Polish Parishes of the Diocese of La
Crosse: Nineteenth & Twentieth Centuries
Written by Reverend Janusz
Kowalski, Ph.D ; (Stevens
Point, WI: Point Publications, 2013).
Pp. 276, ISBN 978-0-9837283-5-1.
This book
was original reviewed by John M. Grondelski
Polish American
Studies, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Fall 2014), pp. 91-93
John M.
Grondelski, reviewer, [with written permission granted] “As these parishes disappear, the imperative
to record their history grows ever greater.
Fr. Janusz Kowalski, who holds a doctorate in history from the
University of Rzeszów, contributes to the cause with this history of Polish
churches in the Diocese of La Crosse, which today covers 19 counties in central
and southwest Wisconsin, the state currently with the highest percentage of
claimants of Polish ancestry in its population.”
After
some sleuthing I found the book, and purchased a copy. As a Wisconsin
Genealogist and historian of Polish genealogy research, I feel this book is a
good buy to add to my reference shelf.
The book
is about the Polish immigrants settling in Wisconsin from 1868 to 2000 in the
La Crosse Diocese. The boundaries were ever changing, and Appendix maps
are included with the changes. It
covers brief church histories and in many cases pictures of the churches. Of
the 37 churches covered; here is a sample list; St. Florian
of Hately, St. Peters in Stevens Point, Sacred Heart of Jesus of Cassel, St
Stanislaus in Superior, St. Mary’s of Hurley, Peplin, Lublin, Wausau and more.
Informative
chapters about the schools and the Fraternal organizations, such as the
Catholic Order of Foresters, Rosary Society and the history of them.
A brief
chapter is about the Roadside shrines and cemeteries, and the Polish traditions
linked to them.
Traditions
of Polish Catholic Baptism, Funerals, and Wedding customs. I caught myself, a
catholic, pole, saying to myself, “That’s why they did that” on more than one
occasion.
The book
is footnoted and Bibliography included with some websites for further
information and sources.
Cost:
19.50 + 6.00 shipping
You can
order your copy the old fashioned way, by mail:
Reverend
Janus Kowalski
St.
Therese
Attn;
Mary Kluman
112 W
Kourt Street
Schofield,
WI 54476 By: Nadine Guilbault
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