Dziennik Ludowy (People's Daily)

The press, along with the Roman Catholic Church and political organizations, was one of the forms of leadership in the Polish immigrant community. In the beginning, the press was creating fewer leaders than the Church and other organizations as was mainly concerned with the political situation in Poland and was not paying much attention to organizing immigrants’ life in the USA. There were several newspapers in each settlement town and they often represented contradicting views, which made it difficult to coordinate a community.[2]

The Polish-American press was used as a tool to develop patriotism among former peasants. It played a major role in changing a peasant into an urban citizen. Many of the papers were targeting peasants and, after a while, working-class immigrants settled in urban areas of the USA.[3] The first polish language newspaper, Echo z Polski, appeared in 1863 and closed two years later. There is no information about any other polish language publications in the United States in the following fifteen years. The next Polish periodicals appeared in the early 1870s. From the 1880s Polish press entered a phase of rapid development due to the growing immigrant population in the USA. The first dailies appeared in the late 1880s. The three main centers of the polish community and press were localized in big cities: Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York.[4]

The first issue of Dziennik Ludowy was published in 1907 by Polish immigrants to the USA. In its first months, the newspaper supported Polish nationalist movement organized during the World War I. It was one of the most popular Polish language titles supporting the contemporary leader of the country- Jozef Pilsudski.[5]

After a split in the Polish- American socialist movement in 1908, the Polish Section of the Socialist Party was formed, and Dziennik Ludowy became the official organ of the Polish Socialist Alliance. It rejected the notion of military activity as a method of establishing an independent Poland proposed by Jozef Pilsudski. Instead, the newspaper focused on opening its columns to various Polish organizations, unions, and societies. Dziennik Ludowy supported the idea of establishing an independent Poland by promoting popular education and labor activism as a way of liberating the nation.[6]

The target audience of the newspaper was the first generation of immigrants, who did not speak English and strongly relied on the Polish language news. By 1925, when the daily stopped being published, the younger generation of Polish Americans was often educated in American schools and more accustomed to the American culture. Due to gradual Americanization younger people often chose English language newspapers, which contributed to decreasing readership of Dziennik Ludowy.[7] The last issue was published on April 20, 1925, when it declared bankruptcy and was superseded by other Chicago-based titles.[8]

Dziennik Ludowy was an example of non-English press of the Socialist Party of America. The newspaper provided national and international news, focusing particularly on labor movements.[9] It was concerned with issues of class struggle and informed about working-class conditions and ongoing strikes, concentrating on various ethnic groups of workers, not only Poles. The newspaper editors believed that the class struggle is the most important problem, while religion or ethnicity could divide and impede the working class movement. It enhanced solidarity within the working class from various ethnic backgrounds.[10]

The majority of Polish immigrants consisted of peasants coming from underdeveloped rural areas. After arriving at the USA they stayed in urban regions and tended to work in fabrics and manufactures. Their identity slowly changed from a peasant to a working-class man. A Polish immigrant worker identified himself, basing on his economic status, as a member of a larger labor movement, consisting of people of various ethnicities.[11]

Dziennik Ludowy became a platform for working-class men of different origins. The newspaper also supported the American Socialist Party, as its goal was to unite all workers and provide them with more social power.[12] The daily was a platform that allowed organizing strikes, movement, and celebrations of a working-class immigrant in Chicago.

One of the biggest meetings was organized on May 21, 1907, on Labor Day, when workers celebrated the labor holiday. Dziennik Ludowy allowed the organizers to reach the interested readers and spread the news among the working-class people.[13] The editors of the daily saw the education as an important tool for creating a stronger immigrant community. Educating children was desirable and was seen as the best method of increasing skills and employability in the future. The newspaper promoted gaining proficiency in English language and achieving marketable skills as the most successful path to the advancement of peasant and working-class immigrants. As other publications of that time, Dziennik Ludowy was cooperating with other educational organizations such as parochial and ethnic schools or libraries.[14]

Dziennik Ludowy was one of the five major Polish language newspapers in Chicago in the first half of 20th century.[15] All titles tried to integrate Polish immigrants in the city, however, each of them promoted a different political view. They were divided over the issues of ideology, organizing of immigrants and the role of Catholic Church.[12]

Dziennik Ludowy, unlike other titles, was not associated with the institution of Church and its audience was not limited only to Poles. The newspaper was recognized as an aspect of cultural and educational activities organized by Polish socialist and national movements.[16] Some of the other influential dailies that were being published over the same time period in Chicago were Dziennik Narodowy and Dziennik Zgoda.[17]