In South Chicago, in the area which Polish immigrants called Warsaw, a “Polish parish” called the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was created in the 1880s. Most of its parishioners worked in the nearby South Works, a complex of metallurgical plants. The prosperous company grew dynamically, and at the peak of its operations it employed almost 20,000 workers. As a result the numbers of immigrants to the area quickly increased. It is not surprising that ten years after its establishment the parish had grown to such an extent that it became necessary to divide it. Besides, the areas where the new parishioners could settle were located at a considerable distance from the church.

After obtaining the permission of the parish priest, the founding committee of the new church quickly raised funds for the purchase of a plot of land. Now it was possible for them to apply for permission to the Archbishop of Chicago, and they declared that they would like Father Adolf Nowicki to be appointed parish priest, as they had known him from the old parish. Their request was granted, and the new parish priest described the beginnings of his activity with characteristic exaggeration and irony: “We went to that Warsaw (to South Chicago) together with Jan Szostakowski, in the real Chicago weather: a steady drizzle. It was empty all around, just a ramshackle house here and there, and further on only fields and water, water and fields. Looking round I thought to myself: well, this is probably the place where geese and ducks greet each other shaking tails, because there were no people anywhere. Finally we arrived at 83rd Street. But where to live in this Warsaw? So I said, ‘Jan, where will I live here?’ He said, ‘At my place’. Well, then, I lodged at his place. I was comfortable there, but there was one problem, as the room where I was sleeping lacked a stove. In the morning, when I got up, I had to check that all my limbs were still there, that Mr. Jack Frost hadn’t eaten something; I had to take care of my poor bones, because I considered them to be the property of the parish. The good-hearted Jan Szostakowski soon got me a duvet because he did not want to take responsibility for the freezing of parish property, and his kind wife did her utmost to make sure that the priest was properly received and attended to”.

Soon after taking over the parish, which only possessed an empty plot, the construction of the first church began. The modest building, which took only a week to erect, was conceived as a temporary measure. The construction of the proper building was started straight away – as it was common in America, it was to be built quickly and comprise the church and the school. A magnificent church may have been dreamt of, but it was important for the inhabitants to create a community, even if not in a perfect form. The building was completed within seven months.

The expansion of the parish necessitated the construction of a bigger church. At that time Fr. Paweł Rhode was the new parish priest and he began the construction of a new building. While the construction was still in progress, Fr. Rhode became an auxiliary bishop of Chicago. He did not leave the parish until 1915, when he was relocated to become the bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. After his departure the parish continued to develop, and a school building was erected during the interwar period.

The church was designed by William J. Brinkmann, who was a son of German immigrants and learned his profession while working in the Burnham & Root architectural company. He participated in the construction of the Masonic temple in Chicago; undoubtedly, the difficult task of erecting the tallest building in the world at that time was a valuable experience. He also went on a study tour around Europe. It was then that he had the opportunity to take a closer look at the architectural heritage of the old continent. On his return he set up his own company – first in California and then in Chicago. He specialized in steel-frame buildings and sacral architecture. He was the designer of St. Josaphat Church, among others. His work was highly regarded, and in 1900 he was recognized as one of the best architects in Chicago.

The church which he designed in South Chicago is one of the largest in the city. It is built in the definitely Gothic Revival style, which is not particularly common among the “Polish” cathedrals, and when it appears, it is limited to the pointed-arch windows or details. Despite its modern steel-frame construction, the architecture of St. Michael the Archangel Church is inspired by medieval models. The enormous windows of the two-tower façade can bring to mind the English Gothic Revival and are close to the solutions we know from Westminster, among others. The different height of the towers was supposed to be a reference to the Cracow Church of St. Virgin Mary. However, the concept of the façade is so different that this analogy should be approached with great caution. The whole is closer to the predominantly German Gothic Revival, while the ornamental blind arcades seem to set the church in the local style. Therefore, the church is an originally solved Gothic Revival structure, with the flexible approach to historical forms characteristic of American architecture.

The interior is illuminated by the light coming through the magnificent stained-glass windows made by Franz X. Zettler at the Royal Bavarian Art Institute in Munich. The particularly decorative windows in the transept are among the largest in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Among the furnishings there is an interesting memorabilia – a piano which was allegedly used by Ignacy Paderewski, and is locally believed to have been in the center of scandal. During his second American tour Paderewski achieved a great success and popularity, comparable to that of the great rock stars. As the press reported, women would faint at the sight of him during concerts and even on meeting him in the street. The artist was so popular that they even wrote about the “paddymania”. Paderewski’s first tour in the United States was sponsored by the piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, and the maestro used their instrument during his second visit as well. However, while he was staying in Chicago, he was persuaded to give an additional, unplanned concert during the world exhibition, where a dozen or so different piano manufacturers presented their instruments, but Steinway & Sons did not participate. Pressure was put on the pianist to play one of the instruments on display, but he did not agree, insisting on his original choice. The outraged producers protested, supported by some of the press, who even voiced an opinion that the additional instrument ought to be removed by force. In the background there were negotiations with the maestro. Cancelling the concert would be a scandal, which the organizers preferred to avoid. Finally, Paderewski did not relent, saying that it should be up to him to choose the instrument on which his music would sound best, but allegedly one of the angry manufacturers rejected this argument, saying: “to the devil with art, it’s all about dollars”. According to oral tradition, the piano at St. Michael’s is the one from the story. The Polish Museum in Chicago also houses Paderewski’s piano.

Chronology

1888 - establishment of the St. Michael the Archangel Brotherhood in the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1892 - erection of the parish of St Michael the Archangel, construction of the church and school

1893 - opening the school run by the Nazareth sisters

1907 - starting the construction of the present church

1909 - completion of the construction

1917 - redesigning the school building

1926 - erecting a new school building

1937 - extending the school

Text originally published in a book issued by the POLONIKA Institute.
Katarzyna Chrudzimska-Uhera, Anna Sylwia Czyż, Jacek Gołębiowski, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Polish parishes and churches in Chicago, Warszawa 2019, pp. 177-184.