The Polish Singers Alliance of America 1888-1998: Choral Patriotism

This book examines the history of the Polish Singers Alliance of America (PSAA) as an ideological organization. As a case study of an immigrant cultural organization that evolved demographically into an ethnic organization of the succeeding generations, it documents the extent to which the politics of the homeland engaged an immigrant and ethnic community over a century. This is a study of immigrant nationalism, as articulated by immigrant and ethnic singing societies. The survival of the Polish Singers Alliance as an ideological organization suggests considerations about the ability of an immigrant and ethnic culture to resist and to adapt to America's assimilative powers. The Alliance was a federalism of amateur choirs. Its history cannot be understood without reference to the political fate of modern Poland over the last two centuries. This book situates the origins of the PSAA within the history of Poland during the partitions, as well as its commitment to Polish independence and to the preservation and propagation of culture through song. As the children and grandchildren of the immigrants succeeded them, the Alliance subsequently evolved into an ethnic organization with numerous American-born individuals. After the recovery of Polish sovereignty, which by coincidence occurred in 1989 when the Alliance celebrated its centennial, questions arose about the role of such an ideological organization in the new political context. The late Stanislaus A. Blejwas was CSU University Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University.