Haley Read

HON 1000, 514

1 October 2016
The year was 1907. By this time there had been an industrial boom that took place in the
city of Detroit. Immigrants from all over came in the hopes of finding work, which they did in
the new industrialized city. However, many of the immigrants came to find that holding on to
their heritage was harder than they thought as their new life in an industrialized city continued to
change them. Such was the case with 19-year-old Edmund who immigrated into the United
States in order to avoid the conscription into the Russian army1 and the economic turmoil that
was taking place.
It has been four years since Edmund immigrated into the United States with his wife who
now have a two-year-old son. All of his past decisions are running through his mind as he walks
past the new railroad tracks2 being built with some of the steel that was made from his factory3. It
had been a very long day, longer than the usual ten hours4 he is used to having. Life has not been
easy but he is glad that he has his family to keep him going. As he reflects on the eventless day
he has had, Edmund starts to think about the past four years and how things could have been
different. Life is much different in Detroit than it was in Russia5. Had he not immigrated, would

1 Januszewski, David. Organizational Evolution in a Polish American Community. Vol. 42, No. 1.
University of Illinois Press. 1985. 46.
2 Januszewski 46.
3 Riggs, Thomas. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America Vol. 3, 3rd ed. Cengage Learning. 2014. 487.

4 Riggs 487.
5 Januszewski 46.

he and his wife still be together? Life in the Russian army would have been a difficult one, but
would it have been less difficult than his life now?
As Edmund starts to make his way into Hamtramck, the area where many other PolishAmericans reside, he begins to notice things he has never seen before. The structure of the home
he had built years before looked much different than the ones in Russia and so did all the
neighbors houses. More things have changed, not just the things you can physically see. The
language used6 amongst people was changing and so was the religion7 that was always practiced.
It seems that everyone is beginning to assimilate into the American culture8. Religion and
language used to be such an important aspect in his life yet they now seem to become less and
less important9 as he tries to make a living for him and his family.
It seems that the city in which he has immigrated into in order to help his family is
changing his way of life and he was not sure whether that was a good or a bad thing. Everyone
else seems to be doing the exact same thing and it looked like it did not bother them one bit as he
struggles to hang on to the past. Yet the heritage which seems to be disappearing is the same
thing that has brought all of his neighbors together. Although they are being assimilated into the
American culture, their background still separates them from everyone else.

6 Symmons-Symonolewicz, Konstantin. The Polish-American Community-Half a Century After The

Polish Peasant Vol. 11, No. 3 University of Illinois Press. 1966. 68.

7 Symmons-Symonolewicz 68.
8 Januszewski 45.
9 Symmons-Symonolewicz 68.

By this time, Edmund is finally arriving at home where his wife and son are waiting for
him with dinner prepared. When dinner is over, he goes and tucks his son into bed. As he is about
to leave the room, his son asks his father why he looks so sad. Edmund assures his son that
nothing is wrong and says goodnight; however, he is not able to avoid this question as his wife
noticed the same thing. The truth is that the changes Edmund is seeing is making him sad. Life
used to be so much different when he was younger in Russia. Detroit is so much different with
all of the tall, plain buildings. It made him feel so insignificant to the world around him, like
everyone blended together into the same gray blob. Every morning, they would get up and work
a long ten-hour-day only to come home and then start over the next day.
When he explained this to his wife, Edmund expected her not to understand him. Instead
she told him what she thinks. The city was different from Russia in so many ways, yet that is not
always a bad thing. Today, Edmund is able to go and make a living for his family and make a
difference in the world. Without each and every factory worker, there would be no railroads, no
buildings and no skyscrapers. Yes Edmund and all the other immigrants in Detroit are becoming
assimilated into the American culture but that is not a bad thing. For one of the first times, people
from all backgrounds are coming together to work long days to make an impact on the country.
Giving up some of his heritage was hard for Edmund yet it was inevitable. Human was working
side by side with machine in order to create a completely different world from any one anyone
has ever known and Edmund realized he was a part of it.
Giving up part of his heritage may have been rough but in the end, it is because of people
like Edmund that the industrialization took place. Leaving behind heritage was not such as bad
thing as it began to unite people who came from all different backgrounds. There were still
segregated parts of the city in which people from one country often resided in but ultimately

everyone is able to come together and help build the city through their hard work and sacrifices.
Everyone has their own backgrounds yet the assimilation of people helped produce the Detroit
that exists today. Times change and so do people but it does not always have to be changes for
the bad.

Works Cited
Januszewski, David. Organizational Evolution in a Polish American Community. Vol. 42, No. 1.
University of Illinois Press. 1985.
Riggs, Thomas. Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America Vol. 3, 3rd ed. Cengage Learning.
2014.
Symmons-Symonolewicz, Konstantin. The Polish-American Community-Half a Century After
The Polish Peasant Vol. 11, No. 3 University of Illinois Press. 1966.