Date of Award
Spring 1939
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication
Abstract
Because the Polish language press has been a prime instrument in the social, economic, and political life of Polish-Americans for approximately seventy-five years and even today is a factor in the affairs of some four-and-a-half million American citizens of Polish extraction, the author of this thesis has attempted to collect and make available information on this subject for English-speaking-and-reading people. For practical and convenient consideration, this thesis divides itself into primary and secondary purposes. The primary purpose was twofold: 1) to bring up-to-date and complete under one cover all information on the Polish-American press, 2) to make available to English readers data on this subject which is written in Polish and has been hitherto inaccessible to them. The work of gathering and organizing this material has been inspired in a large part by estimates of individuals and authorities to the effect that all foreign-language press in this country--Polish included-- is definitely on the decline and that it is only a matter of a decade or two when it will definitely disappear. If this were so, then, some compilation of data on the entire subject should be invaluable to future students of journalism, history, politics, and sociology. Further, it is hoped that this thesis will thereby serve to create a better understanding of the activities and problems of the Polish-American citizens by the English-speaking-and-reading element in this country. Supplementing the primary aims of this work, the writer has essayed, 1) to investigate and study the trend of the Polish-language press in this country to see if it is waning, and if so, to provide a permanent record while sources are still available; 2) to examine the part played by the Polish-language press in preserving the spirit of nationalism within the immigrants and the part it played in the re-establishment of the new Republic of Poland; 3; to learn the part played by the Polish-language press in orientating the immigrants to the customs and practices of their adopted country.
Recommended Citation
Olszyk, Edmund G., "The Polish Press in America" (1939). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 5304.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/5304