Cultural Determinism and the Shaping of Polish American Education

Of all the nationality groups whose members migrated to America between 1880 and 1920,only Italians outnumbered Poles. Yet, unlike their Irish and German predecessors in the earlynineteenth century, or their Italian co-migrants, the Poles made very little impact on urban ornational American political power structures during the first half of the twentieth century. Toa large extent this was due to the particular cultural experiences they brought with them fromPoland, which shaped their world view quite differently than the experiences of other groups.These differences were perhaps most manifest in the approach of Polish immigrants to theeducation of their children and their definition of what it meant to wield political power. Insignificant numbers, Polish Americans of the immigrant and second generations rejected publiceducation during the first half of the twentieth century, choosing instead to work through ethnicorganizations to create their own educational system. They also largely eschewed nationalpolitical organizations prior to World War II, focusing instead almost exclusively on local politics.This paper will explore the salient cultural influences that led Poles to develop far more insularpolitical and educational views than any other major European immigrant group, ideas that ledthem to use their ethnic organizations and networks in a very different manner.