A History of the Polish Americans

They came to find work, a decent place and way to live, to join family already settled, to marry, to escape persecution. So far the list of reasons why people from Poland came to the US seems to be fairly typical. But in the second generation many of the native born abandoned time-tested traditions and appropriated those of the assimilated American, sans hyphen. Bukowczyk (history, Wayne State U.) not only describes the cultural change encountered by the emigrants but also the myths, symbols, values and beliefs that literally kept them alive. He also notes which traditions tended to stick and why, making this a model study of the organizations and institutions first and second generations created and maintained to keep some part of Polish emigrant culture active in the US. Originally published in Bloomington by Indiana U. Press, 1987 as And My Children Did Not Know Me. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)