Title: Polish Legion of American Veterans. Wisconsin State Dept.: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1947-1979

Creator:

• Polish Legion of American Veterans. Wisconsin State Dept.

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 53

Quantity: 1.8 c.f. (5 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Wisconsin unit of the Polish Legion of American Veterans, with headquarters in Milwaukee, consisting of administrative records, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, news releases, rosters of officers and members, reports of the state and post commanders, and other papers. Also included are minutes and memoranda of the national PLAV organization, with rosters and reports of the eight individual posts located in Wisconsin.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00053

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The Polish Legion of American Veterans, the largest organization of American veterans of Polish ancestry in the U.S., was formed in 1931. Comprising the new group were Alliance of American Veterans of Polish Extraction organizations from Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan, and the Polish Legion of the American Army from New York. The name was taken from the 58th New York Infantry Regiment commanded during the Civil War by General Wladimir Krzyzanowski, and known as the “Polish Legion.”

The first chapter, or post, of the Polish Legion of American Veterans organized in Wisconsin was Woodrow Wilson Post #11, founded on Milwaukee's south side on September 28, 1923. The founder and first commander was Walter Lewandowski. Other Wisconsin posts soon followed, including Walter J. Muszynski Post #26, Cudahy; Thaddeus Kosciuszko Post #33, Racine; George Washington Post #34, Kenosha; Quentin Roosevelt Post #48, Milwaukee (now inactive?) John Kobus (now Kobus-Molenda) Post #49, South Milwaukee; Richard Jakubiak Post #67, Milwaukee; St. Francis Post #172, St. Francis; and Sgt. Gerald Bannach Post #173, Stevens Point. The individual posts are united under the Wisconsin or State Department of the PLAV, which in turn is a division of the national PLAV. The State Department was incorporated in 1967. In its 1968 Constitution, the Wisconsin Department listed as its purposes “to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, to encourage active interest in all manifestations and demonstrations of patriotic nature, to combat the destructive propaganda of communism, and to maintain and preserve the true spirit of fraternity and patriotism arising from the sacrifices in the World Wars and to perpetuate friendships and associations arising therefrom by mutual aid and co-operation in patriotic, charitable, educational and civic activities.”

Membership in the PLAV is open to any American citizen of Polish or part-Polish ancestry, or one married to a person of Polish or part-Polish ancestry, who has served in the U.S. armed forces. A ladies' auxiliary was formed in 1925. The PLAV and the ladies' auxiliary hold state conventions biennially and local meetings monthly.

PLAV activities include patriotic parades and commemorative ceremonies for Veterans and Memorial Days, fund-raising and volunteer support for veterans' hospitals, rallying support for the war in Vietnam, and such social events as bowling tournaments, a queen contest, dinners and banquets, and dances.

The collection consists of records on the national and Wisconsin department of PLAV, and on individual Wisconsin PLAV posts, collected by the officers of the State Department. Included are constitutions and by-laws, incorporation papers; correspondence and memos, with many from the national organization; a manual of rituals and ceremonies; minutes of state department meetings, national and state conventions, and national executive committee meetings; newsletters; news releases; reports; and rosters. Regarding the individual posts are rosters of officers and members, and reports of the post commanders, usually submitted following the monthly post meetings. A small file of address cards also gives information about members.

Most of the records date from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s; the more recent material was incorporated from the records of the Ladies' Auxiliary, which form a separate collection.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Polish Legion of American Veterans, Wisconsin State Department, via Norbert Pulkowiak, and by the Polish Legion of American Veterans, Wisconsin State Department Ladies' Auxiliary, via Rosemarie Broskowski, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1981. Accession Number: M81-184, M81-361

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, April 1982.

Box   1 Folder   1	Applications for Post Charter, 1971
Box   1 Folder   2	Attendance Records, State Department Meetings, 1963-1967
Box   1 Folder   3	Constitutions and By-Laws, 1968, 1976
Box   1 Folder   4-8	Correspondence and Memos, 1961-1978, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Honorary Members, 1966-1969
Box   1 Folder   10	Incorporation Papers, 1967
Box   1 Folder   11	Manual of Rituals and Ceremonies, 1960
	Minutes of State Department Meetings
Box   4 Volume   1	Minute Book, 1954 August-1961 December
Box   4 Volume   2	Minute Book, 1962 January-1965 September
Box   4 Volume   3	Minute Book, 1965 October-1969 February
Box   1 Folder   12	1964 September-1965 February
	Minutes and Programs of National Conventions
Box   4 Folder   1	1948-1950, undated
Box   2 Folder   1	1966-1976
Box   2 Folder   2	National Executive Committee Meetings, Minutes and Reports, 1965-1969
	Minutes and Programs of State Conventions
Box   4 Folder   2	1947-1961
Box   2 Folder   3-5	1949-1979
Box   2 Folder   6	Miscellany
Box   3 Folder   1	Newsletters, 1975-1979
Box   3 Folder   2	News Releases, 1974-1976
Box   3 Folder   3-6	Reports of State Commander and Post Commanders, 1966-1973
Box   3 Folder   7	Rosters of State Department Officers, 1964-1967, 1972, 1978-1979
	Rosters of Officers and Members
Box   3 Folder   8	Post #11 (Woodrow Wilson Post), 1964-1970
Box   3 Folder   9	Post #26 (Walter J. Muszynski Post), 1966-1970
Box   3 Folder   10	Post #33 (Thaddeus Kosciuszko Post), 1967-1970
Box   3 Folder   11	Post #34 (George Washington Post), 1966-1970
Box   3 Folder   12	Post #49 (Kobus-Molenda Post), 1966-1970
Box   3 Folder   13	Post #67 (Richard Jakubiak Post), 1968-1970
Box   3 Folder   14	Post #172, St. Francis, Wisconsin (St. Francis Post), 1968-1970
Box   3 Folder   15	Post #173, Stevens Point, Wisconsin (Sgt. Gerald Bannach Post), 1969-1970
Box   3 Folder   16	Rules for State Conventions, 1966, undated
Box   5	Address Cards, 1968-1972