The Polish Museum of America (PMA), often described as the “crown jewel of the Polish-American community”, remains a lesser-known treasure in the heart of Chicago’s historic Polish Downtown.

The Museum holds extensive collections of Polish art, military artefacts and folk art. Its displays include “Old Polish Chicago, 1850–1941” and exhibitions devoted to prominent Poles who helped shape American history.

The Polish Museum of America has three principal exhibition spaces: the Sabina F. Logisz Great Hall; the Stephen and Elizabeth Ann Kusmierczak Art Gallery; and the Paderewski Room. The Art Gallery occupies what was formerly the balcony of the Great Hall and contains many works originally displayed at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The Paderewski Room is devoted to Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the internationally renowned pianist, statesman and philanthropist.

History of the Building

The Polish Museum of America occupies the headquarters building of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCUA), a fraternal benefit society founded in 1873. The organisation sought to unite Polish Catholics, preserve their language and traditions, assist those in need and support efforts to restore Poland’s independence. At the time, no independent Polish state existed: from 1795 until 1918, Polish lands remained partitioned among Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The building was completed in 1913 to designs by the Polish-American architect John S. Flizikowski. It stands in the heart of Chicago’s historic Polish Downtown and remains the headquarters of the PRCUA. In 2013, the building was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of 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 Museum and Archives of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. The historian Mieczysław Haiman (1888–1949) was appointed its first curator by Joseph L. Kania, then president of the PRCUA.

Haiman launched an extensive campaign to solicit donations of valuable Polish mementoes. After two years of intensive collecting, research and organisation, the Museum opened to the public on 12 January 1937. At first, it occupied only one room on the second floor, now known as the Paderewski Room.

History of the Museum

As the collections grew, the PRCUA’s board of directors decided to enlarge the Museum. The former PRCUA auditorium was incorporated into it and was later transformed into the Sabina F. Logisz Great Hall, the Museum’s largest exhibition space. The expansion was necessary to accommodate the substantial collection transferred to Chicago from the Polish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

The Pavilion opened on 3 May 1939, the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. On 1 September that year, Nazi Germany invaded Poland; on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The Polish government went into exile, initially in France, before moving to London in 1940.

The Polish government-in-exile sought to prevent the Pavilion’s collections from returning to war-torn Europe, where they were at risk of destruction. The exhibits were therefore sold to Polish organisations in the United States, and the majority entered the collection of the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. Today, the PMA holds approximately 65 per cent of the Polish Pavilion’s original collection.

In 1941, the original Museum room was rededicated as the Paderewski Room after Paderewski’s sister, Antonina Wilkońska (1857–1941), donated a collection of his personal effects following his death in New York that year. As its collections continued to grow, the Museum gradually expanded. In 1959, it gained autonomous status and adopted its present name: The Polish Museum of America.

Current Activities

Today, the PMA is one of Chicago’s leading centres of Polish culture. It organises art exhibitions, concerts, performances, film screenings, library and museum lessons and educational workshops for children, young people and adults. Its programme also includes lectures on history, literature and art, meetings with authors, book launches and a wide range of associated events open to the public.

The Museum works with numerous national institutions in Poland. Its partners include the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the POLONIKA National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, the National Library of Poland and the State Archives Head Office. It also cooperates with the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Poland’s national museums, the Jagiellonian Library, the Polish History Museum, the Museum of Writing and Printing, the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America and the Institute of National Remembrance.

In 2016, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage awarded the PMA the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. In 2018, following cooperation with the State Archives Head Office, selected records from the Museum’s Polish National Department collection were entered on the Polish National List of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme. In 2021, the Institute of National Remembrance awarded the PMA the Custodian of National Memory Prize.

The Museum also works with Polish institutions around the world through the Standing Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries Abroad. On 24–28 September 2024, the PMA hosted the 46th Session of the Standing Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries Abroad.

In Chicago and elsewhere in the United States, the PMA cooperates with ethnic museums and organisations belonging to the Chicago Cultural Alliance. These partnerships include family programmes that explore the shared experiences of Chicago’s ethnic communities, including Poles and Haitians, as well as Poles, Mexicans and Germans. The Museum works with the Polish American Librarians Association and the Chicago Public Library on reading programmes, the promotion of Polish literature and the preparation of reference materials for readers of all ages. It also cooperates with the Tatra Mountain Cultural Foundation and the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America in organising the annual Polish Highlander Day. The programme includes lectures and workshops on Highlander culture, regional education for families, concerts, communal singing and dancing.

The Polish Teachers Association in America works with the PMA to provide library and museum lessons for children and young people from more than 40 Polish Saturday schools throughout the Chicago area. Their cooperation also includes thematic competitions and Olympiads, as well as meetings and professional development for teachers. The Polish Genealogical Society of America provides genealogical services, including assistance in tracing the Polish and Polish-American roots of individuals and families. The PMA also cooperates with the Chicago History Museum in organising exhibitions, associated events and lectures. It is a major source of archival material on the Polish-American community for the Chicago institution. In 2023, the Chicago History Museum opened the exhibition “Back Home: Polish Chicago”, developed in collaboration with the PMA and other partner institutions.

The Museum’s partnerships with universities include student visits, internships, volunteering opportunities and the promotion of academic publications. Participating institutions include the University of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago and DePaul University, among others. The PMA also works with professional organisations such as the Polish American Medical Society, organising medical lectures, conferences with public health talks and advice for families with children and older people.

Its partners also include the Association of Polish Journalists in America, with which it organises meetings, anniversary events and press conferences for distinguished Museum guests. These guests have included Presidents and First Ladies of Poland, government ministers, the Marshals of the Senate and Sejm and other prominent public figures. The PMA also cooperates with the Polish Theater Congress in Chicago on theatre events for audiences of all ages, as well as with many other institutions and organisations.

List of Objects

The list above contains catalogue records for objects included in the Database of Polonica.