The Kwasniewski Collection includes a striking number of photographs dealing with sport. The majority of these are posed shots of athletic squads representing parish schools, clubs, or workplaces, mixed with occasional examples of live competition.
Sport played a key role in the life of immigrant neighborhoods such as the Polish South Side in the early twentieth century. Social reformers of the Progressive Era encouraged the introduction of immigrant youths to the strenuous games of the New World as a wholesome and healthful outlet for juvenile energy, and in the belief that the teamwork and friendly competition associated with athletics could serve as a school for American and democratic values. Success in the distinctively “American” sports, such as baseball or football, functioned as a source of pride within the urban ethnic enclaves, as proof that their progeny could “make the grade” in their adopted homeland, while also speeding and facilitating the acculturation of the immigrant groups into the way of life of the United States.
Neal Pease
Professor, History
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee