KAMINSKI, REV. THADDEUS EDMOND
(Sept. 7, 1899 -- Oct. 18, 1968)Priest. When it comes to remembering General Pulaski in Poughkeepsie, in the far reaches of the Archdiocese of New York, no person deserves more credit for getting it off the ground than Father Thaddeus E. Kaminski, pastor of St. Joseph's, who came from the shadows of skyscrapers before the Polish people paraded in New York in honor of the Polish hero of the American Revolution. He was born in the borough of Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, the only child of John and Antoinette Kaminski. His father worked on the coal docks at Port Richmond and loaded hard coal from the mines in northeastern Pennsylvania into ships that sailed all over the world. When Felician Sisters opened St. Adalbert's parochial school in 1905, he was in their first grade. After he graduated, he studied for the priesthood at Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, where most of their diocesan priests were educated, and was ordained in St. Patrick's Cathedral by Patrick Cardinal Hayes.
He began his priestly career at St. Stanislaus R. C. Church in one of New York's neighborhoods where English was treated, and in a way still is, as a secomd language. As soon as Cardinal Hayes noted his abilities, Father Kaminski was appointed pastor of the Polish church on the east bank of the Hudson River midway between Albany and New York City. He arrived in Poughkeepsie in 1926.
Among the first things he did was modernize St. Joseph's church and increase the size of the grammar school. He bought ground for a cemetery.
Raising funds for a Pulaski memorial took longer. In 1929, together with Joseph Bozezinski, W. Luty, A. Maciag, A. Ratka, and others, he formed the General Pulaski Memorial Committee to celebrate the sesquicentennial of General Pulaski's death in Georgia on October 15, 1779. It petitioned the Common Council of Poughkeepsie to change the name of Tremaine Park to General Pulaski Park. It was approved unanimously Oct. 21, 1929.After the crash of the stock market in 1929, the Polish families of Poughkeepsie depended mostly on the income of the women who worked at Vassar College, including a 700-acre farm where it raised vegetables for its dining halls; Smith Bros., where they made cough drops; and to a lesser degree on sewing machines in sweat shops. In 1940, 38 percent of the industrial workers in Poughkeepsie were women. For nine years Father Kaminski and his committee -- known also as Komitet Nardowy -- struggled to raise money for a bronze sculpture of Pulaski on a marble pedestal in Pulaski Park. The sculpture of Pulaski, in the uniform of a Continental officer, down to the waist, was created by Theodore Kagann (1884-1961), a Jewish artist who had a studio in the Bronx, New York, and was, according to an article in Straz, Sept. 5, 1940, the 21st monument to Pulaski in the United States. Vincent Remisiewicz, a Polish stone cutter from Brooklyn, did the marble work.
It was unveiled Sept. 8, 1940, and presented to William E. Schrauth, mayor of Poughkeepsie, by Father Kaminski. Among the speakers, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, tall as she was, looked like her words fluttered out of the floral wreaths between her and the monument. Unfortunately none of the Polish newspapers quoted anything from her speech. When one picked up the next day's issue of Nowy Swiat, it had the entire speech of Miecislaus Szymczak, Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank, who spoke a long time and hardly mentioned Pulaski.
Very few, if any, Pulaski committees in the United States had warmer contacts with Franklin D. Roosevelt, including the time he served as Governor of New York State, than Father Kaminski and the Polish people of Dutchess County, where they all spent a great deal of their time, I am indebted to the collection of Victor A. Wojciechowski, who came from Trenton, N. J., to attend the ceremony on September 8, 1940, for a letter that President Roosevelt wrote on White House stationary to Father Kaminski.
On August 21, 1940, while the President of the United States was at Hyde Park, N, Y., he wrote: "Dear Father Kaminski: I am most grateful for the kind invitation extended through Mr. William J. Ciolko to speak at the unveiling of the monument to General Casimir Pulaski on Sunday, September 8th, next. In these anxious times I find it most difficult, as you can readily understand, to make arrangements and I regret more than I can say that circumstances prevent my acceptance and personal participation in this notable event.
"It is indeed most fitting that Pulaski should receive this added recognition as a true American patriot. He gave his life in the cause of American independence and wherever freedom is cherished his memory will be held in honor.
"Men and women of Polish blood came to the New World in early Colonial days. They have contributed to the upbuilding of the country in every generation. In the arts and the sciences, in commerce and industry, in loyal service to the communities where they have settled, our citizens of Polish origin have discharged in full measure the duties and obligations incumbent upon them as lovers of liberty and free government.
"In honoring the memory of Pulaski we are honoring the principles of freedom and liberty for which he fought and in defense of which he gave his life. Although I cannot attend the unveiling, I desire to be associated with those who are carrying out this laudable undertaking. I shall be grateful, therefore, if I may, through you, extend to all present my hearty felicitations and warmest personal greetings."
President Roosevelt signed the letter and sent it to Father Kaminski up the Hudson River from Hyde Park. No one now knows where the original letter is. For some reason, and maybe no reason at all, Father Kaminski did not leave any papers behind in Poughkeepsie when he was transferred to another church. His last years were spent at St. Anthony of Padua R. C. Church in Linoleumville, where the parish was founded on the first day of 1910, and inluded the Catholics -- Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Irish, Poles, and Slovaks -- who lived in Lineoleumville and surrounding villages of Staten Island. More details of Father Kaminski are hard to come by. He was Pastor Emeritus of St. Anthony's when he died.
Author: Edward Pinkowski (2008)
Kaminski, Rev. Thaddeus
Clergyman. Born in Staten Island, N. Y. Attended St. Adalbert's parochial school, Port Richmond Staten Island, N. Y. Ordained in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, N. Y. by the late Cardinal Hayes. First assignment as assistant at St. Slanislaus' parish, New York, N. Y. Now pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Poughkeepsie N. Y. Organized youth clubs in his parish and church societies. Residence: 10 Lafayette Street, Poughkeepsie N. Y.From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943