Cultural History Commons^™

Oral History: John Bartosiewicz

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview touches on a variety of aspects of life in the community, from school and parish life, to Polishness and the significance of language, and the effects of suburbanization.

Interview keywords: St. Mary’s, church / parish, all Polish, PNI, women’s guild, basketball, immigrant, Polishness, language, John Paul II, I-290, suburbs.

Oral History: Richard Lewandowski

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses much about the Polish-American experience, from the Polish diaspora, the effects of I-290 and discrimination on the community in Worcester, as well as the effect of global events such as the rise of Solidarity on the Worcester parish.

Interview keywords: St. Mary’s, English, displaced people, I-290, Polish-American parish, Solidarity, Polishness, John Paul II, discrimination, education, Church

Oral History: ​Carol Fredette

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former teacher at the Polish-American high school in Worcester, Saint Mary’s. The interviewee is not Polish, but of Lebanese descent, so provides the point of view of someone who came from outside the community yet still became a part of it. The interview touches on the rising importance of the English language, the Church’s centrality, ethnic parishes, school life, and high school basketball.

Interview keywords: English, ethnic parish, church, nun, club, basketball

Oral History: Anonymous 1

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses aspects of community life, the neighborhood’s ethnic composition, as well as the effect of I-290 on the neighborhood.

Interview keywords: festivals, non-Polish, White Eagle Club, PNA, PNI, Booster’s, crime, expressway, Polish language

Oral History: Irene Rojcewicz

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. The interview discusses aspects of life in the parish of Czestochowa, from festivals to clubs, to tensions within the diocese, as well as trips organized by the parish to travel to Poland.

Interview keywords: festivals, clubs, English, tension, Poland, John Paul II.

Oral History: Charlene Zimkiewicz

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a longtime member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. This interview touches on difficulties the parish faced, tensions between different groups, school life, and the transition from an ethnic community to a public college.

Interview keywords: ethnic communities, festivals, Irish, fire, I-290, White Eagle Club, basketball, languages, college, immigrants, universal, June Show.

Oral History: John Kraska

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former member of Worcester’s Polish-American community. This interview touches on community and church life, immigration, divisions in the city, and the effect of I-290 on the community.

Interview keywords: English, festivities, church, I-290, Quo Vadis, White Eagle Club, PNI, sections, basketball, displaced persons.

Oral History: Thaddeus Stachura

Zycie w Ameryce: A Collection of Polish-American Oral Histories

This conversation is an oral history interview with a former pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa parish, the center of Worcester’s Polish American community. This interview discusses much of the history of the community from its beginnings and delves into the life of a parish priest, while also touching on topics such as immigration, Church corruption, community life and difficulties, and local festivals.

Interview keywords: immigrants, Saint Casimir’s, difficulties, seminary, Bojanowski, Moneta, vocation, dompolski, immoral, Polish priest, Solidarity, redlining, violence, festival, PNI, citizenship.

Petition Of Prisoners In Worcester Jail To Extend The Prison Yard, September 8, 1784., Elijah Isaacson, George Shayer, Jacob Ellison, Henry Chase, Jonathan Willington, Daniel Novell, Asa Danforth, Matthew Knight

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

The prisoners ask that the prison yard at Worcester jail be extended to accomodate the increasing number of prisoners.

List Of Prisoners In Jail, Worcester, Massachusetts, September 6, 1785., Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

List of prisoners "confined in the common goal in Worcester in the County of Worcester," September 6, 1785. Next to the prisoners' names are the charges for which they are confined.

List Of Prisoners In Jail, Worcester, Massachusetts, June 6, 1785., Worcester County

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

List of prisoners "confined in the Common Goal in Worcester." List includes names of prisoners and charges for which they were imprisoned.

Worcester County Court Of General Sessions Document Determining That A New Jail Should Be Built, June 10, 1784., Worcester County Court Of General Sessions, Worcester County, Abel Wilder

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

This document notes that the current jail is "Very inconvenient + insufficient for the safety of the County[,] Comfort of the Prisoners" and it is necessary to build a new jail on a new plot of land.

Order To Choose Juror For Grand Jury And Petit Jury, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1765., George William Frederick

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

This record orders the selection of jurors from the "good and lawful men" of Worcester to serve on the Grand Jury and Petit Jury at the Court of General Sessions of the Peace. February 15, 1765. On the verso a handwritten notice enumerates the men chosen for each jury.