Polish Art Center - The Polish Community of New Britain

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The Polish Community of New Britain

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by Jonathon Shea and Barbara Proko

Factory jobs in "the Hardware City of the World" began attracting Polish immigrants to New Britain in the 1890s. The Poles soon became the city's largest ethnic group, centering their family, business, social, cultural, and spiritual life on Broad Street. Their Polonia was unparalleled in New England. Three parishes and dozens of organizations shared a strong commitment to Polish education, military service, political representation, and "Dozynki" and "Dzien Zaduszny" traditions. Continuing waves of immigration contributed to Polonia's ceaseless self-renewal. The Polish Community of New Britain celebrates this magnetic vitality and cultural continuity with rare photographs drawn from family albums and local archives.

Author Bio: Jonathan Shea is a New Britain native and the grandson of Polish and Irish immigrants. A professor of foreign languages, he has authored several manuals for translating genealogical documents. He is the founder of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast. Barbara Proko coauthored The Polish Community of Worcester. A writer, editor, and avid genealogist, she is the granddaughter of immigrants from Russian Poland. She researches Polish settlement in New England.