Parish and Family in the Cultural Heritage of the Polish Emigrants to Texas in the Second Wave (1867)

Keywords: parish, family, Polonia, cultural heritage, Texas

Abstract

The article focuses primarily on the institutions of the parish and family in relation to the cultural heritage of Polish Texans of the second wave since 1867. Reaching back to the beginnings of Polish emigration to the United States, which is associated with the settlement of Panna Maria in Texas by emigrants from Opole Silesia, the article presents the second wave of emigration from Galicia and Greater Poland. The analysis was based on the archival materials of the Polish Genealogical Society of Texas (PGST), which cover the periods from 1984 to 2021. The research material was collected from 124 PGST ­volumes (4,358 pages). The document proves that both the parish and the family were the basic units in the lives of Polish emigrants, around whom everyday family, social and religious life revolved.

Author Biographies

Marek Liszka, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow

Assistant Professor at the Institute of Modern Languages at the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow. He holds a Ph.D. in culture and religion studies. He is the author of two monographs (2013, 2021) and one co-edited book (2022) devoted to the issues of cultural heritage, microhistory, highlanders and their identity in the emigration to the USA.

Małgorzata Bujak, University of St. Thomas in Houston

Adjunct Professor at the Saint John Paul II Institute in the Department of Polish Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. In her academic career, she has been exploring and researching maintenance, erosion and re-authentication of the ethnic culture in the present-day diaspora of Southeast Texas Poles of rural descent.

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Published
2023-08-10
How to Cite
[1]
Liszka, M. and Bujak, M. 2023. Parish and Family in the Cultural Heritage of the Polish Emigrants to Texas in the Second Wave (1867). Perspectives on Culture. 42, 3 (Aug. 2023), 383-394. DOI:https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2023.4203.24.