ANNOUNCER: THE PRESENTATION OF TOLEDO STORIES IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY KEY BANK CELEBRATING THE STRENGTH OF OUR REGIONS HISTORY AND SUPPORTING THE PROMISE OF ITS FUTURE.

KEY BANK ACHIEVE ANYTHING.

AND BY THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

THANK YOU.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: HELLO, I'M TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO.

ON THIS EPISODE OF TOLEDO STORIES.

WE PRESENT CORNERSTONES: THE POLISH IN TOLEDO WHICH ORIGINALLY AIRED IN 1997 ON WGTE.

MANY PEOPLE STRUGGLED TO COME TO AMERICAN BUT PERHAPS NO OTHER IMMIGRANT TO TOLEDO WORKED AS HARD AS TOFIL SADOWSKI TO GET HERE.

IN 1863 SADOWSKI WAS A 24 YEAR OLD NEWLYWED JUST BEGINNING LIFE ON A SMALL FARM NEAR StUPSK IN RUSSIAN CONTROLLED POLAND.

BUT THAT YEAR REBELLION AGAINST RUSSIAN OCCUPATION BROKE OUT AND SADOWSKI LEFT HIS FARM AND HIS BRIDE TO JOIN A BAND OF GORILLAS.

BEFORE THEY HAD TIME TO TRAIN AS A UNIT THEY WERE ATTACKED AND LOST A TENTH OF THEIR MEN.

THE SURVIVORS REGROUPED IN A FOREST AND WERE SURROUNDED AND BESET BY WAVE AFTER WAVE OF RUSSIAN ASSAULTS.

THEY HELD OUT FOR THREE DAYS, LONGER THEN THEIR AMMUNITION.

SADOWSKI WAS WOUNDED BUT ALLUDED HIS PURSUERS AND MADE IT BACK TO HIS FARM.

ONCE HE HEALED HE REJOINED THE REBELS AND FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF LUBERTOFT WHERE ONE FOURTH OF HIS BRIGADE WAS KILLED.

WOUNDED AGAIN, THIS TIME SADOWSKI WAS CAPTURED AND WAS SENTENCED TO TWELVE YEARS OF HARD LABOR IN SIBERIA.

THREE YEARS LATER IN A CAMP NEAR LAKE BAIKALL, SADOWSKI AND SEVEN HUNDRED POLISH PRISONERS STAGED A REVOLT WHICH WAS QUICKLY PUT DOWN AND SADOWSKI WAS SENT TO THE FEARED PRISON AT CAREY A WORD THAT TRANSLATES AS PUNISHMENT.

HE SPENT SEVEN YEARS IN THAT HOLE THEN ANOTHER NINE IN A CAMP DEEP IN THE IRKUTSK DESERT.

THEN IN 1882 SADOWSKI WAS RELEASED ON THE PROMISE THAT HE NEVER RETURN TO POLAND.

SADOWSKI IGNORED THESE CONDITIONS AND BEGAN A LONG WALK WESTWARD HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF MILES TO THE PRUSSIAN BORDER.

HE HID OUT IN FORESTS AND SEWERS TO AVOID BORDER PATROLS.

ONCE ACROSS HE SENT A LETTER TO THE WIFE HE HAD NOT SEEN IN SEVENTEEN YEARS AND INSTRUCTED HER TO SELL THE FARM AND COME WITH HIM TO AMERICA.

SADOWSKI WOULD FINALLY ARRIVE IN TOLEDO AROUND 1890 WHERE HE SET UP A CLOTHING SHOP ON THE CORNER OF LAGRANGE AND HAUSMAN.

AT THE END OF THE PROGRAM I WILL SHOW YOU HOW YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE POLISH HISTORY OF THE POLISH COMMUNITY IN TOLEDO AS I SPEAK WITH JIM MARSHALL DIRECTOR OF THE LOCAL HISTORY CENTER AT THE TOLEDO LUCAS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

I WILL SHOW SOME RARE IMAGES FROM THE WGTE FILM AND VIDEO ARCHIVES.

AND NOW TOLEDO STORIES PRESENTS CORNERSTONES: THE POLISH IN TOLEDO.

(VIOLIN MUSIC) WOMAN: IT WAS A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD TO GROW UP IN.

IT WAS UM A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT GAVE YOU SENSE OF BELONGING BECAUSE ALMOST EVERYBODY WAS POLISH AND WE ALL ENJOYED THE SAME TRADITIONS AND CULTURE.

MAN #1: THIS IS WHERE I STARTED MY BUSINESS.

THIS IS WHERE I UH GOT MARRIED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND STAYED FOR A LONG LONG TIME.

I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD.

MAN #2: THERE WAS ALWAYS A VERY STRONG SENSE OF PRIDE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

PRIDE IN UH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN THE CHURCHES UH JUST IN GENERAL.

AND THAT THAT STEMMED I THINK FROM A SENSE OF BELONGING AND A A SENSE OF OF ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT.

MAN #3: YOU KNOW ON SUNDAY MORNINGS YOU'D GO ALONG HERE YOU'D THINK YOU WERE ON FIFTH AVENUE IN NEW YORK.

IT WAS JUST CROWDED AND AND PEOPLE.

IT SEEMED LIKE EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY.

NARRATOR: THEY CAME TO TOLEDO FROM POLAND'S CITIES AND FARMS.

SOMETIMES ENTIRE VILLAGES AT A TIME.

SOME SOUGHT RICHES.

OTHERS WANTED ONLY A FRESH START IN A LAND OF PLENTY.

THEY BUILT HOMES AND CHURCHES.

FILLED THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS WITH YOUNG FAMILIES AND NEW BUSINESS AND FORMED A COMMUNITY WHILE BUILDING A CITY.

THE FIRST POLES TO ARRIVE IN THIS AREA CAME IN THE 1870'S FLEEING THEIR OCCUPIED COUNTRY AND SEEKING A PLACE THAT FELT LIKE HOME.

LEGENDS CLAIM THE FRONTIER TOWN OF VISTULA, ONE OF THE TOWNS THAT LATER BECAME TOLEDO, WAS NAMED AFTER A RIVER IN POLAND BY AN EARLY IMMIGRANT WHO SAID THE AREA REMINDED HIM OF HOME.

THAD RADZILOWSKI: UH THERE WERE PROBABLY THREE GREAT REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS AT THE END OF THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THAT COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED IN CREATING DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES ON THEIR OWN, THE UNITED STATES, FRANCE AND POLAND.

THE POLISH EXPERIMENT FAILED UH BECAUSE OF THE INVASION OF ITS NEIGHBORS RUSSIA, AUSTRIA.

AND AND PRUSSIA, BY 1795, PARTITIONED POLAND AND REMOVED WHAT WAS ONCE THE LARGEST STATE IN EUROPE FROM THE MAP.

SO FOR A HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE YEARS, POLAND CEASED TO EXIST.

KAREN MAJEWSKI: THE EARLIEST SETTLERS HERE CAME FROM PRUSSIAN POLAND.

THE PRUSSIAN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTED PROGRAMS TO RESETTLE ETHNIC GERMANS INTO POLISH LANDS AND SO UM POLISH SETTLERS OR POLISH VILLAGERS WERE BOUGHT OUT.

THEY SOLD THEIR LANDS AND ONCE THEY SOLD THEIR LANDS THEN THEY CAME HERE AND HAD NOTHING TO GO BACK TO.

AND SO THEY FORMED KIND OF A NUCLEUS OF THE OF WHAT WE THINK OF AS AMERICAN POLONIAN COMMUNITIES AND LATER THE SETTLERS CAME FROM THE RUSSIAN PARTITION AND FROM AUSTRIA HUNGARIAN PARTITION.

NARRATOR: AMERICA MUST HAVE LOOKED PROMISING TO THE POLES, PRESSED HARD BY TURMOIL AT HOME.

BUT WHEN THEY ARRIVED, MANY FOUND THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY OFFERED EASY MONEY AND NOT MUCH ELSE AND ONCE THEY HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE AT HOME, THEY RETURNED TO POLAND.

KAREN MAJEWSKI: ALTHOUGH MOST PEOPLE DON'T THINK OF IT THIS WAY, THEY THINK OF OF PEOPLE IMMIGRATING AND FINDING FREEDOM AND YOU KNOW SOMEHOW FINDING THE AMERICAN DREAM HERE AND THEN AND UH AND SETTLING DOWN AND LEAVING THE OLD WORLD BEHIND.

PROBABLY FOR THE POLES, CLOSE TO HALF OF THE TOTAL IMMIGRATION WENT BACK TO POLAND.

THAD RADZILOWSKI: BUT WHEN THEY CAME BACK, THEY TOLD STORIES.

THEY CAME BACK WITH MONEY TO BUY A A COW, A A NEW FARM, UH A BETTER HOUSE.

AND THEIR NEIGHBORS SAID, WELL MAYBE WE SHOULD GO TOO BECAUSE UH UH JOHN OR JOE HAS DONE VERY WELL THERE AND UH SO EVEN IF THE MAN DIDN'T STAY IN AMERICA HE WAS A A WALKING LIVING ADVERTISEMENT FOR SUCCESS IN AMERICA.

NARRATOR: THE POLES WHO CAME TO TOLEDO MADE THEIR HOMES NEAR THE CITY'S GERMAN NEIGHBORHOODS AND SET ABOUT FINDING WORK.

KAREN MAJEWSKI: AT THE TIME OF IMMIGRATION THEY TENDED TO SETTLE TOGETHER.

I'MEAN OF COURSE THAT MADE SENSE.

THEY NEEDED TO LIVE SOMEPLACE THAT WAS CHEAP WHERE PEOPLE COULD SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE, WHERE THEY COULD COMMUNICATE, WHERE THEY COULD GET A ROOM UM WHERE WHERE THEY COULD MEET THEIR DAILY NEEDS WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE AND UH AND WHERE THEY HAD A SENSE OF COMMUNITY WHERE THEY FELT THEY COULD FIT IN.

MARION WOJCIECHOWSKI: WELL THAT HELP YOU KNOW EH PEOPLE BECAUSE THOSE THAT DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH AT ALL.

THEY EH COULD EVENTUALLY YOU KNOW FIND EH INFORMATION OR FOR SOME ODD JOBS AND SO ON TALKING TO THE PEOPLE OR THEY COULD THEY COULD EM YOU KNOW ALSO BUY WHAT THEY NEEDED YOU KNOW, IN THE STORE SO EM EM JUST USING POLISH.

SO THAT HELPED THEM VERY VERY MUCH.

NARRATOR: TOLEDO'S POLES FOLLOWED A PATH LAID BY GERMAN'S AND IRISH IMMIGRANTS HELD BEFORE THEM AND TOOK THE JOBS THEY LEFT BEHIND.

THE KIND OF WORK AMERICA TRADITIONALLY RESERVED FOR ITS NEWEST IMMIGRANTS DIRTY, DANGEROUS, AND HARD.

THAD RADZILOWSKI: IN DETROIT, IN CHICAGO, IN CLEVELAND, IN TOLEDO, MILWAUKEE THE UH POLES THEY'RE FOLLOWING GERMAN IMMIGRANTS AND THEY MOVED INTO MANY OF THE SAME OCCUPATIONS UH AT FIRST IS UNSKILLED WORKERS BUT THEN INTO UH FOUNDRIES, INTO UH SMALL METALWORKING SHOPS THAT WERE FLOURISHING THROUGHOUT THE MIDWEST, CARRIAGE CARRIAGE WORKS AND THE LIKE.

TONY ROBAKOWSKI: MY FATHER WORKED AT THE RAILROAD, MY BROTHERS WORKED THE RAILROAD AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW EITHER DUG DITCHES, WORKED AT THE SEWERS OR WORKED IN IN THESE HEAVY FACTORIES AND THAT'S ALL THEY COULD GET AT THAT TIME.

NO EDUCATION, COULDN'T SPEAK THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

DAVID CHELMINSKI: THE MAJOR EMPLOYER FOR THE POLES IN THE EARLY TWENTIES CENTURY WAS WILLYS OVERLAND WHICH LATER BECOMES JEEP LATER AMERICAN MOTORS.

UH THAT WAS THE EMPLOYER.

EVERYBODY I'M SURE EVERYBODY IN THEIR FAMILY HAD SOMEBODY WHO WORKED FOR WILLYS OVERLAND.

NARRATOR: ALTHOUGH THE WORK WAS DIFFICULT THE POLES WHO FOUND JOBS AT WILLYS OVERLAND AND ITS SUPPLIERS CONSIDERED THEMSELVES LUCKY.

THEY KNEW THAT THEIR LANGUAGE AND EVEN THE WAYS THEY SPELLED THEIR NAMES COULD BE ENOUGH TO DENY THEM WORK IN THOSE EARLY DAYS.

DAVID CHELMINSKI: EVEN KNOWING SOME GERMAN WHICH PROBABLY GOT THEM A JOB.

UH THERE PROBABLY WAS ENOUGH DISCRIMINATION THAT THEY WERE IDENTIFIED AS POLES AND SO THEY WEREN T ALLOWING THEM TO ADVANCE IN THE RANKS BOB ROMAN: I REMEMBER MY UNCLE STANLEY UH TELLING ME THAT UH HIS NAME WAS STAN CHERCINSKI AND WHEN HE WENT TO APPLY FOR A JOB THAT HE WAS TOLD THAT HE WOULD NOT GET THE JOB BECAUSE OF HIS POLISH NAME.

AND SO HE CHANGED HIS NAME ON THE APPLICATION TO STANLEY FANDELL.

THAT WAS THE NAME OF A FRIEND OF HIS AND LATER HE LEGALLY CHANGED HIS NAME TO STAN FANDELL AND INCIDENTALLY HE DID GET THAT JOB.

NARRATOR: THEY GRITTED THEIR TEETH AND DID THE WORK AND WITH THE MONEY THEY EARNED IN THE FACTORIES AND FOUNDRIES OF TOLEDO THEY BUILT HOMES AND NEIGHBORHOODS AND LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF A NEW LIFE.

THEN THEY BEGAN TO LOOK FOR GOD IN AMERICA.

THAD RADZILOWSKI: THE IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME ALWAYS HAD TO FIND GOD.

GODS ARE VERY LOCAL.

UH MOST OF THEM HAD NO EXPERIENCE OUTSIDE OF THEIR OWN VILLAGE.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS YOU READ IN IMMIGRANT LETTERS AS THE PEOPLE WRITE BACK FROM THE OLD COUNTRY TO UH RATHER FROM THE OLD COUNTRY TO THE IMMIGRANTS IS GOD THERE, DO YOU HAVE CHURCHES, DO YOU HAVE SYNAGOGUES, UH ARE THE SERVICES THE SAME.

IS IT UH THEIR EXPERIENCE WAS USUALLY FAIRLY LIMITED SO ONE OF THE THINGS THEY HAD TO DO WAS RECREATE UH THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.

NARRATOR: UNTIL THE DIOCESE APPROVED THE CONSTRUCTION OF A CHURCH JUST FOR TOLEDO'S POLISH CATHOLICS, GOD WAS IN THE GERMAN SPEAKING PARISHES OF ST.

MARY'S AND STS.

PETER AND PAUL.

THAT ALL CHANGED WHEN THEY BUILT ST.

HEDWIG'S.

JERRY MAZUCHOWSKI: WHEN THEY FIRST WERE LOOKING FOR UH PROPERTY FOR THE CHURCH THEY HAD CONSIDERED THE AREA AROUND THE ART MUSEUM.

BUT FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER THE LAND WASN'T APPROPRIATE AND UH SO THE DECISION WAS MADE TO BUILD HERE.

THE IDEA BEING THAT IF THEY BUILT THERE IT WOULD BE CENTRAL TO BOTH THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH ENDS AND IT WOULD BE A COMMON MEETING PLACE, COMMON MEETING GROUND BUT SINCE THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT UM LAGRANGE STREET BECAME SETTLED AND THEN UM IN TURN BY THE SAME PRIEST, FATHER LEWANDOWSKI ST.

ANTHONY'S WAS FOUNDED.

THAT AREA WAS SETTLED ALSO.

NARRATOR: EACH CHURCH THAT THE POLES BUILT ST.

HEDWIG'S, ST.

ANTHONY'S ON NEBRASKA, ST.

ADALBERT ON NORTHERN LAGRANGE STREET AND THREE CHURCHES IN SOUTH TOLEDO, ST.

STANISLAUS, NATIVITY AND ST.

HYACINTH, ANCHORED A COMMUNITY AND SAID TO TOLEDO THAT THE POLES PLAN TO STAY.

KAREN MAJEWSKI: I DON T THINK YOU CAN OVERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CHURCH.

A POLISH COMMUNITY WAS NOT A COMMUNITY UNTIL IT HAD BUILT A CHURCH AND THE SACRIFICES THAT WENT INTO THE CREATION OF THESE ENORMOUS, UM MAGNIFICENT EDIFICES UM.

FOR THE PEOPLE MORTGAGED THEIR HOMES TO GIVE MONEY FOR THE CHURCH.

UM I THINK THAT THIS WAS A SYMBOL FOR THEM OF THEIR HAVING A PLACE.

THAD RADZILOWSKI: ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT ETHNICITY IS THE CREATION OF A CULTURE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO BE AT HOME IN A NEW SOCIETY.

WHEN THEY BECAME ETHNIC THEY BECAME AMERICAN.

WHEN THEY BUILT THOSE CHURCHES THEY WERE CREATING THE STONE AND MORTAR ROOT THAT TIED THEM TO THE SOIL OF THE NEW WORLD.

IT MEANS THEY WERE GONNA STAY.

NARRATOR: BY 1882, TOLEDO'S POLES HAD PRETTY WELL SETTLED DOWN IN TWO NEIGHBORHOODS.

ONE AROUND ST.

ANTHONY'S NEAR NEBRASKA AND JUNCTION.

THE OTHER AROUND ST.

HEDWIG'S ON LAGRANGE OR AS THEY CALLED IT LAGRINGKA.

JERRY MAZUCHOWSKI: SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE AND I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THERE WAS THIS UH WOULD BE POLANDIZATION OF THE NAME LAGRANGE SO THEN IT BECAME KNOWN AS LAGRINGKA.

NARRATOR: IN LAGRINGKA, THE POLES BUILT A HOME THAT HAD EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED.

JERRY MAZUCHOWSKI: YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE THE COMMUNITY SATISFY YOUR NEEDS.

THERE WERE BUSINESSES AND AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND SO ON WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE COMMUNITY THAT UH YOU NEVER HAD TO GO OUT OF IT IF YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE TO.

BOB ROMAN: GROCERY STORES, BARBER SHOPS, BAKERIES, DRY GOOD STORES, HARDWARE, DRY CLEANERS, UH DRUG STORES.

I'MEAN EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

UH YOU IT WAS RIGHT THERE.

I'MEAN IT WAS UH IT WAS ONE BIG MALL EXCEPT THAT IT WAS ALL DOWN BLOCKS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

TOM SOROSIAK: THE PEOPLE THAT RAN THESE BUSINESSES WERE THE SAME PEOPLE THAT YOU KNEW WHEN YOU WENT TO CHURCH OR YOU YOU SAW WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND YOU DIDN'T THINK ABOUT GOING TO A BUSINESS THAT WAS A STRANGERS BUSINESS.

NARRATOR: BUT IT WASN'T ALL BUSINESS.

THE OHIO THEATER OFFERED STAGE ACTS AND MOVIES AND THERE WAS MUSIC ON ALMOST EVERY CORNER.

CHET ZABLOCKI: MOST OF THE BARS WOULD HAVE LITTLE POLKA BANDS.

MY GOD, YOU GO DOWN UP AND DOWN LAGRANGE STREET AND I BET THERE WERE HALF A DOZEN POLKA UH BANDS PLAYING IN THE DIFFERENT BARS ALONG THE WAY.

NARRATOR: ACROSS TOWN THE STREETS AROUND ST.

ANTHONY'S BORDERING THE GERMAN ENCLAVE OF LENK'S HILL BECAME KNOWN AS KUHSCHWANZ.

AT THE TIME IT MARKED THE VERY OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY.

MARCY KAPTUR: I ACTUALLY GREW UP, UH MY BROTHER AND I, IN THE REYNOLDS CORNERS AREA RIGHT OFF OF DORR STREET WHICH USED TO BE BLUEBERRY COUNTRY AND MY FATHER WOULD COME FROM UH HIS HOME PARISH WHICH WAS ST.

ANTHONY'S AND FROM VANCE STREET WHERE HE GREW UP AND MY MOTHER UH GREW UP ON LUCAS STREET UH IN THAT GENERAL AREA, THEY CALLED IN KUHSCHWANZ AND MY DAD USED TO RUN OUT TO THE COUNTRY, PICK BLUEBERRIES, AND THEN HE'D FIND HIS WAY BACK TO WHERE HE LIVED BY THE STEEPLE ON THE TOP OF ST.

ANTHONY'S.

NARRATOR: THE POLISH CALLED IT KROWY OGON BUT THE GERMAN NAME STUCK.

KUHSCHWANZ.

IT MEANS COWS TAIL.

DAVID CHELMINSKI: WE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT ORIGINATED.

WE HAVE UH ENGLISH REFERENCES AND POLICE BLOTTERS BACK TO MAYBE 1881, THAT'S THE FIRST PRIMARY SOURCE, UH SO IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE ENGLISH SPEAKERS ALREADY REFERRING TO THAT AS THE COW'S TAIL, DIRECTION TO TOWN, TAIL END OF THE CITY.

UH IT MAY HAVE BEEN A GERMAN EXPRESSION.

IT MAY HAVE BEEN ORIGINALLY CALLED THE OGON, AND LATER TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN.

MORE PEOPLE KNOW IT BY THE GERMAN NAME KUHSCHWANZ.

LUCY SAFAROWICZ: THEY SEEM TO HAVE A CITY ATMOSPHERE BECAUSE IT WAS UH QUITE SOPHISTICATED IN MANY WAYS BECAUSE OF ALL THE MERCHANTS THERE AND THE STORES AND UH THE ABILITY TO UH TO GET WHAT YOU NEEDED.

AND THEN IT MAY BE IN SOME INSTANCES IT HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A FARM ATMOSPHERE BECAUSE YOU COULD WALK DOWN THE STREET AND MAYBE SEE SOMEBODY WHO HAD A BIG YARD WAS RAISING CHICKENS, AND DUCKS AND MAYBE RABBITS SO THAT GAVE IT KIND OF UH A FARM FLAVOR I THINK.

NARRATOR: AS THE CENTURY TURNED KUHSCHWANZ AND LAGRINGKA FLOURISHED AND AS THEY GREW, THEY NURTURED SMALL BUSINESSES THAT TO THIS DAY ARE WHAT TOLEDO'S POLES REMEMBER BEST ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOODS.

LUCY SAFAROWICZ: IT WAS A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS SO CONVENIENT.

YOU HAD THE GROCERY STORES THERE, THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER LIKE DAYLIGHT BAKERY AND ITS WONDERFUL RYE BREAD AND THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE THAT I HAVE NOT EATEN SINCE THEN.

(MUSIC) MANY PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO WALK TO THEIR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.

UH MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE A CAR, DIDN'T NEED ONE BECAUSE EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED FOR DAILY LIVING WAS THERE.

MARCY KAPTUR: MOST PEOPLE KNEW THE KAPTUR NAME BECAUSE MY FATHER'S OLDEST BROTHER MARTIN AND THEIR MIDDLE BROTHER PETE RAN A FAMILY MARKET RIGHT ON JUNCTION AVENUE.

AND THE QUESTION I HAVE BEEN ASKED THE MOST IN MY POLITICAL CAREER IS MARCY WAS IT YOUR FAMILY THAT OWNED THE STORE ON JUNCTION AVENUE.

(MUSIC) TED GRACHEK: MY GRANDFATHER OPENED DURING PROHIBITION UH AS A MALT AND CIGAR SHOP.

IT WAS A POOL ROOM IN A BOTTOM POOL ROOM ON FROM ABOUT 1903 I BELIEVE TO ABOUT 1919 - 1920.

AT THAT TIME THE OPIEKA SAVINGS AND LOAN UH MOVED IN.

IT WAS A BANK OF COURSE.

IT OPERATED FROM THE EARLY TWENTY'S UP UNTIL THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

IN 1932 WHEN MY GRANDFATHER DID OPEN TOM'S CARRYOUT UM SOME POLISH PEOPLE, THINKING THAT THE BANK AND REOPENED, STOPPED IN WITH THEIR BANK BOOKS DEMANDING THEIR MONEY TO MY GRANDFATHER AND HE HAD TO EXPLAIN THAT HE WAS NOT IN THE BANKING BUSINESS THAT HE WAS SELLING UH GROCERIES AND UH MALT AND CIGARS BUT HE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE GREAT DEPRESSION UNFORTUNATELY.

NARRATOR: EVEN IN THE DEPTHS OF THE DEPRESSION THE NEIGHBORHOODS WERE ABLE TO SUPPORT LOCAL MERCHANTS, QUITE A FEW OF THEM, ESPECIALLY GROCERS.

RAY MALCZEWSKI: WE USED TO HAVE AS MANY AS THREE ON THE CORNER, GROCERY STORES, THREE, AND THEY WERE ALL DOING BUSINESS.

YOU KNOW YOU MAYBE DIDN'T GET RICH BUT I'MEAN YOURS KEPT ON PAYING YOUR BILLS AND YOU STAYED IN BUSINESS.

AND OUR CORNER HERE, WE HAD TWO, ONE HERE AND ONE ACROSS THE STREET.

AND THE FELLOW THAT HAD THAT ONE ACROSS THE STREET HE ALWAYS TELL EVERYBODY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT HE'S GONNA KNOCK US OUT OF BUSINESS AND HERE WE ARE.

WE ARE HERE.

EVERYBODY'S GONE BUT WE'RE STILL HERE.

HELEN G. ZALENSKI: WE HAD A LITTLE PLACE LIKE A LITTLE TOWN HERE.

WE DIDN'T HAVE TO GO DOWNTOWN UNLESS IT WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL.

WELL, WE'D GET ALL DRESSED UP BECAUSE WE WERE GOING DOWNTOWN.

BUT LIKE THIS WE HAD EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING YOU WANTED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

NARRATOR: OF COURSE, SOMETIMES THE CORNER GROCER WASN T ABOVE A QUICK TRIP DOWNTOWN TO PICK UP TRICKS TO KEEP HIS CUSTOMERS HAPPY.

RAY MALCZEWSKI: WHEN SOME CUSTOMERS CAME AND WANTED CERTAIN KINDA CUTS OF MEAT WHICH HE DIDN'T KNOW, MY DAD WOULD TELL HIM, WELL I DON'T HAVE IT HERE NOW BUT I'LL GET IT FOR TOMORROW.

SO HE'D TURN AROUND AND HE WENT ON THE YELLOW STREET CAR TO TIEDKE'S THEN WALK AROUND THEIR MEAT DEPARTMENT AND AFTER HE'D SEEN WHAT IT WAS THEN HE'D ASK ONE OF THE BUTCHERS WHERE HOW WHERE DID THAT DOES THAT COME FROM, WHAT PIECE OF MEAT.

SO THEY TOLD HIM AND THEN HE CAME HOME AND HE KNEW SO WHEN CUSTOMER CAME BACK THE NEXT DAY FOR IT HE HE HAD IT FOR HER BECAUSE HE KNEW WHERE IT CAME FROM.

NARRATOR: THAT LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE WHEN IT CAME TO KEEPING CUSTOMERS, THAT AND A WILLINGNESS TO LET THEM RUN A TAB.

JOSEPHINE KOZLOWSKI: YOU WERE ABLE TO TAKE THINGS AND NOT PAY FOR THEM AND THEY WOULD SAY YOU PUT IT ON THE BOOK.

THAT WAS AN EXPRESSION THAT YOU USED AND ALL IT WAS WAS A LITTLE BOOK THAT YOU COULD BUY IN THE FIVE AND DIME IN THOSE DAYS AND IT HAD A CARBON COPY AND WHATEVER YOU PURCHASED THEY WOULD MARK DOWN AS TO HOW MUCH YOU OWED AND AT THE END OF THE WEEK YOUR MOTHER WENT AND PAID THE BILL AND THEN YOU GOT A BAG OF CANDY FROM THE GROCER.

WE WERE VERY HAPPY.

WE MADE SURE WE WENT TO THE GROCERY STORE WITH HER ON THAT DAY.

REV.

PAUL KWIATKOWSKI: WELL MY FATHER WAS FROM UM UH THE NEBRASKA AVENUE AREA AND MY MOTHER WAS FROM THE LAGRANGE STREET AREA FROM UH ST.

ADALBERT'S.

OF COURSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE CARS AT THAT TIME BUT UH DAD USED TO TAKE THE STREETCAR TO UH VISIT MOM AND UH AT THAT TIME THERE WAS A STREETCAR LINE DOWN NEBRASKA AVENUE TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA AND THEN IT WOULD GO UP LAGRANGE STREET AND THE THE JOKE WAS THAT IT WAS THE LONGEST STREETCAR LINE IN THE WORLD FROM POLE TO POLE UH LINKING ACTUALLY THE TWO POLISH NEIGHBORHOODS OF TOLEDO.

NARRATOR: THAT OL JOKE HAS ROUTES IN THE TRUTH.

THEY WERE BOTH POLISH NEIGHBORHOODS, PART OF THE SAME SMALL CITY BUT LAGRINGKA AND KUHSCHWANZ SOMETIMES SEEMED WORLDS APART.

WILLIAM SPARAGOWSKI: THERE USED TO BE FRICTION I GUESS BETWEEN THE FELLAS AND THE GIRLS WHEN THEY USED TO COME FROM UH LAGRANGE STREET TO SEE A GIRL ON JUNCTION AVENUE (CHUCKLE) WELL THE FELLA WOULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RUN PRETTY FAST CUZ THEY WAS AFTER HIM.

IT WAS THE SAME THING IF A JUNCTION AVENUE FELLA WENT TO LAGRANGE STREET TO SEE A GIRL, THAT WAS THE SAME THING DOWN THERE.

THEY GOT AFTER HIM.

DICK WALINSKI: THE FACT THAT A A POLE WAS FROM THAT COMMUNITY RATHER THAN OURS WAS A FACT THAT UH DIDN'T ESCAPE NOTE AND DIDN T ESCAPE RELATIVELY EARLY NOTE UH IN CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT PERSON OR OR IN A MEETING WITH THAT PERSON.

IT IT WAS ONE OF THE UM PRINCIPLE MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION WHEN UH MEETING SOMEONE UH OF POLISH ANCESTRY.

WHERE WAS THE PERSON FROM OR AS THE IDIOM WAS, WHO ARE THEY FROM HOME.

NARRATOR: BETWEEN THE NEIGHBORHOODS THERE COULD BE QUITE A COMPETITION OVER GIRLS AND OVER EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.

TONY ROBAKOWSKI: RIVALRY YAH.

SPORTS OH YAH.

THERE WAS SOME FIERCE BASKETBALL GAMES HERE AT OLD ST.

ANTHONY'S HALL UPSTAIRS.

USED TO HAVE A PACKED HOUSE THERE WITH THE OLD ST.

HEDWIG S YMA.

AND THEY HAD SOME GREAT ATHLETES THERE TOO AND WE HAD SOME GREAT ATHLETES TOO.

THAT WAS THE RIVALRY THAT I REMEMBER.

DAVID CHELMINSKI: WE HEARD ABOUT IT IN THE 1950'S.

UH GROWING UP I THINK THOSE PEOPLE THAT REMEMBER IT FROM THE 1930'S AND 40'S EXPERIENCE THE MOST RIVALRY BETWEEN THE TWO NEIGHBORHOODS THAT THEY COULDN'T DATE BETWEEN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND THERE'D BE GANGS TO TO PROTECT THE GIRLS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OR WHATEVER.

UH BUT OTHERWISE IT THINK THAT THE RIVALRY IS PRETTY UH NATURAL THING BETWEEN ANY PARISH, ANY NEIGHBORHOOD OR WHATEVER, NEIGHBORING PARISHES COMPETING OR BRAGGING ABOUT THEIRS BEING BETTER OR OR LARGER OR WHATEVER.

NARRATOR: FRIENDLY COMPETITION ASIDE, LAGRINGKA AND KUHSCHWANZ WERE TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITIES.

NEIGHBORS THERE TOOK CARE OF EACH OTHER, SHARED AND EVERYTHING WORKED AND PLAYED HARD TOGETHER.

TONY ROBAKOWSKI: PEOPLE WERE SO DARNED HELPFUL.

UH UH WHEN WHEN WHENEVER ANYBODY WANTED TO UH HAD SOME CHORES TO DO AROUND LIKE PAINTING, YOU NEVER HAD TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.

THERE'D BE A A WHOLE GANG OF PEOPLE WOULD COME IN WITH PAINTBRUSHES.

YOU'D FURNISH THE PAINT.

IN ONE DAY THEY PRACTICALLY PAINTED THE WHOLE HOUSE AND THEN OF COURSE YOU RECIPROCATED.

EVERYBODY HELPED ONE ANOTHER IN THOSE DAYS.

CHET ZABLOCKI: IN MY HOME ON HAMILTON THERE THEY HAD A PEAKED UH ATTIC WITH A WINDOW AT EACH END SO I TOOK THESE SPEAKERS AND MOUNTED THEM IN THE WINDOWS AND UH PLAYED THE RADIO AND LET EVERYBODY ENJOY ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER TIME.

THEY'D ALL BE OUT ON THEIR PORCHES OR ON THE STREET LISTENING.

NARRATOR: TOLEDO POLES WERE PROUD OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, PROUD OF THEIR TIDY HOUSES, MANICURED LAWNS AND TIGHT FRIENDSHIPS, BUT THEY WERE PROUDEST OF THEIR CHILDREN.

THEY SAW THEIR FUTURES IN THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS AND WORKED HARD TO MAKE SURE THE KIDS WOULD GET THERE.

TOM SOROSIAK: GETTING THE EDUCATION.

I YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HEARD THAT AT HOME.

UH HOW MANY TIMES DID MY MOM AND DAD SAY TO ME ARE YOU DONE WITH YOUR HOMEWORK, YOU KNOW AND CAN I HELP YOU WITH YOUR HOMEWORK AND IT WAS RATHER INTERESTING.

MY MY MOTHER AND FATHER, THEIR FORMAL EDUCATION VIRTUALLY ENDED AT AT EIGHTH GRADE, SO THEY REALLY REALLY STRESSED IT TO US.

AND THEY WOULD TRY TO HELP US WITH OUR HOMEWORK.

AND IRONICALLY, NOW WHEN I LOOK BACK, I KNEW MORE IN THE IN THE SEVENTH GRADE UH ACADEMIA WISE THAN MY MOM OR DAD COULD HELP ME WITH MY HOMEWORK, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID THEY SAT THERE AND THEY WOULD, THEY PLAYED A LITTLE GAME.

YOU SURE THAT'S CORRECT AND ID LOOK AT IT, YAH THAT'S CORRECT.

I DON'T THINK THEY KNEW IT WAS CORRECT BUT THEY WANTED ME TO MAKE SURE THAT I GAVE IT SOME THOUGHT BEFORE I SAID YAH ITS RIGHT AND HAVE IT BE WRONG.

NARRATOR: WHERE THE PARENTS LEFT OFF, THEIR NEIGHBORS AND THE CHURCH PICKED UP AND TOGETHER THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY SAW TO THE EDUCATION OF ITS NEXT GENERATION.

DR.

MARIAN REJENT: IT WAS VERY INTERESTING, THE PASTOR OF ST.

ANTHONY'S ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT HE KEPT TRACK OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE DOING THEIR BEST.

SO HE HAD THE GRADES FROM NOTRE DAME, NOW WHETHER OTHER SCHOOLS I DON'T KNOW, BUT HE GOT THE GRADES FROM NOTRE DAME FOR ALL OF US THAT WENT THERE AND THEN HE WOULD TALK TO US ABOUT OUR GRADES AND IF HE THOUGHT WE COULD DO BETTER HE MADE SURE THAT HE EMPHASIZED IT A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN MAYBE IT WAS EMPHASIZED AT HOME.

NARRATOR: MARIAN REJENT'S FAMILY OWNED A DRY GOODS STORE ON JUNCTION AVENUE.

IN THAT STORE, NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS LEARNED HOW GOOD GRADES COULD PAY OFF.

DR.

MARIAN REJENT: WE WERE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE SCHOOL AND LOT OF THE CHILDREN HAD TO WALK BY AND OF COURSE THEY BOUGHT THEIR SHOES FROM DAD AND UM THE'D BRING THEIR GRADE CARDS AND I REMEMBER AND DAD ALWAYS HAD SUCKERS FOR THEM.

IF THEY HAD AN A ON THEIR REPORT CARD THEY ALWAYS GOT A SUCKER SO THEY CAME.

MY DAD SAW THEIR REPORT CARDS BEFORE THEIR PARENTS DID USUALLY.

NARRATOR: AT HOME AND IN THE PARISH SCHOOLS, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS TOLEDO'S POLE'S TAUGHT THEIR CHILDREN WAS TO FIT IN, TO BE PROUD OF THEIR HERITAGE BUT TO THINK AND SPEAK LIKE AMERICANS DR.

MARIAN REJENT: THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF MY SCHOOLING, ALL THE SUBJECTS WERE IN POLISH WHETHER IT WAS ARITHMETIC, WHETHER IT WAS HISTORY, WHETHER IT WAS GRAMMAR.

SO WE LEARNED TO SPEAK POLISH BUT AT HOME WE ALWAYS SPOKE ENGLISH.

WE NEVER SPOKE POLISH.

MY DAD SAID BE PROUD OF YOUR ANCESTRY BUT YOU'RE AMERICANS NOW AND YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH AND LEARN HOW TO SPEAK IT PROPERLY.

SO WE DID.

BOB ROMAN: AS EACH GENERATION GOT AWAY FROM EVEN FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD UH IT BECAME LESS POPULAR TO WANT TO SPEAK FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND IT WAS PROBABLY MORE A SIGN OF BEING EDUCATED TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH AND I THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS ALSO FOSTERED IN THE SCHOOLS.

TONY ROBAKOWSKI: SOME OF THE OUR POLISH CITIZENS RESENTED THE FACT THAT UH THEY WERE TEACHING POLISH AT ST.

ANTHONY'S.

WHEN I GOT TO BE ABOUT EIGHTH GRADE I REMEMBER SOME OF THESE PARENTS GOT TOGETHER AND SAID WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE POLISH, IT SPOILS THE UH LANGUAGE, THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

TOM SOROSIAK: THAT GOOD EDUCATION THAT ALL OF MY FRIENDS RECEIVED AND MYSELF, ENDED UP BEING THE DEMISE OF THE POLISH NEIGHBORHOOD.

WE GOT SUCH A GOOD EDUCATION, WE DECIDED THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY OF LIFE, A BETTER HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING AND AS A RESULT WE LEFT THE COMMUNITY THAT WAS SO GOOD TO US, SO KIND TO US.

SO NOW YOU GO BACK TO THE POLISH NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU'RE LUCKY TO FIND FIVE PEOPLE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD THAT YOU YOU KNEW WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP.

NARRATOR: STANDING UPON THE FOUNDATIONS THEIR PARENTS LAID DOWN IN KUHSCHWANZ AND LAGRINGKA, THE NEWLY AMERICANIZED CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS COULD SEE A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY BEYOND THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEY BEGAN TO STRIKE OUT ON THEIR OWN.

IRONICALLY, FOR MANY OF THEM, THEIR FIRST JOURNEYS OFF OF LAGRANGE STREET AND NEBRASKA AVENUE LANDED THEM BACK IN EUROPE IN THE TRENCHES FIGHTING THE DEMONS THAT HAD DRIVEN THEIR FAMILIES TO AMERICA YEAR'S BEFORE.

KAREN MAJEWSKI: MANY, MANY POLISH IMMIGRANTS HEEDED THE CALL OF OF COMING TO THE AID OF THEIR COUNTRY.

THEY SAW WORLD WAR I AS THE CHANCE TO RESCUE POLAND.

NARRATOR: IN 1917 BEFORE THE UNITED STATES ENTERED WORLD WAR I'MANY OF TOLEDO'S POLISH MEN JOINED GENERAL JOSEPH HOLLER IN A POLISH VOLUNTEER ARMY.

THE HOLLER CHEEKY AS THEY WERE KNOWN, FOUGHT IN EUROPE AND LATER AGAINST RUSSIA WINNING FREEDOM FOR POLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A CENTURY.

A GENERATION LATER, WHEN WORLD WAR II RAVAGED EUROPE, TOLEDO'S POLES AGAIN ANSWERED THE CALL.

LUCY SAFAROWICZ: I I THINK EVERYBODY FELT THAT THEY NEEDED WE NEEDED TO HELP AMERICA, OUR NEW COUNTRY BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WERE POLISH THEY FELT A A TERRIBLE HURT FOR POLAND.

THEY WERE UH THEY WERE VERY SORRY TO HEAR THAT POLAND WAS INVADED AND I THINK THEY WERE GLAD TO SEE THAT THAT THEIR SONS WERE ABLE TO GO AND UH AND HELP AMERICA IN THIS WAR.

NARRATOR: EVEN IF THAT MEANT FACING AND FIGHTING COUSINS AND UNCLES PRESSED INTO BATTLE BY THE NAZI'S.

EDWIN WOJCIECHOWSKI: POLAND FELL IN A OH I DON T KNOW, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AT THE MOST AND UH THEY MARCHED IN THERE AND THEY JUST TOOK OVER AND THEY THEY GAVE THE POLISH PEOPLE THEIR CHOICE.

YOU EITHER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GO TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMP OR YOU CAN JOIN US AS A FIGHTER.

I KNOW WHEN I TOOK THESE PRISONERS, ESPECIALLY THIS HERE ONE WHEN THIS ONE POLISH PRISONER CAME OUT HE WAS HOLDING THIS CRUCIFIX IN HIS HAND IT WAS AROUND HIS NECK AND HE KEPT HOLLERING ME POLACK, ME POLACK MEANING I'M POLISH I'M POLISH YOU KNOW SEE.

SO UH WELL WE MARCHED HIM OVER TO THE UH COMPANY HEADQUARTERS, YOU KNOW COMPANY E AND I TOLD KIRKPATRICK I SAID WELL YOU KNOW FIVE OF THESE PRISONERS ARE POLISH.

WHAT THE HELL'S THE DIFFERENCE, HE SAID THEY WERE JUST SHOOTING AT YOU IN A MINUTE AGO.

HE SAID WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE WHAT NATIONALITY THEY ARE.

SO IF THEY ARE POLISH WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LET THEM GO?

NARRATOR: WHEN THE WAR ENDED AND TOLEDO'S POLISH SOLDIERS CAME HOME, THEY WERE NO LONGER POLES LIVING IN AMERICA.

THEY HAD FOUGHT AND SOME HAD DIED FOR THEIR ADOPTED COUNTRY AND NOW THEY HAD BECOME POLISH AMERICANS.

THEY MOVED BEYOND THE CONFINES OF KUHSCHWANZ AND LAGRINGKA AND BEGAN TO EXERCISE THEIR INFLUENCE.

SOME BECAME ACTIVE IN POLITICS AND NAMES LIKE CELUSTA, WALINSKI AND PIETRYKOWSKI FORMERLY ASSOCIATED WITH CORNER STORES, SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THE PARISH CHURCH TOOK ON NEW MEANINGS.

MARK PIETRYKOWSKI: I WOULD BE IN A ROOM OF PEOPLE TO ADDRESS THEM OR MEET THEM OR OR WHATEVER THE EVENT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AND INVARIABLY THERE WAS USUALLY SOMEONE IN THE ROOM WHO WOULD HAVE UH KNOWN MY GREAT UNCLE THE PASTOR OR MY GRANDFATHER THE PHARMACIST AND WOULD HAVE A STORY.

YOU KNOW IT WAS A WONDERFUL WAY TO TO BREAK THE ICE AND TO MEET PEOPLE AND ALSO LEARN A LITTLE ABOUT THEM.

I FOUND THEY KNEW A LOT MORE ABOUT ME THAN I KNEW ABOUT THEM WHICH WHICH WAS UH WHICH WAS VERY INTERESTING.

NARRATOR: AND NO MATTER HOW FAR TOLEDO'S POLISH POLITICIANS RUN, EVEN ALL THE WAY TO WASHINGTON, THEY FIND THAT THE DISTANCE BACK TO KUHSCHWANZ AND LAGRINGKA IS A SHORT ONE, ESPECIALLY IN THE MEMORIES OF THEIR SUPPORTERS.

MARCY KAPTUR: MY UNCLE MARTIN OWNED SOME LAND ON HILL AND WENZ ROAD AND THEY HAD DURING THE 1930'S, THEY HAD A PLACE THEY CALLED THE DUGOUT WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN UNDERGROUND.

AND IT WAS ACTUALLY A BREWERY AND SO PEOPLE WOULD GO THERE DURING THE UM ERA WHEN PROHIBITION WAS OPPOSED IN THE COUNTRY AND THEY'D DRINK BEER.

AND ONE DAY THE PLACE BLEW UP.

AND WHEN I WOULD TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT THIS WHEN I WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE, I THOUGHT WELL NO ONE WILL KNOW ABOUT THIS, AND EVERYBODY LAUGHED.

THEY ALL KNEW IT BECAUSE THEY'D BEEN THERE WHICH I THOUGHT WAS HILARIOUS.

MARK PIETRYKOWSKI: IN SOME WAYS IT PUTS A LOT MORE PRESSURE ON YOU BECAUSE THERE'S ALREADY BEEN UH PEOPLE AHEAD OF YOU UH WHO HAVE ALREADY PERFORMED, REALLY DONE A WONDERFUL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AND YOU'RE EXPECTED TO DO AT LEAST THAT MUCH.

SO UH AT TIMES UH IT CAN BE IT CAN BE CONSIDERED A BURDEN.

I DON'T LOOK AT IT THAT WAY.

I THINK IT S A WONDERFUL WAY TO CONTINUE A TRADITION.

(HAMMERING SOUNDS) NARRATOR: BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II, TOLEDO'S POLE'S HAD REALIZED THE AMERICAN DREAM.

THEY HAD STARTED LEAVING THEIR POLISH NEIGHBORHOODS AND MOVE INTO NEW HOMES AND NEW LIVES ACROSS TOLEDO.

SO TODAY THE POLISH COMMUNITY IS A COMMUNITY IN SPIRIT RATHER THAN A LIST OF STREET ADDRESSES.

IT'S HELD TOGETHER BY HERITAGE AND TRADITION.

FR.

PAUL KWIATKOWSKI: POLISH IS NOT TAUGHT AT ST.

HEDWIG'S ANYMORE UM BUT STILL THE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS WE TRY TO KEEP THEM UP AND UM HAVE THE UH YOUNGSTERS KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THEM AND TREASURE THEM.

(POLISH SINGING) ONE OF THE NICE THINGS IS THE UH ANNUAL CORPUS CHRISTIE PROCESSION.

UH IT GOES FROM ST.

ADALBERT'S TO ST.

HEDWIG'S OR UH VICE VERSA ON UH ALTERNATE YEARS WITH STOPS UH IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD UM AT FOUR DIFFERENT HOMES WITH READINGS FROM THE GOSPEL AT EACH HOME AND PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY THAT DECORATE THEIR HOMES AND UH UH PEOPLE WHO HAVE ETHNIC COSTUMES UH WEAR THEM AND UH IT'S A VERY UH LOVELY PROCESSION IN THE SPRINGTIME.

(POLISH SPEAKER) NARRATOR: AND THEN THERE'S THE MUSIC.

WHEREVER THEY MAY BE, TOLEDO'S POLISH AMERICANS CAN STILL BE BROUGHT RIGHT BACK TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS BY THE CITY'S TRADITIONAL MUSICIANS.

FROM THE ECHOES OF POLAND DANCERS TO THE POLISH AMERICAN CONCERT BAND.

(POLISH MUSIC PLAYING) JIM MACKIEWICZ: MY GRANDPA, MY DZIADZIA IN POLISH, UH CAME TO AMERICA IN ABOUT 1912, 1913 UM AND UM THEY SETTLED IN THE TOLEDO AREA.

UM MY DZIADZ WAS A WAS A DIRECTOR OF THE POLISH ARMY BAND.

A FANTASTIC MUSICIAN.

AND WHEN HE CAME TO THE TOLEDO AREA THERE WERE A GROUP OF UH MUSICIANS THAT WERE PLAYING IN THE AREA, AND NOT VERY FORMALLY, AND WHEN MY DZIADZ CAME HERE HE KIND OF GOT THE BAND TOGETHER AND UH AND FORMALIZED IT A LITTLE BIT I GUESS YOU CAN SAY THAT, AND UH THAT WAS THE BEGINNINGS, THE INFANCY REALLY OF UH WHAT WE HAVE TODAY IS THE POLISH AMERICAN CONCERT BAND.

BACK IN THE DAYS UH BEFORE MY TIME, THE BAND WOULD PLAY A NUMBER OF THE PARADES UH ON THE LAGRANGE STREET AREA OR OR IN KUHSCHWANZ AREA TOO AS A MATTER OF FACT.

UH THERE WAS UH THE SILVER CLARINET BAND, THE WHITE EAGLES BAND, UM THE POLISH FALCONS BAND, THE UH PNA BAND AND CERTAINLY NOW THE POLISH AMERICAN CONCERT BAND SO THAT HAD UNDERGONE A NUMBER OF NAMES AGAIN DEPENDING ON WHERE UH THE BAND PRACTICED PRIMARILY.

MY FATHER WAS UH ALSO A MEMBER OF THE BAND.

HE WAS A CLARINET PLAYER, AND A VERY VERY FINE CLARINET PLAYER.

UM I HAVE BEEN A MEMBER OF THE BAND FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS MYSELF.

I PLAY CLARINET PLAYER ALSO AND UM EVENTUALLY THEN BECAME DIRECTOR OF THE BAND AND UH MY SON IS ALSO A CLARINET PLAYER AND IS A MEMBER OF THE BAND ALSO.

SO WE HAVE LIKE FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE MACKIEWICZ'S.

HAROLD BOGDANSKI: JIM'S FAMILY HAS FOUR GENERATIONS IN IT.

I'M THE THIRD OF THREE GENERATIONS IN THERE AND THEN WE HAVE UH THE BAUKERS, THEY HAVE THREE GENERATIONS IN IT.

THAT'S WHERE WE GET THE TRADITION TO TRY TO KEEP UP THE SPIRIT OF THE POLISH NEIGHBORHOOD UH THE POLISH COMMUNITY BY PLAYING LOT OF SOME OF THE MUSIC THAT WE PLAY AND THAT UH WE THINK WE CONTRIBUTE THAT WAY TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THAT SOMETHING THAT I THINK THE NEIGHBORHOOD SHOULD BE PROUD OF TO HAVE A BAND LIKE THIS.

NARRATOR: POLAND'S MUSIC STILL ECHOES IN TOLEDO AS RICH AND VARIED AS EVER.

THE POLISH AMERICAN CONCERT BAND AND ECHOES OF POLAND KEEP IT ALIVE ON STAGE WHILE CHET ZABLOCKI PLAYS POLKAS ON THE RADIO.

CHET ZABLOCKI: THERE WAS A POLKA SHOW ON AND IT WAS RUN BY UH AN ELDERLY GENTLEMEN FROM UH BUFFALO BUT HE GOT ILL AND THEN HE PASSED AWAY SO THERE WAS A SHOW OPEN.

ANYWAY, A COUPLE OF FRIENDS OF MINE AND MY WIFE THEY THOUGHT, LIKE ON A BET, UH TRY IT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

THAT WAS UH APRIL 13, 1947, A HALF HOUR RADIO SHOW.

WELL THEN WE WENT TO TEN YEARS, THEN TWENTY, THEN THIRTY, THEN FORTY AND WILL IT EVER STOP.

NARRATOR: WHAT MAY BIND TOLEDO'S POLES MOST TIGHTLY TO THEIR ROOTS IS NEITHER CHURCH NOR MUSIC BUT HAS TIES TO BOTH.

WHEN THEY NEED A TOUCHSTONE OR WANT TO CELEBRATE THEIR HERITAGE, TOLEDO'S POLES RETURN TO THE POLISH GROCERY AND STAND IN LINE.

GENE ZYCHOWICZ: I DON'T WANT TO DISCOURAGE ANYBODY BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THEM THREE OR FOUR DEEP HERE AND UH AS I SAY, WE HAVE ADDED HELP AND IT EXPEDITES THINGS PRETTY GOOD.

IT SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE EAT KIELBASA FOR EVERY HOLIDAY.

PROBABLY WE GO THROUGH ABOUT UH FIFTEEN TON OVER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

WE MAKE UH PIEROGI, AND UH POTATO PANCAKES, CZARNINA BUT KIELBASA IS NUMBER ONE.

RAY MALCZEWSKI: CHRISTMAS AND EASTER THEY'RE BUSY, VERY BUSY BECAUSE EVERYBODY COMES JUST ABOUT THEY DON'T WANT TO MAKE IT AT HOME SO THEY COME OUT AND THEY UH THEY BUY IT AND MAYBE THEY TELL THEIR HUSBANDS THEY MAKE IT.

I DON'T KNOW BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT WORKS OUT.

NARRATOR: THE POLISH IMMIGRANTS WHO SETTLED IN KUHSCHWANZ AND LAGRINGKA SOUGHT NEW LIVES IN AMERICA BUT LONGED FOR THE FAMILIARITY OF THEIR HOMELAND.

THEY FOUND BOTH.

THE NEIGHBORHOODS HARBORED THEM, NURTURED THEM AND SET THEM ON A PATH TO PROSPERITY THAT HELPED BUILD THE CITY.

THE NEIGHBORHOODS AREN'T QUITE THE SAME ANYMORE.

TOLEDO'S POLISH AMERICANS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN THE SUBURBS THEN ON THE STREETS AROUND ST.

HEDWIG'S OR ST.

ANTHONY'S BUT WHEREVER THEY ARE THEY KEEP LAGRINGKA AND KUHSCHWANZ IN THEIR HEARTS AND THEY ARE ALWAYS READY TO RETURN IF ONLY BRIEFLY TO THE SIGHTS, THE SMELLS, THE SOUNDS OF THE OLD NEIGHBORHOODS, JUST ONE MORE TIME.

DICK WALINSKI: THERE S THERES A GREAT DEAL ON THIS ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT'S HARD TO DIFFERENTIATE WHAT ONE REMINISCES ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD FROM WHAT WAS NOSTALGIC ABOUT AS A CHILD BUT UM THERE WAS UM A SECURITY UM A NEIGHBORLINESS UH AND MOST NOTABLY UH A CLEANLINESS ABOUT THAT POLISH NEIGHBORHOOD THAT UM STILL STANDS OUT IN MY MIND.

GERALD MAZUCHOWSKI: POLONIA THAT HAS ITS ROOTS ON LAGRANGE, THAT HAS ITS ROOTS ON NEBRASKA, IS EVERYWHERE.

IT'S INFILTRATED THE WHOLE CITY AND IT HAS INTERMARRIED, IT HAS CROSSED CULTURAL LINES, CULTURAL BOUNDARIES AND HOPEFULLY THE GOOD THINGS OF IT WILL ENDURE AND I'M SURE THEY WILL BECAUSE UM THEY ARE SO VERY POSITIVE THAT UH THERE WOULDN T BE ANY WAY THAT THEY COULDN'T.

CHET ZABLOCKI: THAT YOU KNOW YOU HAVE LIVES GO BACK WHERE YOUR ROOTS STARTED.

I WAS BORN THERE AND UH ESPECIALLY WHEN I DRIVE BY THERE, THERE'S A THERE'S A GROCERY STORY ON BUCKINGHAM, MACLZEWSKI'S MARKET, I USUALLY GO THERE TO PICK UP MY HOLIDAY STUFF AND THEN I,M IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, SO I DRIVE BY HOME AND I DRIVE BY MY STORE WHERE I USED TO HAVE IT AND THEN SEE ALL THAT JUST WISHING THAT TURN THE CLOCK BACK FIFTY YEARS AND BE THERE AGAIN, AND REMEMBER ALL THE GOOD MEMORIES.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WE'RE HERE WITH JIM MARSHALL, MANAGER OF THE LOCAL HISTORY ROOM OF THE TOLEDO LUCAS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

JIM I'VE HEARD IN THE PAST FEW YEARS MAYBE DECADE OR MORE THAT THERE'S BEEN A REAL EXPLOSION IN INTEREST IN GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORY.

HAVE YOU HAVE YOU SEEN THAT HAPPENING?

JIM MARSHALL: DEFINITELY, UM I THINK IT'S ATTRIBUTED TO A COUPLE OF THINGS.

ONE THING OF COURSE WAS THE MINISERIES ROOTS THAT HAD A GREAT IMPRESSION ON A NUMBER OF PEOPLE.

UM THE SECOND THING I THINK IS THE ABILITY NOW TO UM TO PUBLISH, THAT'S IT'S VERY EASY, DESKTOP PUBLISHING AND THE INTERNET.

UH THOSE THOSE THINGS THOSE THREE ELEMENTS HAVE PLAYED A GREAT PART IN REALLY MAKING PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BRINGING THEM IN.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WHAT DO PEOPLE HOPE TO FIND I MEAN WHAT TO PEOPLE COME HERE TO FIND WHEN THEY'RE RESEARCHING THEIR FAMILY HISTORY.

JIM MARSHALL: GENERALLY THEY ONLY HAVE A HAZY IDEA ABOUT THEIR GREAT GRANDPARENTS AND AND SUBSEQUENT UH ANCESTORS.

UM THEYRE THEY RE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION WHERE THEY LIVED, WHO THEY WERE, WHAT KIND OF LIVES THEY LIVED, WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE THEY WERE.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WHAT WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT TO FIND WHEN THEY WALK THROUGH THE DOORS.

WHAT WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT REALLY TO FIND AND DISCOVER THERE.

JIM MARSHALL: WELL, I THINK THAT IF THEY KEEP IN MIND THAT UM WE DON'T HAVE EVERYTHING AND THAT NO ONE HAS EVERYTHING AND THAT IT TAKES A LONG TIME SOMETIMES TO DO THE RESEARCH.

PEOPLE WORK WEEKS, MONTHS, YEARS TRYING TO FIND SOME OF THIS INFORMATION BUT WE HAVE A STRONG COLLECTION FOR THE STATES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

WE HAVE A STRONG COLONIAL COLLECTION AND OF COURSE WE HAVE A GREAT COLLECTION OF OHIO AND LOCAL TOLEDO MATERIAL.

SO IF THEIR INTEREST IS THERE THEY SHOULD START HERE AND IT'S UH POSSIBLE THEY MAY FIND SOME THINGS PARTICULARLY IF IT'S A LOCAL TOLEDO CONNECTION THE ODDS ARE VERY GOOD THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE INFORMATION.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WHAT SHOULD THEY BRING WITH THEM?

JIM MARSHALL: WELL THEY SHOULD BRING AS MUCH INFORMATION AS THEY CAN FIND ABOUT THE PEOPLE THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.

THEIR BEST BET IS PROBABLY TO TALK TO AS MANY FAMILY MEMBERS AS THEY CAN SO OBVIOUSLY THE EARLIER YOU START ON A PROJECT LIKE THIS THE BETTER OFF YOU'RE GOING TO BE.

IF YOU CAN TALK TO GREAT AUNTS, MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHERS, GREAT UNCLES AND FIND OUT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

WRITE THAT DOWN AND THEN COME IN WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.

IF YOU CAN PHRASE WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN A QUESTION THEN IT'S EASY FOR US TO POINT YOU IN A DIRECTION OR GET YOU AN ANSWER.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: NOW HOW DO PEOPLE USUALLY GET STARTED ONCE THEY ARRIVE.

WHAT WHAT PARTICULAR THINGS DO THEY LOOK AT.

JIM MARSHALL: THEIR THE FIRST THINGS I THINK ARE THE INITIALLY THE EASIEST THINGS THE OBITUARY INDEX IF THEY'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE IN TOLEDO.

THE OBITUARY INDEX BEGINS IN 1835 AND GOES TO PRESENT DAY.

THERE'S A VERY GOOD CHANCE THERE MAY BE AN OBITUARY.

THERE ARE DEATH RECORDS, VERY EARLY ON UM HEALTH DEPARTMENT DEATH RECORDS THAT THEY CAN LOOK AT.

THERE ARE CITY DIRECTORIES FROM 1858 FORWARD AND THEN THERE IS THE CENSUS INFORMATION FOR OHIO WHICH WOULD INCLUDE LUCAS COUNTY AND TOLEDO UM AND WE HAVE IT FOR MICHIGAN ALSO AND SOME OTHER STATES BUT THAT WOULD BEGIN UM AS EARLY AS 1820 AND GO TO 1930 AND IS A GREAT SOURCE.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: HAVE YOU DONE YOUR OWN GENEALOGY?

JIM MARSHALL: I'VE DONE SOME BUT OBVIOUSLY I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME SINCE I'M HELPING EVERYONE ELSE.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST DISCOVERIES YOU'VE SEEN PEOPLE ACHIEVE THERE.

JIM MARSHALL: UM THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN PEOPLE WILL YELL OUT EUREKA.

SOMETIMES IT WILL BRING TEARS TO THEIR EYES WHEN THEY FIND SOMETHING THAT IS MEMORABLE ABOUT A GRANDPARENT OR A OR OR SOMETIMES EVEN A MOTHER OR FATHER.

WE HAVE YEARBOOKS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING TO PRESENT DAY.

THAT'S ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR THINGS AND PEOPLE WILL BE LOOKING FOR PICTURES OF PEOPLE AND OFTEN FIND THEM IN THE YEARBOOKS.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: NOW IF YOU'RE JUST LOOKING AT TOLEDO FAMILIES I SUPPOSE THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF PUBLISHED INFORMATION AND NECESSARILY HAVE TO GO INTO THE MANUSCRIPTS AND THE RECORDS.

IS THAT TRUE?

JIM MARSHALL: YES, THERE ARE WOULD BE PUBLISHED OBITUARIES UM IN MANY CASES.

WE HAVE A NAME INDEX WHICH YOU CAN CHECK.

OFTEN TIMES YOU WILL FIND INFORMATION PUBLISHED EITHER IN EARLY HISTORIES OF THE COUNTY OR IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED.

UM EITHER FOR THIS AREA OR FROM OHIO OR FROM OUTSIDE OF OHIO.

SO THERE ARE PUBLISHED RECORDS THAT YOU MAY FIND PEOPLE IN.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: WHAT IF UH YOUR FAMILY SPOKE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, THEN THOSE RECORDS POSSIBLY COULD BE MISSPELLED OR NAMES CAN GET CHANGED.

JIM MARSHALL: YES, YES, INTERESTINGLY WE WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT THE SPELLING IS REMAINING THE SAME AND OF COURSE IT DOESN'T.

PRIOR TO THE SECOND WAR AND PRIOR TO SOCIAL SECURITY PEOPLE CHANGED THE THE WAY THEY SPELLED THEIR NAME THROUGH THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFE.

THE OTHER THING WAS IT OFTEN WAS SPELLED BY THE ENUMERATOR OR WHOEVER WAS TAKING IT DOWN PHONETICALLY SO THAT IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL OF AND LOOK FOR VARIANT SPELLINGS.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: GOOD, GOOD.

UM NOW I KNOW THAT THE NEW CENSUS OF 1930 JUST CAME OUT.

WHAT WHAT SORT OF UH ADDITIONS DOES THAT DOES THAT MAKE.

JIM MARSHALL: WELL IT ADDS ANOTHER TEN YEARS WHICH IS GREAT.

I MEAN PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THAT 1930 CENSUS.

IT WAS 1930 UH ISN'T ALL THAT LONG AGO BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO FIRST CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AFTER 1920 AND THEY'RE TRYING TO FIND THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME HERE.

UM IT IS A A TREMENDOUS RESOURCE SINCE IT TELLS YOU WHO WAS THE HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD, WHO WAS LIVING IN THE HOUSEHOLD AND THEIR AGES, AND WHERE THEY WERE BORN AND WHERE THEIR PARENTS WERE BORN.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: NOW I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CENSUS RESTRICTS ACCESS TO ITS RECORDS FOR WHAT SEVENTY JIM MARSHALL: SEVENTY TWO YEARS DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: SEVENTY TWO YEARS AND UH ONCE THAT TIME PERIOD HAS IS HAS EXPIRED THEN YOU CAN LOOK AT THE ACTUAL MANUSCRIPT THE ACTUAL RECORD FOR A FAMILY.

JIM MARSHALL: YES, PRESENTLY IT'S IT'S AVAILABLE UM ON MICROFILM BUT IT'S ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH 1930.

SEVENTY TWO YEARS AFTER 1930 THE 1940 CENSUS WILL BE RELEASED AND THAT IS DONE SO THAT THE CENSUS UH CAN BE TAKEN WITH PEOPLE FEELING RATHER COMFORTABLE ABOUT GIVING INFORMATION KNOWING THAT IT'S NOT GONNA BE AVAILABLE PUBLICALLY UH IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL PERSON UH FOR SEVENTY TWO YEARS.

THE COUNT IS IS TAKEN AND WE KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE AND WE KNOW THE ANSWERS TO THOSE KINDS OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION THAT'S COMPILED BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SEE THE 1940 CENSUS.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: I'LL HAVE TO WAIT JIM MARSHALL: YES DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: NOW UH TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THE PARTICULAR THE MOST USEFUL RESOURCES PEOPLE NORMALLY CONSULT AS THEY COME IN DOING FAMILY RESEARCH.

JIM MARSHALL: WELL AS THEY COME IN THE NAME INDEX AS I MENTIONED, IS PROBABLY THE FIRST THING THEY SHOULD CHECK UM JUST TO SEE WHAT IS THERE AND TO SHOW US THE CARD SO WE CAN RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION.

THE OBITUARY INDEX IS ANOTHER GREAT RESOURCE AND THEY SHOULD CHECK THAT.

UM WE HAVE A LARGE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION AND THAT IS INDEXED BY NAME IN THE NAME INDEX.

THERE COULD BE DOCUMENTS OR SOME KIND OF INFORMATION PERTAINING TO TO THEIR FAMILY.

THE COUNTY HISTORIES ARE ARRANGED BY COUNTY AFTER THE UH CITY DIRECTORIES AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN THE COUNTY HISTORIES SO THEY COULD BROWSE A PARTICULAR COUNTY IN OHIO.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: AND THOSE NORMALLY HAVE INDEXES TO FAMILY NAMES AND SO FORTH JIM MARSHALL: NORMALLY THEY HAVE INDEXES AND THE INFORMATION WILL INCLUDE UH PARISH RECORDS, UH THEY COULD BE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF CEMETERIES.

UH IT MAY BE ANY KIND OF GENEALOGICAL THINGS THAT THE LOCAL GENEALOGICAL CHAPTERS HAVE PUBLISHED AND IT CAN BE HISTORIES THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ON THAT PARTICULAR COUNTY THEN AFTER THAT THERE ARE STATE CENSUS INDEXES IN BOOK FORM AND AFTER THAT IS THE GENERAL GENEALOGICAL COLLECTION AT THE END OF WHICH ARE THE FAMILY HISTORIES.

KEEPING IN MIND THAT 40% OF THE MATERIAL IS OUT HERE ON THE SHELVES AND THERE'S A LARGE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL THAT IS IN STACK AREAS INCLUDING PHOTOGRAPHS, ORAL HISTORIES, MAPS, THINGS LIKE THAT AND BOOKS.

DR.

TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE: TERRIFIC.

THANKS JIM.

WE VE BEEN SPEAKING WITH JIM MARSHALL, MANAGER OF THE LOCAL HISTORY ROOM OF THE TOLEDO LUCAS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR FAMILY HISTORY OR FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TOLEDO HISTORY, YOU CAN GO TO THE TOLEDO'S ATTIC WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS A LOT OF LINKS AND INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL HISTORY GENERALLY OR YOU CAN GO THE TOLEDO LUCAS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE WHICH CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL HISTORY, LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND OF COURSE THE ALL-IMPORTANT LIBRARY CATALOG IS THERE AS WELL.

FINALLY YOU CAN ALSO LOOK FOR MORE RESOURCES ON THE WGTE.ORG WEBSITE WHERE MANY OF THESE OTHER LINKS ARE ARCHIVED.

WE'LL VISIT THE WGTE FILM AND VIDEO ARCHIVES AFTER THIS LOOK AT TOLEDO THEN AND NOW.

(MUSIC) NOW WE'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A TRIP THROUGH THE VAULTS OF THE WGTE FILM AND VIDEO ARCHIVES WHICH CONTAIN DONATED PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES, RARE FILM FOOTAGE AND VIDEO THAT DOCUMENTS MANY PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN TOLEDO'S HISTORY.

THE ARCHIVES ALSO HOLD VINTAGE COMMERCIAL MESSAGES FROM LONG LOST TOLEDO BUSINESSES.

ENJOY THIS LOOK BACK AT THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION.

I'M TIMOTHY MESSER-KRUSE FOR TOLEDO STORIES.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

I'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.