New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-09
THE PEOPLE OF HOLYOKE
GREAT PROPORTION OF THEM
FOREIGNERS.
WHAT rs BEING DONE FOR THEIR
ANIZATION-FORCES OF
LAW, EDUCATION AND
EXAMPLE.

IIolyoke. Mass. Nov. s CspeciaD.-A city Of 5000
people 50 per cent Of them foreign born or the sons
and daughters Of foreign born parents-such Is
Holyoke. the Paper CITY. the busiest hive OF indus
try in the Connecticut Valley. What a place 10
study the evolution Of the immigrant; What
problem for the native born minority 10 solve-the
transforming Of the predominating foreigners by
education and example into good American cIt-
zens
No other city in the country has so large a
foreign population in comparison to its size. No
city has been more successful in its efforts 10 grasp
the foreign situation and turn II TO the good OF the
city and the State The Americanization of Holyoke
has been underway for years, but never more ac-
lively than the present time
In a few days coffee house and rest room,
memorial TO one Of the cty's most successful
manufactures VIII be opened for the working girls
Of South Holyoke. A fund is now being raised 10
build a new home for the Holyoke Boys Club-the
pioneer organization Of its kind in the country and
Of the largest Extraordinary efforts are being
put forth get the iterate into night schools, TO
teach them 10 read and write English one big mill
has adopted a system Of profit sharing and an
other feeds its help the hour al cost These
are the straws of immediate activity which show
the way the wind is Notwithstanding toward a
great Arnericanized Holyoke.
The history Of the foreign invasion OF the Paper
City IS interesting. though not the least difficult to
understand great as it has become, If one goes
back far enough in the first place, it is almost
impossible 10 find native Of the city among the
older men. we All moved mere from some place or
other" is the way of the oldest of them put it.
1T remained for our children 10 be born in
Holyoke"
when the valley was first settled the hardy
pioneers damned the smaller streams flowing into
the Connecticut ana secured a water power about
which they built their towns The supreme power.
that Of the volcanic dam. the bend OF the river
about which Holyoke has been built, they could
not utilize Their crude engineering was not
pabe Of Harvesting the main river
II was in 1850 that capital combined with
cheering skill attempted TO throw a dam across
the Connecticut. Hundreds Of Irishmen. driven
from Erin by the famine OF few years before
came do the work. They brought their families
with them and squatted novels on the blun
river bank above the site Of the dam. The first
dam was washed away, but second held, and
the future Of Bolyoke assured
The Irish dam builders found work in building
up the city, and later were employed in the
mills. They held 10 their homes the river
bank and soon il became known as The Patch"
II still the Irish quarter, though its location IS
the finest about Holyoke and under ordinary cir
cunstances il would be the finest residence part.
The introduction Of the other nationalities came
as series Of waves. To go back little-until 1870
the mills of New England We're worked by the sons
and daughters Of American farmers. The cotton
mills especially filed with American girls.
Che Irish came by thousands about that time and
The American girls were crowded out well
many OF the Not without protest however.
rs the Know Nothing" riots show. The Irish had
their turn Tor nunOer OF years Mnen along came
many French Canadians who could and would
work cheaper The irish were forced into some
thing better. just the Americans had been be
fore them. Now the French are being pushed on
by Poles. Hungarian Jews and Italians.
So has IL been in Hoyoke. The French Cana
dams followed the Irish and located in The
Flat" as the lower part % the city is called. When
South Holyoke built up the French came in num-
bers, along with many Germans, and the district
was known as Tiger Town"-perhaps from the
fierce feuds between the people who had been enc
mics IN their native lands.
The Polish invasion has started, and the people
are coming in rapidly increasing numbers Al
ready several streets centring about Oliver-st.
which Highest. the principal business
thorouglfane. is flled with them. They have built
and given good support 10 a church. though they
are such newcomers that their strange customs
with weddings and funerals stin the wonder
OF those who came before them.
Now for the problem Of widely different races
forming fOur-hfths Of population of $1,000. How
can they be Americanized. NEWCOMERS. familiar