White and Red Umbrella

This volume recounts the history of the goals and activities of the Polish American Congress under the presidencies of Charles Rozmarek (1944-1968) and Aloysius Mazewski (1968-1988) who shaped its image in the Cold War era. It deals with the activities of the PAC in representing Polish American interests, as a coordinator of various Polish American endeavors, as a lobbying organization, and as an institution providing cultural and social unity for Poles in America. it discusses internal and external factors that influenced the Congress, portrays the personalities of its activists and examines the PAC's achievements and shortcomings. despite its significance in both the Polish American community and the political clout that it wields, the PAC has not attracted much scholarly attention. This comprehensive and well-researched history of the largest European ethnic group of Slavic origin in North America will be valuable to scholar and layman alike. The material in this volume is based on research conducted at the Immigration History Research Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the archival materials of the national headquarters of the POlish American Congress are deposited and in other American and Polish archives where supplementary materials and holdings of local PAC branches can be found.