The Polish Museum of America (MPA) is often referred to as the "crown jewel of the Polish community in America" and is a hidden treasure in the heart of Chicago 's former Polish inner city .

The museum houses an extremely rich and extensive collection of Polish art, military exhibits and folk art, the 'Old Polish Chicago 1850-1941' exhibition, and displays dedicated to notable Poles who have made their mark on American history.

The Polish Museum of America has three main exhibition spaces: they are the Main Hall named after Sabina F. Logisz; the Stephen and Elizabeth Ann Kuśmierczak Art Gallery, which houses mainly works from the 1939 New York World's Fair and is located in the space that was formerly the balcony of the Main Hall; and the Paderewski Room, an exhibition dedicated to the world-renowned pianist, statesman and philanthropist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

History of the Building

The Polish Museum in America is housed in the building of the Polish Roman Catholic Association of America (ZPRKA), a fraternal aid organisation founded in 1873 to unite Poles of the Catholic faith, preserve their language and traditions, provide assistance to those in need, and support Poland in its efforts to regain independence, as Poland remained under the partitions of Russia, Prussia and Austria from 1795 until 1918.

The building was erected in 1913 , designed by local architect of Polish origin Jan Flizikowski, in the heart of Chicago's former Polish inner city. To this day, it still serves as the headquarters of the ZPRKA. In 2013, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognised for its significance in the history of Polish settlement in Chicago.

On 15 October 1935 , as part of its mission to preserve Polish culture and serve Chicago's Polish community, the Union established the ZPRKA Museum and Archives . The first curator was historian Mieczysław Haiman (1888-1949), appointed by then ZPRKA president Józef Kania.

Haiman embarked on an extensive campaign to acquire donations - valuable Polish mementos. After two years of intensive collection, research and organisation, the museum was opened to the public on 12 January 1937. Initially, it occupied only one room on the second floor - now known as the Paderewski Room.

History of the Museum

Over time, the board of directors of the ZPRKA decided to expand the museum space to accommodate the ever-growing collections. It was then that the Unity auditorium was incorporated into the museum, which was later transformed into the Sabina F. Logisz Main Hall. Logisz - the largest exhibition hall in the Museum. The expansion was necessary to accommodate the huge collection that came to Chicago from the Polish Pavilion at the 1939 World Exhibition in New York .

The Pavilion opened on 3 May 1939, the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May. Unfortunately, already in September of the same year, Poland was attacked - first by Nazi Germany and on 17 September by the Soviet Union - and the Polish government was forced to go into exile in London.

The Polish government-in-exile did not want the Pavilion's collections to return to Europe, fearing their destruction during the war. Therefore, they were sold to Polish organisations in the United States, and the majority went to the Polish Museum in America in Chicago. To this day, the MPA holds about 65% of the original 1939 Pavilion collection.

The original museum room was transformed into the Paderewski Room in 1941 when Ignacy Paderewski's (1860-1941) sister, Antonina Wilkońska (1857-1941), donated a collection of the artist's memorabilia to the museum following his death in New York that same year. As the collection grew, the museum gradually expanded until, in 1959 , it became an independent institution under the name " Polish Museum in America " .

Current activities

Today, the MPA is Chicago's most important active centre of Polish culture. It organises art exhibitions, concerts, artistic performances, film screenings, library and museum classes, educational workshops for children, young people and adults, lectures on history, literature and art, meetings with authors and book promotions, and many accompanying events open to the public.

It cooperates with many Polish institutions at the central level, such as: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (the MPA was awarded the gold medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis in 2016), the Polonica Institute, the National Library, the General Directorate of State Archives (thanks to its cooperation with the NDAP, the files of the Polish National Department from the MPA collection were inscribed on the National List of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme in 2018).

In addition, with the Senate of the Republic of Poland, the National Museums, the Jagiellonian Library, the Museum of Polish History, the Museum of Writing and Printing, the Józef Piłsudski Foundation, the Institute of National Remembrance (the IPN awarded the MPA the "Custodian of National Remembrance 2021" award) and Polish institutions from all over the world affiliated to the MAB, the Permanent Conference of Museums, Archives and Libraries Abroad.

In September 2024, the Polish Museum in America hosted the XLVIth Permanent Conference of Museums, Archives and Libraries Abroad.

Within the USA and in Chicago, the MPA cooperates with, among others, ethnic museums (meetings within the framework of the Chicago Cultural Alliance addressed to families with children as part of comparing the similarities of various national groups in Chicago, e.g. Poles and Haitians; Poles, Mexicans and Germans); Polish organisations: Association of Polish-American Librarians and Chicago public libraries (reading programmes, promotion of Polish literature, preparation of reference materials for all age groups), the Tatra Culture Foundation and the North American Highlanders Association (organisation of the annual Illinois Highlander Day celebration, lectures and workshops on Highlander culture and regional education for whole families, concerts, joint singing and dancing).

In addition, the Museum cooperates with the Polish Teachers Association in America (library and museum lessons at the MPA for children and young people from more than 40 Polish Saturday schools in the entire Chicago area, thematic competitions and Olympiads, meetings and trainings for teachers); the Polish Genealogical Society of America (genealogical service, including a search for roots among Poles and in Poland), the Chicago History Museum (co-organising exhibitions, side events and lectures, the MPA is the main source of archival materials on Polonia for the CHM; in 2023. CHM opened the exhibition "Back Home: Polish Chicago").

The museum's activities also include cooperation with universities (student tours, collaboration with interns and volunteers from colleges and universities, including: University of Chicago, Loyola University, University of Illinois, DePaul University, et al, promotion of university publications) and professional communities: Association of Polish Physicians (lectures on medicine, conferences with popular health talks, counselling for people with children and seniors).

And also with the Association of Polish Journalists in America (cooperation in organising meetings and anniversaries, press conferences with guests of the MPA, including the Presidential Couple, ministers of ministries, Speakers of the Senate and Sejm and well-known persons), the Polish Theatre Congress in Chicago (theatre meetings intended for all age groups) and many other institutions and entities.

List of venues

The above list includes catalogue cards of objects available in the Polonica Database