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PUB.
Living Lore in New England
(Massachusetts)
TITLE Adam Laboda, Polish Textile Woricer--9--
MITER Clair littr. Perry
DATE 1956. PP. 12
CHECKER DATE
SOURCES GIVEN (I) Interview
cumin
the lir i. Perry .v.ssignment, 3erks'nire
Iitle ivin ore
Topic Labodal Folish
Textile orker
Paper Two
L'ur eeconu visit to .uam i,aooaa, oegan -t the office of
the rkshire oolen Lothpany in idttefielu, where he works as an
expert spinner. ,e inviteu him to riue with us to his home in a
four-tenethent olock on einota Jtreet.
I have thy own cur. -J:ou follow -long anu I'll oe there,
he said with a grin.
he wore rough working clothes, a fur-lineu overcoat over then,
his neck w6..L, grimeu anu plastereu with black aust from the thate2ial
which he hau peen nanuling. ith his son, who is also ethpioyed at
the mill, he got into a noueri seuan parked in the mill -yard ana
drove rapidly none a distance of less than a half thile.
he net me at the oack door of the tenement which he oceupiea,
as the front uoors have tight storm -doors over them Cala are selaom
opened in winter.
kitchen, where his
Four of their five
-ethoving overshoes he invited the in, through the
wife was serving a meal to thethoers of the fanily.
chiluren are working, tne youngest, a girl of
13, attends the nearby 8.rd.lillilLt.r 6Ci1061. Two oluer aughters are
ethployed as textile kprkers, also -nu another son works on the
second shift of the eathe thill where his iatner is ethployed.
:Lscorteu into the front room, the :caul() was turneu on jy the
oiuer on to entertain the while his fatnerwasi,ed up. on a t.,(1.
was a rolisn iJa.per, .L,ova .Anglica puolishea in ehicopee, anu on the
2
Llair 4. Perry
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: berkshire
Topic: Adam ooaa, polish
Textile _orher
front page large pictures of Thadaeus hosciusko elnu
slue by
in soft
a pool,
side. cver a small uesk against the ,wall hung a rich tapestry
orowns ana °lack, a woo•land scene, with ueer drinking at
out over one corner of it hung a gaudy calendar advertising.
a Polish market. A Springfield Sunday paper lay on a stool, a phone
on another and a tkerostat near the kitchen aeor testified to
modern heating apparatus.
r.Lauuda appeared, still in working clothes but with his
curly hair newly combed and face beaming. he lightea a cigarette
in a holder and sat near the front window in his favorite rocking
chair.
In the kitchen voices could be heard, speaking i'olish; the
dark, good-looking wife and mother und an elderly z-olish woman
visitor with a kerchief over her neaa. he stairs to the second
floor lead off the
iront room,
for the tiny front hall is usea as
a coat closet. two older daughters, home from work, soon came
in to 1-k.-,ng up their wraps. They are sturdy, buxom girls in their
late 'teens or early twenties. ana then the older son, who
had visited poland with his father, came to listen to his father's
descriptions of the
"What we uo for
only about the yard
visit and reminded him of incidents.
amusement when I am a boy in Poland? We played
or the barn, for we work very hard and long hours
on the farm, all of us. There are so many in the family, eleven of
Page 8
i\[ame: Clair V. perry Assignment:: 3erkshire
Title: Living Lore
Topic: Adam Laboaa, Polish'
Textile iorker
us, anu the farm is about 25 acres, your size (American). Vhen
we play it is mostly to play soldiers; all the boys and 6iris play
soluiers, always, then and talk a treat deal about war and oattles,
ior then at that time where I live we are under Austrian rule, ror
Poland was partitioned. to Austria, Russia and uerm:Tny. it was
partitioned three times,.1n .1772, in 1777 and in .177 and did not
oe free until ic.)16. te are tau6ht much of the history or Poland,
of its wars anL its fighters and or the peasant revolts, w.,j_ch my
father told of when the oeasahts armeu themselves with
41••••••
what you
call, sy'es (scythes) on ion 6 handles and 6o to right the high Lii)6.
That is all the weapons they have and they are °eaten.
"That picture or Kosciusko is with Lincoln's because their oirthday
is the same uay, yesteruay (Feu. 12) anu tney are ooth patriots
much aomired Oy Poiacks. lfosciusko came to fi6ht for America you
Khow and when ne went home he leu a peasant's revolt but was oeaten.
There was another one in 1846 when the peasants killed auout 20u0
of the nooility and won the fight out it did not ,o so much good.
,e uo not care,much auout our. overnment oecause it is Austrian,
that is really (i-erimetn)when 1 am a Joy and althou6h the men vote they
ao not think it means much to them and they c)ust vote E:)C61.U:-:-e it is
custom. yes, we are very proud of our country's history and we are
taught it in school. rou see, oesiues 6oing to the grammar school
Pa e 4
Llair 1-erry Assignment: ,ierkshire
litie: Livin Lore
lopic: Auam Lapoda, Polish
lextile oorker
I also took special work three days a week and learned (.-erman.
prepare for high school like your junior high school here and when
-I am twelve I go to Cermany.
we do not have much time to ploy, ecause of school and
work. eget up at 6 o'clock in L.orning and work 'til Uark.
have only kerosene lam El then and we work hard in daylight., all
the time. In winter we children must thresh out the wheat and
rye and corn in the uarn. 'k;e use a ion stick with a short one
tied to it with leather string; what you call it? Flail. Yes,
that is it, anu we nit the wheat and rye and corn on the oarn
iloor with it and thresh it out, ueginning in winter and all
through it. e are not too poor Jut we have so uig a family
that we have to work hard for we raise all that we eat on the
farm. .,1-11 we have plenty to eat of everything, of coo -page, garlic,
oeets, turnips, potatoes, everything, and every winter ,just oefore
hristmas we kill a pig hog anu have meat for the rest of the winter.
"3ut when I am twelve my father say to me, 'Adam, you must
find a ,00, oecause we are so many.' It is the custom when a
Polack uoy is to oe married that the father gives him a -share of
the farm, ElajiiJe two or three acres, you see. _Lsut if he gave it
to all of us he \Aould have nothing and no one would have enough
land, although it is rich land CLhU some families live on only
Page 5
-ame: lir i-erry A,,signment: Taerksnire
Title: hiving hore
Topic: Acidr4 haboda, Folish
Textile worker
two or three or four acres there. Lots of poor people, oh, yes,
many very poor pe
pie in Poland.
uTie have many, many- ,.,ews in k'olaai. They do not work on the
farm out thelmust always ue selling things. They will get a big
uasket and buy a chicken, a duck, some corn and bread and go around
Iron :1•1e house to another7and sell it to oe eaten. It is cooked
already to eat and they sell it in all pieces to people. Then
they gb on to oe merchants, always to sell and buy and sell. They
do not work much and we do not care much for them out we are friendly.
T•iever will they touch a pig, only other meat and they must oe killed
uy a kosher uutcner, too.
itTne_' Germans are many, too and we are friendly vith them. The
poor people are very nice, the uermans, and 60 I found them in
ermany, where I went. Yes, I went all alone and i got a job with
a farmer and I worked for a farmer and then as a spinner in a mill
in ;u14, a .city there. It took me two uays and nights to get there
uy train. I was treated very well by the :;ierman people there, poor
_people. The high man is hard and military and looks down on all and
cannot oe spoken to except by title and all that and are not nice
to get along with. They are harsh and hard.
tfWe did not like that kind ot ,aermans at all. ;ill the poor ones
are good people. The way it happens that the t)ews were chased out
-ame: iair ;erry
Title Livin„„ Lore
Page 6
Assignment: _Jerkshire
iopic: 4Ldwn LaDoua, Polish
Textile worker
of Uermany is this; nitl(tr came along anu saiu to a man, 'tour
father Vk.4.6 porn in Poiand; you belong tnere. 6et out:, anu they
trieu to go but they are not really citizens of Poland. They
were born in uermany and we have too many .Jews there now anu
cannot admit more, not too many, so they could not come to Polana
anu haU to camp at the oolaer and wait and many uieu and all suffered
bauly. It is too uau. L-ut I say that the poor Uerman people think
litler is all right because they have work aria, rood.
°I workeu ior two years in 6-ermany, six MOnths s a sinner and
tnen go home and then we come to America, as I told you.
he cnurch oh yes, it is an important part of our life.
are ctoman Ootholics, all about where i llvea. e have many, i-any
feast uays for the churcn, besides such as Ohristmas. our Sainta
Caus is but we do not make so much of it there as here.
°It is strange. There we are near the Vistula hiver2 the biggest
river, and over across it is aussia and yet we are under Austrian
rule. I used to swim across the river out aussian soldiors were
there and we could not stay and hau to swim right back.
"I will tell you that in the old days when my father was young
the nobility were cruel. They maue the poor people work on large
farms of IWO acres or more and if they aid_ not work fast enough
they woulu whip them with long wnips until they bled. They were
hame: Ulair serry
Title: Living Lore
Page 7
Assignment: .Jerkshire
Topic: dam Laboual Polish
Textile ..orker
the same as slaves or serfs then. 'ihat is why the peasants re-
volted and fought with sciyes. In l646 they killed many of the
hi -h men anu uivided the land apiong themselves.
"uur schools were ijUJiie schools; the principals are mostly
men out womenere also teachers. 'ihe government Lid not use to
make you go to school s4it does now.
"out my work in .,4iierica. At first I work in the mill at
uiloertviiie (Mass.) 'Ihere were aoout 2i of us in one house.
'mat house is still standing out has been moved. It was a company
house.
in one room aoout Lice the size of this one (20xio) there
were three ueus aha six boys slept there. e °ought our own
groceries aria gave them to the woman who kept the house and she
cooked for us. Line would Ilirnish the salt aria pepper and so
worth out we °ought the rest and paid each ;;:3 a month for room
Ulla the cokin; Ocause, you see, we could _only earn auout 4;2.64
a week. I. was a spinner, there, but when I wanted to Let married
I (lid not want to uoard out to have a tenement of my own and the
company houses could not be oou ht there.
"So i came to Littsfielu where they told me I could get a
oo with the 3erkshire iioolen, but when I -t here they told me
to go to i-'untoosuc (i'ontoosuc
4.:LIL,
co.)
as I would get a
better jo.o. eli, I coulu not talk En-iisn yet and I worked there
halLe: L.ir kerry
Title: Living :Lore
P6.ge 8
Assignment: 3erkshire
Topic: A.aa.m i,aboda, kolish
Textile '6'orker
one day ana then the 0068 told me I would nave to O. I did not
khOW why. he paia me, I think, ,id.50 aria. I went to the 3erkshire
'ttooien. The boss at kontoosuc was .Lrish, his name was Pat bleming.
1.,.e is ("eau now.
I was a rolack. You see, I did not know why
was fired at first. Iwo weeks later I find out. .ell, I went to
the .erkshire Woolen anu.saw the 00S6 and asked for a job spinning.
AI that time, in liaO, -r. Liiiette of ',,estfield hau died and Lr.
.c.4.very and i„,r. hoonan came to take it over; they soid most of the
company houses, soon. jr. oonan was then superintehdent. e is
the owner now. ell, the pose said, 'You were working at kontoosuCe
and I told him yes and he said 'any aiu you not stay; why did you
get fired?' and i did not Know and he said, ';:e have no work now
ior you out mayoe in two weeks on the night shift' but I neeaed
a job then so i went to the oifice and went to see ir. noonan. I
had a l'olish friend who talked .Lnglish for me and told r.hoonan
wanteu job and he asked me the same question about i'ontoosuc
out 1 dia not know, out he called the ooss in and told him to put
the to work at once at night. 6o I had a job and I stayed on that job.
i say, after I am marry i want a tenement of my own so I ouy
this one Iron the tiew who had °ought the company houses.
"That was after my visit to 1:bland, where I w -s married.
found things much changed. Yes, too much changed, but one thing
Page
-awe: Clair 1. .c'erry Assignment: Lerkshire
Title: 1,iving Lore
Topic: Adam Laooda, iolish
Textile ;,orker
I noticed, that all the boys would tip their huts and uow und
i thought it was oecause I am an American and they know me and
then I found that they are teaching them to oe polite, now. They
uid not use to know how to fie polite in the old country but they
0.0 now.
The are polite to everyone and it is goou. how they
must all go to school.
"Polanu is a democracy, like us. They have a President but
it is the, wnut you call it, Linister who really rules. ne is
auout the same as a dictator aria that is because Poland is afraid
of war. They are afraid of enemies on all sides. I get letters
from my people and at :iiristm's time they were much afraid of war
oecause of nitler. They have now military tr_ining for those of
l6 to 21 out it is not a draft; it is like our Ultal militia, here.
The Polacks are great for m2ching and tor drilling and for music
A
such as drum corps aria uanus, anyway.
I iounu out why 1 um fireu at Pontoosuc; it 16 just
oecause I am a Polack anu the others, they are mostly Irish and
Trench, ao n t like me. it is hard to get acquainted, you se,
and then, people ere cold to me oecause there are some Polacks
who do not know how to oenave. Men I come here there are only
eight or families here ana they are new and some of them are what
you call 0=6. 3um weavers and oum spinners and just oums that
-ame: (4/lair Perry
Title: Living Lore
Page 10
Assignment: 3erksnire
Topic: Adam Laboua, Polish'
Textile Worker
drink too much. They are 60 poor that they never had money in
Poland. They raised things on the farm and when they get a couple.
uoilars here they go out to spend it and get drunk. And the Polacks
are always strong and like. to show how strong they are and they
start throwing things and fighting, and in a boarding house a fight
would start and they would break the windows and furniture and
the police would have to come. 'Cine day judge White said in the
L:ourt that he was tired of seeing so many Poiacks always in
court
on ionday morning and they ought to be sent back to Poland. The
POlacks were to blaci.e all right but they couldn't really help it.
°11, that made me think and I and some others got together
and we organized some societies, the Polish .ational -.Mance and
the :0'ulcons and a young i:_en's Association, but tnat one uid not last,
out tne Alliance aria the 1.'alcons.did. It gave the young fellows
something to do in spare time. In Poland they did not have much
of any spare time but here they got paiu on Saturday and wanted to
do something. o we gave them something to do. We have a head-
quarters in the (erman hall that is next to („urtin's Lail on
Peck's hoaa at Wahconah Street and then we built the Falcon's
hail that is Called 3el-Air Hail, now, and there tneykuve their
meetings and their arum corps and things and you uo not see many
Polacks in court nowadays. So many are here now that there is good,
Page 11
ame Uair -4. Perry Assignment: 3erkshire
Title: Living Lore Adam Laboda, Polish
Textile liorker
don't you think' 6o many came to work in the textile mills and
tnen in the G. i. 0.1eneral iectric) iou see, there were many
mills, in five of them, out now only two or three, one
small one and the Z. is aown so the Poiacks nave haa to do
other things oesides, in business.
"4hy, at one time t the mill, when there was a night shift
on, some of the bums orought in a c -se of oeer, into the mill and
drank it. mr. i;boneui came in at aoout ten -thirty and only two
machines were running, one of them was mine and the rest of the
spinners and weavers were sleeping. he said, will shut aown
this night snift, this is too much' and he did.
"ell, it lookea like I was out of a ,oc) but I went to see
r.i\ioonan and asked for a clay ,job, and he said 'Sure,' and gave
me a uay ,)00. 1 have worked mostly on uay work since. I worked
all the time except one time when things were down, then I worked
for six months at the L_4.
out did not get through at the
-)erkshire )oien, even then. It as just when things was slack.
"Yes, four of my chilaren are working, only one little one
goes to school and we get along. e ao not want the wife to work.
do not think it is right wnen a woman is a mother to go out to
work from the home. It is not right or her to work out, then. In
ioiana the women work the same as the men. iy they will not let