The Alliance of Poles of America is an ethnic fraternal-insurance organization established in Cleveland, Ohio, in September 1895. Originally named the Alliance of Poles in Ohio, this organization was founded by members of Group 143 of the Polish National Alliance who were dissatisfied with that body's decision to admit non-Roman Catholic Poles to membership.
The Alliance initially received most of its membership from the Cleveland area and from Ohio cities with substantial Polish communities. In 1917, however, the organization changed its name to the Alliance of Poles of America in order to more accurately reflect its growing membership outside of the state of Ohio.
By the 1920s and 1930s, the Alliance had evolved into a substantial enterprise. In 1925-1926 it constructed a large headquarters building and meeting hall on Broadway Avenue in the heart of Cleveland's Polish community in the Slavic Village neighborhood. By the late 1930s, its membership exceeded 20,000. It maintained over sixty "groups" in the Cleveland area as well as groups in the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania. During this decade, it also began the independent publication of its own house organ, Zwiazkowiez (The Alliancer).
The Alliance has functioned as a major insurance organization although it is far less structured in terms of membership requirements than during its early history. Membership is open to men and women and to individuals with other than Polish or Roman Catholic background.
The Alliance of Poles of America Photographs, 1917-1970, consist of portraits and views of businesses, clubs, athletes, musicians, and events associated with or relating to the Alliance of Poles of America, a fraternal-insurance organization established in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1895. Included are views of the Alliance of Poles of America General Office at Broadway and Forman Avenue and portraits of members of its Central Governing Board during the 1930s and 1940s. Also included are World War II military portraits of members of Cleveland's Polish American community. The collection includes approximately 500 black and white photographs that measure 13 x 10 inches and smaller.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the Polish immigrant community of Cleveland, Ohio, in the twentieth century, and the history of fraternal organizations.
The collection is arranged in two series. Each series is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
The researcher should also consult MS 3930 Alliance of Poles of America Records; and MS 3962 Alliance of Poles of America Group 87 Records.
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[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 269 Alliance of Poles of America Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
These photographs were removed from MS 3930 Alliance of Poles of America Records. Gift of the Alliance of Poles of America in 1972.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.