page_title: History of Poles in the United States
section_title: Immigration agents and Ellis Island
hierarchical_section_title: History of Poles in the United States / 1870–1914 / Wave of Polish immigration / Immigration agents and Ellis Island
caption_attribution_description: English: A polish mother holding up her baby for the doctor at Ellis Island
context_page_description: The history of Poles in the United States dates to the American Colonial era. Poles have lived in present-day United States territories for over 400 years—since 1608. There are 10 million Americans of Polish descent in the U.S. today, making it the largest diaspora of Poles in the world. Polish Americans have always been the largest group of Slavic origin in the United States.
  Historians divide Polish American immigration into three "waves", the largest from 1870 to 1914, a second after World War II, and a third after Poland's independence in 1989. Most Polish Americans are descended from the first wave, when millions of Poles fled Polish districts of Germany, Russia, and Austria. This group is often called the za chlebem immigrants because most were peasants in Poland who did not own land and lacked basic subsistence. Austrian Poles were from Galicia, unarguably the most destitute region in Europe at the time. Up to a third of Poles living in the United States returned to Poland after a few years, but the majority stayed.
context_section_description: Immigration from Poland was primarily conducted at Ellis Island, New York, although some people entered via Castle Garden and to a lesser extent, in Baltimore. Ellis Island developed an infamous reputation among Polish immigrants and their children. An American reporter in the 1920s found that Polish immigrants were treated as "third class", and were subject to humiliation, profanity, and brutality at Ellis Island. The  Cleveland Polish language daily Wiadomości Codzienne (Polish Daily News) reported that officers at Ellis Island demanded women to strip from the waist up in public view. The immigration of paupers was forbidden by the U.S. Congress beginning with the Immigration Act of 1882. A newsman at Castle Garden found in a single ship of arriving passengers, 265 were "Poles and Slavonians", and 60 were detained as "destitute and likely to become public charges." Polish Americans were disgusted by the Immigration Act of 1924 which restricted Polish immigration to 1890 levels, when there was no Polish nation. A Polish American newspaper stated, "...If the Americans wish to have more Germans and fewer Slavs, why don't they admit that publicly!?" It further went to examine the recent World War with Germany, which was America's enemy, whereas the Polish had been patriotic and loyal to the U.S. Armed Services. Polish Americans were unconvinced that the immigration decreases of the 1920s were for the "protection" of American workers, and Polish language newspapers reflected their distrust and suspicion of racial undertones behind immigration legislation.
  Official records of the number of Polish immigrants to the United States are highly inconsistent. A general estimate of over 2 million Polish immigrants is generally stated. Reports as high as 4 million Polish immigrants to the United States has been written, which could be possible if non-Polish immigrants is considered in the total. Polish immigrants were categorized by U.S. immigration agents by nation of origin, usually Austria, Prussia, or Russia (between 1898 and 1919, there was no Polish nation). Immigrants during this time were allowed to write or say their "race or people" to an agent. Documents report 1.6 million immigrants arriving between 1821 and 1924 self-reported as being of "Polish race". This is considered an undercount, caused by misinterpretation of the question. Ellis Island officials checked immigrants for weapons and criminal inclinations. In an 1894 news article, Ellis Island inspectors identify daggers found on several Polish immigrants as a reason for increased inspection techniques.
  Immigration officials at Ellis Island questioned immigrants for their settlement plans, and found that the majority entered the United States with deliberate plans for working on farms and factories, generally in communities with other Poles. A Polish settlement was stated as Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, where Polish immigrants settled to perform agricultural work.
  The clothing industry in New York City was staffed by many immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Historian Witold Kula found that many Jewish immigrants, and to a much lesser extent, Italians, were identified upon their arrival to the United States as having work background as tailors even if they did not. Kula identified several letters written by Jewish immigrants back to their families in Poland indicating that they were just learning the trade, when in fact, they had papers stating that it was their native profession. The new immigrants generally did not speak English nor did the immigration agents speak any Polish, Yiddish, or Italian. Kula suggests that the Immigration agents were influenced by the demands of the workforce and essentially staffed the industries based on their expectations of each ethnic group. By 1912, the needle trades were the largest employer of Polish Jews in the United States, and 85% of the needle trade employees were Eastern European Jews.
caption: Polish mother holding up her baby for the doctor, Ellis Island. 1913
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