and English are regularly staged at numerous venues throughout the

Chicago Metropolitan Area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. The most prominent venues among these are the Chopin and Gateway Theatres. The 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 Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

weekend at the

Taste of Polonia The Taste of Polonia is a Chicago festival held at the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States every Labor Day weekend since 1980. It is the Copernicus Founda ...

Festival in Jefferson Park, attended by such political notables as President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

Hadassah Lieberman Hadassah Lieberman ( Freilich; born March 28, 1948) is the widow of former United States Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Life and work Hadassah Freilich Lieberman was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (a past report erroneously stated she w ...

, Congresswoman

Melissa Bean Melissa Bean (née Luburich; born January 22, 1962) is an Americans, American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2011. Bean is a member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

, and

Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from who ...

.America the diverse - Chicago’s Polish neighborhoods (5/15/2005)
'USA Weekend Magazine''. 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 ''The Almanac of American Politics'' is a reference work published biennially by Columbia Books & Information Services. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States through an approach of profiling individual leaders a ...

2004'' states that "Even today, in Archer Heights'' 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'', in which the majority of characters had Polish surnames (Zuko, Dumbrowski, Kenickie);

Jim Jacobs Jim Jacobs (born October 7, 1942) is an American actor, composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre, long associated with the Chicago theater scene. Jacobs is best known for creating the book, storyline, characters, and lyrics for the 1971 m ...

, 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

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

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

Some of Chicago '' Polonia'' (the Polish term for members of the

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

Polish community) speak the American sub dialect of Ponglish (usually referred to as Chicagowski by local Poles) a fusion of the Polish and English languages. Ponglish is a common (to greater or lesser degree, almost unavoidable) phenomenon among persons

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

in Polish and English, and its avoidance requires considerable effort and attention. Ponglish is a manifestation of a broader phenomenon, that of language interference.

Notable persons

Actors, singers, and directors

Stanley Andrews Stanley Martin Andrews (born Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first host of ...

, born Stanley Andrzejewski, an American actor who played the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and print syndication#Comic strip syndication, syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James ...

'' * Carlos Bernard, born Carlos Bernard Papierski, an American actor and director, best known for his role as

Tony Almeida Anthony "Tony" Almeida is a fictional character portrayed by Carlos Bernard on the television series '' 24''. Almeida appeared in a total of 126 episodes (including '' 24: Legacy''), the second highest number of episodes of any character in the ...

in '' 24'' * Casey and Nina Siemaszko – American actors *

Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supp ...

, an American actor best known for his role as Abed Nadir in ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

'', born in Chicago to a Polish mother and an Indian father

Writers and authors

* Stuart Dybek – writer of fiction and poetry *

John Guzlowski John Guzlowski (born 1948) is a Polish-American author. Personal life John Guzlowski was born the son of parents who met in a Nazi concentration camps, Nazi slave labor camp in Nazi Germany, Germany. His mother Tekla Hanczarek came from a small ...

– 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 Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

entrepreneur & venture capitalist,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

national team cross country skier

Musicians and composers

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

, 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 A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

performer * Krzysztof Klenczon – singer and songwriter and member of the group Czerwone Gitary *

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. ( Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the rock band the Doors, co-founding the group in 1965 with fellow UCLA School of Theater, Film and Te ...

– keyboardist of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

of opera and symphonic music * Flora Zygman – pianist, music educator

Clergy

* Vincent Barzynski –

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and organizer

Painters, sculptors, and artists

* Jerzy Kenar – sculptor * Richard Nickel –

architectural photographer Early architectural photographers include Roger Fenton, Francis Frith (Middle East and Britain), Samuel Bourne, Inclined Studio (India) and Albert Levy (photographer), Albert Levy (United States and Europe). They paved the way for the modern specia ...

and historical preservationist *

Ed Paschke Edward Francis Paschke (June 22, 1939 – November 25, 2004) was an American painter. His childhood interest in animation and cartoons, as well as his father's creativity in wood carving and construction, led him toward a career in art. As a stud ...

–

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

* Mary Stanisia – American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

artist and painter * John J. Szaton – sculptor * Stanisław Szukalski –

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

* Katarzyna Mecinski (also known as ''Fifty na Pol'') -

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

vlogger

Government officials and politicians

* Ben Adamowski—politician,

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

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

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

Peter Kiołbassa Peter Kiołbassa (1837 – June 23, 1905) was a Polonia activist and a Democratic politician in the city of Chicago, serving as Chicago Treasurer and Commissioner of Public Works. Nicknamed "Honest Pete" because he refused to take city funds ...

(1837–1905) Democratic politician in the

City of Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

who helped organize St. Stanislaus Kostka parish * John Kluczynski –

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

representing Illinois's 5th congressional district *

Robert Martwick Robert F. Martwick Jr. is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 10th District since June 28, 2019. The district, includes Chicago’s northwest side and some of its surrounding suburbs. Pri ...

– Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

* Roman Conrad Pucinski – Democratic Party Politician and

* Daniel David "Dan" Rostenkowski –

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and Chairman of the

House Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

* John Francis Smulski American politician and businessman.

Scholars

Oskar Lange Oskar Ryszard Lange (; 27 July 1904 – 2 October 1965) was a Polish economics, economist and diplomat. He is best known for advocating the use of market (economics), market pricing tools in socialism, socialist systems and providing a model of m ...

–

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

* Marta Ptaszynska –

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

professor

Sports

* Krzysztof Hausner – football right-wing forward, most notable for his performances for Cracovia Krakow *

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

– Basketball coach * Al Piechota –

Professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player whose career spanned 15 seasons * Moose Skowron -

player, eight-time All Star

Criminals

Ted Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( ), was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusi ...

– Evergreen Park math professor and terrorist *

Tillie Klimek Ottilie "Tillie" Klimek (born Otylia Gburek; 1876 – November 20, 1936) was a Polish American serial killer, active in Chicago. According to accounts, she pretended to have precognitive dreams, accurately predicting the dates of death of her ...

–

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

* Steven Kazmierczak –

Northern Illinois University shooting The Northern Illinois University shooting was a school shooting that took place on Thursday, February 14, 2008, at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. Steven Kazmierczak, 27 years old and a 2006 NIU graduate, opened fire wit ...

of February 14, 2008 *

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...

–

Wanda Stopa Wanda Elaine Stopa (May 5, 1900 – April 25, 1924) was a Polish-American lawyer and murderer who committed suicide the day after committing her crime. Life Stopa was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1900. She emigrated to the United States with h ...

– murderer and lawyer

References

External links

Former President of Poland Lech Walesa speaking on the role of Poles in Chicago in the end of communism in Poland

Polish Localizer
Polsort – Polish Businesses and Organizations in Chicago * Current Polish patches
Polish Masses in Chicago Area
provided by Polsort {{Polish Americans by location Ethnic groups in Chicago History of Chicago Polish communities in the United States