John J. Bukowczyk
Preface
BECAUSE NO RELIABLE bibliography of the Polish immigrant novels and short stories discussed in this study had ever been compiled, primary sources were identified through a painstaking (and ongoing) search, and by the occasional lucky break. While university repositories facilitated the process, it still meant tracking down clues and half-clues about authors and titles buried in Polish-language immigrant histories and memoirs, examining the catalogues and reading the shelves of Polish-American organizational libraries and archives, sorting through knee-deep papers in half-abandoned immigrant bookstores, and scanning hundreds of rolls of microfilmed newspapers. Despite my attempts to be comprehensive, some works have undoubtedly been missed. And because extant copies of several titles could not be located, it is also possible that a small number have been misidentified. It can only be hoped that further research will correct this record.
Early versions of sections of this work have been published as the following:
“Crossings and Double-Crossings: Polish-Language Immigrant Narratives of the Great Migration.” In Multilingual America: Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and the Languages of American Literature, ed. Werner Sollors. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
“The Politics of Polishness in the United States: American Literature in Polish Before World War II.” In Not English Only: Redefining “American” in American Studies, ed. Orm Øverland. European Contributions to American Studies 47. Amsterdam: VU University Press, 2001.
A Family Reunion: Love, Sex, and the State of Marriage in Polish-American Literature. Occasional Papers in Polish and Polish American Studies, no. 3. New Britain: Polish Studies Program, Central Connecticut State University, 1997.
“Toward ‘A Pedagogical Goal’: Home, Nation, and Ethnicity in the Works of Polonia’s First Women Writers.” In Something of My Very Own to Say: Women Writers of Polish Descent, ed. Thomas S. Gladsky and Rita Holmes Gladsky. New York: Columbia University Press, East European Monograph Series, 1997.
“Wayward Wives and Delinquent Daughters: Polish-American Flappers in the Novels of Melania Nesterowicz.” Polish American Studies 53, 1 (Spring 1996).
To accommodate readers unfamiliar with the Polish language, the first mention of a Polish title is accompanied by a translation. Subsequent references are given in English. Finally, all translations, unless otherwise indicated, are mine.
Acknowledgments
THIS PROJECT COULD not have been completed without the kind help of many people who went out of their way to track down hard-to-find materials: the staff of the Polish Museum of America, including Jan Loryś, Halina Misterka, Małgorzata Kot, Leonard Kurdek, and Violetta Wóżnicka; Ewa Wołyńska of the Connecticut Polish Archives at Central Connecticut State University; Karen Rondestvedt, former director of the Alliance College Collection at the University of Pittsburgh; Jean Dickson and Brenda Battleson at the University of Buffalo; and the staff of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. Thanks also to Monsignor Roman Nir, Sister Angelita, and Krzysztof Tyburski of the Central Archives of Polonia, Orchard Lake, and to my colleagues at the Alumni Memorial Library of St. Mary’s College: being allowed to snoop freely among all those old Polish books has immensely enriched this work and my life.
In Poland, Franciszek Lyra facilitated my research at the Polish National Archives. And Danuta Pytlak of the American Studies Department at the University of Warsaw not only searched Polish libraries for primary sources but reminded me through her own work that this project was opening a door that others would also walk through.
I am grateful to those who opened their personal libraries to me and helped me with their professional expertise: Ed Martin, David and Gwidon Chełminski, Tamara Sochacka, Paul Valasek, and Regina Kościelska, as well as to the families of writers and publishers. Mark Yolles generously provided information about his father, Piotr. Basia Kocyan McCoy graciously opened her home and family papers to me as I researched her grandmother Melania Nesterowicz. Paul Paryski and Antony Plutynski enthusiastically shared material on their grandfather, Antoni Paryski.
Among those whose belief in this project most heartened me are my colleagues and friends in the Polish American Historical Association: Mary Cygan, Mary Erdmans, Tom Gladsky, Tom Napierkowski, John Radzilowski, John Bukowczyk, Thad Radzilowski, Bill Galush, the late Stan Blejwas, Anna Kirchman, Thad Gromada, Tony Bukoski, Jim Pula, and Victor Greene. Matt Jacobson, Orm Øverland, Gonul Pultar, Melinda Gray, Dag Blanck, and Werner Sollors helped pave the way for a field in which my own work could fit. And Gill Berchowitz was an always patient and encouraging editor, even when she didn’t have to be.
For financial assistance, I am indebted to those who supported this project in its first incarnation, as my dissertation at the University of Michigan: the Kosciuszko Foundation, the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women, the Rackham Graduate School, and the American Culture Program. Sincere appreciation also goes to Anita Norich, Bogdana Carpenter, June Howard, Rosemary Kowalski, and Bill Lockwood.
Much love as well to those who throughout this long project kept me connected to my dancing self, especially to John P., Csiki, Erzsike, and Sala and Andrea.
Finally, thanks to my family. In Poland, my love and gratitude to Ciocia Józia, Józef and Lucyna, and Jadzia. In the United States, to my mother, Gerry; to Mary and John; to my dear Grandpa Chalus; and to all the departed ones—especially my father, John—who somehow set me along this most unexpected path. Thanks too to the Feazells for their always cheerful support. But most of all, I am grateful beyond words to Matt Feazell, for everything.
Abbreviations
| KON | National Defense Committee (Komitet Obrony Narodowy) |
| PNA | Polish National Alliance |
| PNCC | Polish National Catholic Church |
| PRCU | Polish Roman Catholic Union of America |
| PWA | Polish Women’s Alliance |
Guide to Pronunciation
THE FOLLOWING KEY provides a guide to the pronunciation of Polish words and names.
a is pronounced as in father
c as ts in cats
ch like a guttural h
cz as hard ch in church
g always hard, as in get
i as ee
j as y in yellow
rz like French j in jardin
sz as sh in ship
szcz as shch, enunciating both sounds, as in fresh cheese
u as oo in boot
w as v
ć