THE BEGINNINGS OF THE POLISH AMERICAN SOCIETY

The Polish American Society come to life in the late 1970s when Len Jankowski, who was active in the Polish community in Chicago, arrived with his family in Memphis. Len, who was a second or third-generation immigrant, missed the social and cultural Polish environment here in the South. He dreamed of surroundings like those he had left behind, and he wanted to cultivate Polish traditions, customs, and values in Memphis.

At first it appeared to Len that there were not very many people with Polish backgrounds in Memphis. The very few that were here were post-war refugees, who had not wanted to return from displaced persons camps in Germany to communist Poland. There were one or two exchange students and some individual scientists sent from Poland to local hospitals or universities through exchange programs. They did not have much social interaction with each other.

Len chose an unusual way to look for Polish people in Memphis. He opened a telephone book and started to search page by page for Polish names. He called people with Polish names and politely asked if their name indicated either Polish ancestry or some Polish connection. If they answered “yes”, he asked if they were interested in getting together with a group of people with similar backgrounds to learn more about the traditions, customs, and culture of their forefathers. Some answers were positive and some were not, which was to be expected.

Eventually a circle of people got together. This circle quickly grew and formed the Polish American Society (PAS), with Len Jankowski presiding.

Soon PAS started its activities and meetings to commemorate the Polish historic and cultural events, and celebrate national holidays and Catholic festivities. The members also began to organize usually well attended traditional events, such as Christmas Eve mass, Wigilia dinner and the blessing of food in church before Easter. There were also dances on New Year’s Eve.

In 1979, Polish Pope John Paul II was permitted to visit Poland. Around that time, demonstrations in Poland demanding freedom, democracy and reforms became international news. In the late 70s and early 80s, the Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, and the declaration of the repressive martial law focused the world’s attention on Poland.  And Memphis was no exception. Both the national and local press followed the developments closely. Newspapers published interviews with local members of the Polish community regarding the conditions in Poland. On many of these occasions substantial amounts of money were collected and donated to charities in Poland. An ecumenical prayer service  for the sake of Poland was arranged by Bishop Dozier in 1983, resulting in celebrations at Immaculate Conception Cathedral with the Bishop and readings by a Rabbi, Ministers of other faiths and PAS members.

Later, the Society was invited to take part in the celebrations for the anniversary of the founding of the Mississippi town of Kosciusko in honor of Polish general Tadeusz Kosciuszko. An associate and admirer from the War of American Independence founded Kosciusko in honor of Polish General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Many PAS members attended the daylong celebration, and we were invited to be guests in local homes.

The Memphis in May  festival, celebrated in a park on the shore of the Mississippi River, has provided a venue for PAS.  The society has booths with Polish food and a large tent hosting spectacular exhibitions, loaned from the Polish Heritage Museum in Chicago, depicting Polish crafts, sights, and lifestyle.

In the early 1980s new immigrants expelled from Poland during the time of martial law for participating in Solidarity activities, along with those who were able to escape from the Communist regime, started to arrive in Memphis. On many occasions, Society members helped the new immigrants with their first steps into American life. The newcomers joined and participated in the activities of PAS.

In 1988, PAS organized a Polish American Heritage Exhibition at Memphis City Hall, with unique and interesting artifacts from the homes of PAS members. City Mayor Hackett attended the event, which featured speeches, music, dancing, and an impressive buffet. Roza Nowotarska, an artist and writer from Chicago, was a special guest at the exhibition.

During this time, we enjoyed intimate round table discussions with Polish Nobel Prize laureate, Czeslaw Milosz, who was an invited lecturer at Memphis State University. We also met with Polish President Lech Walesa, who came to Memphis to receive a peace prize from the African American population.

Len Jankowski continued to be involved in making the Polish presence in Memphis known. He had a one hour long, very popular, daily radio program in the morning hours featuring lively Polish country music (polkas), which greatly invigorated people during the morning rush hour.

Len Jankowski with daughter Teresa

the blessing of food

Mississippi town of Kosciusko

Memphis in May festival

Polish American Heritage Exhibition at Memphis City Hall

Czeslaw Milosz – Polish Nobel Prize laureate

Lech Walesa – Polish President 

We acquired for our archives some of the documents, pictures, newsletters, and articles documenting and illustrating activities of the original Polish-American Society.

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