Kuryer Polski (Milwaukee, Wis.).

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The records of the Kuryer Polski retain the donor's arrangement into four sections: Board Meeting Minutes, Scrapbook, Michael Kruszka Papers, and Subscriber Lists. Most of the material dates from 1907 to the early 1920s.

The volume of handwritten and typed Board Meeting Minutes provides information regarding the operation of the newspaper and the Kuryer Publishing Company. Interspersed within the minutes are also newsclippings, notices from the management, lists of stockholders, copies of ballots and listings of the results of elections of officers, and occasional annual financial reports. Most of the information is in Polish.

Following the minutes is a Scrapbook, like the volume of minutes probably compiled by the donor, consisting of directives to employees, office memoranda, printed and typewritten regulations of the workplace, and instructions to foremen and printers. Most of these notices were signed by Kruszka, and date from 1907 to 1916. Also included are occasional payroll records and statements of editorial and advertising policy.

The Michael Kruszka Papers include a photograph, personal correspondence, a copy of the articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Kuryer Polski (1912), fragmentary printed items concerning Kuryer Polski subscriber statistics, advertising policy, and regulations, a few legal documents with correspondence, and miscellany. Of particular interest is Kruszka's twenty-three page letter dated 13 June 1907 to Milwaukee Archbishop Sebastian Messmer, in which Kruszka replied to the Archbishop's attacks on the Kuryer Polski, which led to his institution of a rival newspaper, Nowiny Polskie; his charges that Kruszka's daughter was attending a non-Polish, Protestant school; and his criticism of Kruszka's brother, Rev. Waclaw Kruszka of Ripon.

The final portion of the papers consist of galley proofs of the Kuryer Polski's Subscriber Lists, c.1960-1961. The names on the lists are grouped by region of the United States and Canada, arranged roughly from east to west. Also included are addresses and the date of expiration of the subscription.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY: The Kuryer Polski, the first Polish language daily newspaper in the United States, was founded in Milwaukee in 1888 by Michael Kruszka. Kruszka (1860-1918) immigrated to the United States from Slabomierz in German Poland in 1880, working first in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago prior to settling in Milwaukee. There he taught himself the printing trade and established a printing business, and in 1885 began publishing the Tygodnik Anonsowy (Advertising Weekly), soon succeeded by the weekly Krytyka. With a group of Polish labor leaders, Kruszka initiated in 1887 the short-lived daily paper, Dziennik Polski. The following year the Kuryer Polski was begun as a weekly (later daily) newspaper to serve the needs of the ever-increasing Polish population in Milwaukee and throughout the country.

The newspaper prospered under Kruszka's editorship, although Kruszka himself was often surrounded by controversy and conflict. During the 1890's a battle began between Kruszka and the Milwaukee Roman Catholic Church hierarchy and clergy which was to rage for nearly twenty-five years and have far-reaching effects. At the heart of the dispute were several of Kruszka's beliefs and causes, including, teaching Polish language classes in the public schools, equal rights for the Polish clergy in the Catholic hierarchy, opposition to extravagant and financially-burdensome church buildings, and opposition to those in the hierarchy who tried to put the Kuryer Polski out of business. Kruszka's only supporter among the clergy was his brother, Rev. Waclaw Kruszka, who fought for equal rights for Polish priests until his death in 1937.

As part of the conflict with Kruszka, the Church hierarchy organized a clerical paper, the Katolik, which was published from 1895 to 1898. In 1899, the clergy began the daily Dziennik Milwaucki, which continued for six years. The battle was joined in earnest in 1907 when Milwaukee Archbishop Sebastian Messmer established a rival newspaper, the Nowiny Polskie, to which he contributed $1,000. The Polish priests in the diocese were also assessed sums ranging to $500 to support the new paper.

The climax of the situation came during a 1912 convention of Polish priests in Detroit, from which Rev. Waclaw Kruszka was barred. Convention participants decided to blacklist thirteen Polish newspapers, among them the Kuryer Polski and the Dziennik Narodowy in Chicago, in which Michael Kruszak also held an interest. Shortly thereafter a number of bishops, including Archbishop Messmer, issued pastoral letters forbidding the reading of the Kuryer and the Dziennik. Publication continued, however, despite numerous lawsuits instituted by both parties to the dispute.

Although the conflict calmed with the outbreak of World War I, there were several far-reaching results of the controversy. Since the largest of the Polish fraternals, the Polish National Alliance, refused to take sides in the matter, Michael Kruszka organized the Federation of Poles in America to provide him with popular support. The group outlived the dispute, and was later known as Federation Life Insurance of America. Secondly, the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church contributed in the growth of the Polish National Catholic Church, which established three parishes in Milwaukee during this period. Michael Kruszka continued to work for the improvement of conditions in Poland and for the rights of Polish-Americans; in addition to the Kuryer Polski he began publication of the English language paper Poland's Cause.

Michael Kruszka died 2 December 1918, and was succeeded as publisher and president of the Kuryer Polski by his son-in-law, Prof. Stanislaus Zwierzchowski. When Prof. Zwierzchowski departed Milwaukee to assist the post-war reconstruction of Poland, he retained his position with the paper but active management was turned over to Chester Dziadulewicz. Dziadulewicz was succeeded by Col. Peter F. Piasecki. The Kuryer Polski suspended publication on 23 September 1962.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Kuryer Polski (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records [microform], 1907-1961. Milwaukee Micro Collection 29. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Kuryer Publishing Company (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1893-1961. (UWM Manuscript Collection 46)

Kwasniewski, Roman B. J., 1886-1980. Papers, 1892-1953. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 22 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 38)

Kwasniewski, Roman B. J., 1886-1980. Photographs, 1907-1947. (UWM Manuscript Collection 19)

Maciejewski, Wallace E. Papers, 1931-1979. (Milwaukee Small Collection 115)

Polish Book Club of Milwaukee. Records [microform], 1939-1944. (Milwaukee Micro Collection 21)

Szymczak, Anthony J. Papers, 1945-1974. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 30)

Zielinski, Sylvia. Papers, 1900-1980. (Milwaukee Small Collection 122)

ACQUISITION: Loaned for copying by Szymon St. Deptula of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1981 (accession number M81-380).

PROCESSING: Prepared for microfilming by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt in September 1981.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• Catholic Church--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Deptula, Szymon St.
• Federation of Poles in America.
• Kruszka, Michael, 1860-1918. 
• Kuryer Publishing Company.
• Messmer, Sebastian G. 
• Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources. 
• Polish National Catholic Church of America.
• Polish-American newspapers--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Polish Americans--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--History.
  

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