Polish National Alliance
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The Polish National Alliance (pol. Związek Narodowy Polski) (PNA) is the largest and one of the oldest Polish fraternal organizations in the United States, founded on 15 February 1880 in Philadelphia under the influence of Polish patriot Agaton Giller. Its first president was Juliusz Andrzejkowicz.
The PNA founded a number of publishing and educational institutions. From 1912 to 1991 it owned Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. The organization founded the Polish Library in Chicago and Immigrants House in New York. In 1910 it built the monument of Tadeusz Kościuszko in Washington, D.C.
In the years 1912–1914 the PNA financially supported the Commission of the Temporary Confederated Independence Movements. During World War I it collaborated with the Polish National League and the Polish National Committee in Paris. During World War II it backed the Polish Government in exile. In 1944 it was a co-founder of the Polish American Congress (pol. Kongres Polonii Amerykańskiej). In 1968 it requested that the US Congress recognize Polish-German borders along the Oder-Neisse line. In 1971 it lobbied for a new Congressional inquiry into the Katyn Forest Massacre.
Since the end of the 19th century the PNA has been the largest Polish fraternal organization in the USA with assets of 0.5 billion dollars as a result of insurance activity (the only requirement of membership is to buy an insurance policy - life, health etc), and returns from banks and media they own, such as Dziennik Związkowy (Polish Daily News), and WPNA AM in Oak Park, Illinois.
The main authority of the organization is its Convention named Sejm Związkowy, held every 4 years, but the government is the Zarząd with the president of the PNA, and the Board of Directors (pol. Rada Dyrektorów).
The supreme comptroller of the organization is Censor of the PNA (pol. cenzor ZNP), who is responsible only before the Sejm. PNA edits its own paper "Zgoda" which is delivered free to all members.
The national headquarters of the Polish National Alliance is in the Forest Glen area of Chicago and is visible from the Edens Expressway. The headquarters was relocated here in the 1970s from Chicago's Polish Triangle in West Town.
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[edit] Major events
- 1880 Founding of the PNA in Philadelphia on February 15. The new organization held its first Convention in September in Chicago; its aims included the betterment of the immigrants and freedom for Poland.
- 1881 Zgoda, the official publication of the Alliance, was established through the efforts of Frank Gryglaszewski, later Censor of the PNA.
- 1886 Creation of the PNA fraternal insurance program, the first of this kind in the Polish-American community. The program was formally chartered by the state of Illinois in 1896. In the year 2000, members held over $800 million of insurance coverage through the Alliance.
- 1891 The first PNA library was set up to the educational enlightenment of Polish Americans.
- 1900 Formal recognition of women's rights in PNA life was win; Valeria Lipczynska was the first major women's leader in the fraternal.
- 1908 The PNA established its own daily newspaper, Dziennik Związkowy, in Chicago.
- 1910 The PNA sponsored the first Polish National Congress in Washington, D.C., to support the causes of Poland's independence. Monuments to Kosciuszko and Pulaski were dedicated in the nation's capital, also thanks to the PNA.
- 1912 Alliance College opened. The school was active for 75 years. PNA membership topped 100,000.
- 1924 PNA membership topped 200,000.
- 1932 The PNA Polish scouting movement, Harcerstwo, was created. At its height, it included 52,000 youngsters in its ranks.
- 1944 The PNA under President Charles Rozmarek took the lead in organizing the Polish American Congress (PAC, pol. Kongres Polonii Amerykańskiej), Polonia's political action federation, in World War II. Its relief agency shipped $150 million in goods to Polish refugees around the world. Organization was actively engaged after the War in helping resettle Polish displaced persons in the US. PNA membership topped 200,000.
- 1960 PNA assets exceeded $100 million.
- 1977 The PNA dedicated its third national home office at 6100 North Cicero Avenue in Chicago.
- 1980 President Jimmy Carter visited Chicago to speak at the PNA's 100th annversary banquet. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan visited the PNA home office; in 1992 President George H.W. Bush appeared there too.
- 1986 PNA assets exceeded $200 million. Next year the radio station WPNA gone on the air.
- 1989 President Edward Moskal traveled to Poland as the head of thee PAC delegation to express Polonia's strong support for the newly installed Solidarity-led government.
- 1996 PNA assets exceeded $300 million. Three years later PNA established its own bank to further advance its fraternal mission.
- 2003 PNA assets exceeded $400 million. Merges with Cleveland's Union of Poles
- 2006 PNA assets exceeded $500 million.
- 2007 PNA 45th National Convention was held in Jersey City, NJ.
- 2008 PNA newspaper Dziennik Zwiazkowy celebrated its 100 years.
[edit] Prominent Alumni
- Leon S. Talaska, M.D., humanitarian physician
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Pienkos, Donald E.: At the Dawning of the New Millennium, Chicago, 2000.
