Poles in Madison's First 150 Years
1608 - Polish immigrants arrive in Jamestown, Virginia
1850s - Poles begin settling in Panna Maria-Texas,Detroit- Michigan and Stevens Point area of Wisconsin
1860s -Large groups of Poles settle in NW & SW Chicago
1870s - Large groups of Poles in Milwaukee, most from areas of German or Prussian control
1900s - Poles settling in large numbers in Trempealeau, Shawano, Oconto, & Brown counties
1935 - UW-Madison Slavic Department created as the Department of Polish Studies, the oldest Program of Polish Studies in the country. The UW-Madison Libraries Polish Collection now has 60,000 holdings in both hard copy and microfiche, including Polish Solidarity materials.
1979 - State Historical Society publishes Poles in Wisconsin, part of Badger History series
1979 - Polish Heritage Club of Madison begins. First club President Professor Edmund Zawacki of the UW Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literature. PHC incorporated March 4, 1980
1981 - Exhibit One Thousand Years of Polish History and
Culture at State Historical Society
1986 - State Senators David Helbach and John Plewa sponsored Senate
Joint Resolutions proclaiming May 3 Trzeciego Maja Day (Polish
Constitution Day) in Wisconsin, Capitol ceremony
1990 - Polish Ancestry of Dane County 10,087 (3.1%) 1990 US Census
1990s - Polish Student Association at UW-Madison sponsors annual Polish Film series and the Polish Language Table at Memorial Union
1996 - Polish Heritage Day at Old World Wisconsin, with
materials from Madison’s PHC and musicians
2000 - 11,144 Madisonians report Polish ancestry, 5.4% of Madison
population 2000US Census
2000 - Eat Smart in Poland-A Guide for Food Lovers by Madisonians Joan
and David Peterson
2000 Wisconsin Educational Communications Board publishes Cultural
Horizons of Wisconsin, a CD-ROM aimed at grades 4-6, with materials from
PHC
2001 - Speech by Lech Wałesa, leader of Solidarność, Nobel Prize
laureate, and former President of Poland, at Wisconsin Institute for
Peace and Conflict Studies
2003 - David J. Cieslewicz (chess LEV ich) elected Mayor of Madison, WI,
featured phonetic pronunciations of his proudly Polish last name
2003 - Professor Waclawik T. Szybalski of UW-Madison Oncology Department
and editor of Gene, is recipient of the Casmir Funk Natural Science
Award from Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.
2003 - Christine & Terry McKillip open Art Saint Ann Gallery on N Henry
St, sell Baltic Amber & Tarnowicz Glassware
2004 - Janina & Izabela Kozik open Alex Polish-American Deli on Monroe
St.
October 2004 - Polish Heritage Club of Wisconsin, Inc. celebrates 25
years in Madison
2005 - Governor Doyle leads trade mission to Poland, meets with leaders
in Warsaw and Bialystok.