|
|
|
Reviews
Leo M. Kowalski. Pe Ell's Polish Pioneers. San Pedro, CA: n.p., 2007. Pp. 128.
|
|
Polish immigrants came to the Pacific Northwest region of the United States in small numbers toward the end of the nineteenth century and continued migrating there in the early decades of the twentieth century. They followed the Great Northern and North Pacific Railroads and came to work in the timber industry, in mining, and to settle small farming communities. Some were recruited by railroad companies while others came on their own. |
1
|
|
While the existence of such communities has been known to scholars, there has been little effort to research or chronicle the history of this small Polonia. Leo Kowalski's short community history of the Poles of Pe Ell, Washington, is thus a welcome addition to our knowledge of the subject. Pe Ell is probably the largest Polish rural enclave on the Pacific Coast (which of course is a rather exclusive category). |
2
|
|
The first Poles came to this Pacific coast community in the late 1890s to farm and work as loggers (or often both). Like many Polish rural communities, its members came from several areas of occupied Poland, including Galicia, the Congress Kingdom, and Silesia. |
3
|
|
Pe Ell's Polish Pioneers largely consists of family stories from descendants of the first generation of Polish settlers from which one can glean a significant amount of information about the life and work of the community. Although the obvious wealth of material uncovered by the author calls out for a more in depth study, this slim volume is an important first step to ensure that the history of Polonia in the Pacific Northwest is not forgotten. |
4
|
| John Radzilowski
|
| University of Alaska, Southeast |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|