2. St. Adalbert Church Complex - National Register Nomination

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 St. Adalbert Church Complex St. Joseph, IN Name of Property County and State Section 8 page 12 Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary) St. Adalbert Church is an active Roman Catholic parish committed to preserving and promoting its immigrant culture and heritage. The rich architectural and working-class history of the site merits consideration for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.) As the largest and best-preserved Polish religious complex in the state of Indiana, rivaled only by St. Stanislaus in Michigan City, St. Adalbert Church Complex is an extraordinary monument to ethnic, working-class, and religious history. With four significant buildings constructed across a half century in a variety of architectural styles, St. Adalbert is a testament to immigrant progress and evolutions in religious design. Especially notable, is the exuberant St. Adalbert Church, designed by Worthmann & Steinbach, which boasts the tallest steeples in South Bend and is an exemplary representative of the Polish Cathedral style of architecture. Beyond the built environment, St. Adalbert Church Complex is associated with highly significant historical people and events: transatlantic Polish migration, the foundation of the Abstinence League of Polish Priests by Rev. John Kubacki in 1913, and union organization by its parishioners during the Great Depression as evinced in its remarkable Labor Mural by John Mallin from 1940. Over the course of its history, St. Adalbert attracted key figures in Polish and American society such as the Rt. Rev. Paul Rhode and General Józef Haller. The vision and sacrifice of Polish migrants to South Bend, St. Adalbert remains a center of diasporic life in South Bend with current migration from Latin America. ______________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.) ETHNIC HERITAGE Polish working-class immigrants organized St. Adalbert Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church (Koscioł Św. Wojciecha B.M.). in 1905 in the "Krakówo" neighborhood on South Bend's West Side. The district's namesake city, Krakow, reflected immigrant origins in the Austrian partition during a period when Poland was divided between the imperial powers of Prussia, Austria, and Russia. The last and largest of the city's four Polish parishes, construction of the St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church Complex continued over seventy years, creating an open-air museum of Midwestern religious architecture from the Polish Cathedral Style to Mid-Century Modern. The complex includes four buildings: St. Adalbert School (1909-11), Parish Rectory (1914-15), St. Adalbert Church (1923-26), and Felician Convent (1963), as well as monuments to World War I and II (1919, 1951). For over a half century, St. Adalbert was the leading center