Jobs in Grand Rapids MI for the Polish Immigrants

While Anthony and others he knew likely came to Grand Rapids for the economic opportunities, most of the jobs available to immigrants without a lot of education were in the factories on the Westside of Grand Rapids, within walking distance of where they lived. Immigrants were more likely to work in the brickyards, gypsum mines and furniture and other factories than native-born Americans of British descent. The Dutch also worked in the factories but they had arrived much earlier so were making better wages and getting better jobs. (Information from “The Poles, the Dutch and the Furniture Strike of 1911”, Mary Patrice Erdmans, Polish American Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 5-22) ***** It is evident when doing family genealogy that Anthony was one of many immigrants who made their way from Tomaszow Lubelski Poland (and other parts of Poland) to the opportunities available in Grand Rapids. Polish people increasingly came to Grand Rapids, Michigan from the Russian and Austrian Partitions. In the 1920 census, there were 4,269 foreign-born Poles counted in Grand Rapids. The Dutch greatly outnumbered the Polish except on the Westside where they lived and many factories were located. ***** Polish Catholics In the U.S. were more likely to vote against prohibition, regulations on theaters and other entertainment and more likely to vote for an eight hour work day. (Information from “The Poles, the Dutch and the Furniture Strike of 1911”, Mary Patrice Erdmans, Polish American Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 5-22) ***** Most of the jobs that Anthony and his brothers had were part of or in support of the furniture industry which was a major industry in Grand Rapids. Mr. Foote, who worked for a Grand Rapids manufacturer, testified in 1910 about the proposed increase of freight rates and the effect it would have on Grand Rapids as a market. When asked about the relative importance of Grand Rapids as “a center of furniture manufacture and sale” he said, “Grand Rapids is undoubtedly the greatest furniture market in the United States.” Besides 45 local factories, 275 manufacturers came to Grand Rapids twice a year with buyers and salesmen. He described the furniture factories and associated businesses, including “manufacturers of varnish, glue, veneers, lumber, and all the products used in the Grand Rapids Furniture business.” “The centering of the furniture factories at Grand Rapids has had a tendency to build up a great many other industries there. We have factories for manufacturing brass ornaments for furniture, factories for trucks, veneers, hand screws, clamps, dry-kiln equipment, tanners of hides, and various things like that; finishing material and so on. Besides these, we have the largest refrigerator factory in the world, one of the largest casket factories, a factory for making piano cases, interior-finish factories, factories for the manufacture of office furniture and office fixtures, and office equipment of various kinds . . . “ He also talked about the cheap lumber and cheap labor available south of the Mason Dixon line and the less expensive furniture lines that they couldn’t compete with and which would eventually contribute to the demise of the Grand Rapids market. ***** https://images.app.goo.gl/4px8m59qRgENKoqo6