THE ACCULTURATION OF THE LITHUANIANS OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA

544 Pages·025.526 MB·English

by  JONITIS, PETER PAUL

COPYRIGHTED
BY
Peter Paul Jonitie
1955
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
THE ACCULTURATION OF THE LITHUANIANS OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
A DISSERTATION
IN SOCIOLOGY
PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
PETER PAUL JONITIS
Dissertation bnpervisor
PHILADELPHIA
1951
Chairman
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
"While the Americans intermingle,
they assimilate; the differences
resulting from their climate,
their origin, and their institu­
tions diminish; and they all draw
nearer and nearer to the common
type."
Alexis de Tocqueville
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
TO I'D: PARENTS
'AMERICANS IN THE MAKING
WHO HAVE TAUGHT ME MORE. ABOUT ACCULTURATION
THAN I SHALL EVER KNOW FROM BOOKS
THIS STUDY IS
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude and
appreciation to many individuals whose cooperation and in­
terest made this research project possible, I am Indebted
to many Lithuanians in Chester, Pennsylvania for their co­
operation with the questionnaire. I especially want to
thank The Reverend Father Emil M. Paukstis of Our Lady of
Vllna Church; Mr. Joseph Shuppas, President of the Vytautas
Lithuanian Beneficial Club, and Mr. Stanley Ge&as, recent
displaced person from Lithuania, all of whom volunteered
the information needed. Particular mention should be made
of Miss Josephine Renneberg, public school teacher for many
years, who gave useful Information on the education of Lith­
uanian children.
At the University of Pennsylvania numerous men offered
valuable assistances Professors Vincas Kreve-MickeviSius,
Alfred Senn, Anthony Salys, and John Pusinas in the Depart­
ment of Baltic and Slavic Languages. Professor Thorsten
Sellin criticized an original paper on the subject of ac­
culturation. Professors W. Wallace Weaver and Ray H. Abrams
very kindly undertook to read and criticize the dissertation.
Professor Jeremiah P. Shalloo supervised the study in its
early phases.
Others who helped to make this study possible were Pro­
fessor John Balys of Indiana University, who assisted with
bibliographical materials and Lithuanian family life in
Lithuania; Professor Kazys Pakstas, Duquesne University,
who furnished Information on Lithuanian agriculture; Mr.
Constantine R. Jurgela, Director, Lithuanian American Infor­
mation Center, who assisted with bibliographical references
and material on Lithuanian legal institutions; and His Ex­
cellency Paul fcadeikis, Lithuanian Minister to Washington,
who cooperated in finding source material.
To my wife I owe a heavy debt for typographical work.
It was largely through her patience and stimulation that this
study was brought to a successful conclusion.
Peter P. Jonitis
Chestertown, Maryland
June, 1951*
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION: A STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM....... 1
PART ONE
THE PEASANT LITHUANIAN FAMILY IN LITHUANIA
I. THE PEASANT LITHUANIAN FAMILY.............. 4
II. THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LITHUANIAN
PEASANT FAMILY.............................. 66
III. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES... 118
IV. STATUS AND ROLES............................ 150
V. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS........................ 166
VI. SEX ATTITUDES AND PERSONAL HYGIENE............ 173
VII. CHILDBIRTH, HOME REMEDIES, AND CHILD CARE...... 175
VIII. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LITHUANIAN PEAS­
ANT FAMILY 202
IX. FAMILY DISORGANIZATION......................... 214
X. FUNERAL CUSTOMS................................ 217
XI. THE BACKGROUND AND CAUSES OF LITHUANIAN IMMI­
GRATION 236
PART TWO
INTRODUCTION.................................... 265
THE PEASANT LITHUANIAN FAMILY IN CHESTER
XII. THE LITHUANIAN IMMIGRANTS OF CHESTER.......... 267
XIII. THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LITHUANIAN-
AMERICAN FAMILY.............................. 274
XIV. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS................. 322
XV. STATUS AND ROLES................................. 350
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER PAGE
XVI. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS........................ 376
XVII. SEX ATTITUDES AND PERSONAL HYGIENE............. 403
XVIII. BIRTH AND CHILD CARE......................... 416
XIX. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY LIFE........... 423
XX. FUNERAL CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES...................428
XXI. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS OTHER THAN THE FAMILY....... 433
XXII. ACCULTURATION THEORY NITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
LITHUANIAN IMMIGRANTS.........................437
XXIII. CONCLUSIONS...................................... 493
XXIV. METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX........................ 501
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDY OF THE ACCULTURA­
TION OF LITHUANIAN IMMIGRANTS............... 516
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................... 525
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
L IS T OP TABLES
NUMBER PAGE
I, Land Used For Various Crops...................... 35
II. Cultivated Area......................... 36
III. The Rural and Urban Population of Lithuania-1914. 62
IV. The Approximate Area and Population of
Lithuania in 1897 and 1914....................... 69
V. The Percentage of Different Nationalities in
1914......................... 69
VI. Peasant Land Distribution in 1894................ 80
VII. Marriages, Baptisms and Deaths Occurring in the
Our Lady of Vilna Church, Chester, Pennsylvania,
1925-1948......... 332
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has appeared a voluminous litera­
ture dealing with the so-called ”New Immigration” to the
American way of life. Little of thi3 literature, however,
concerns Itself with the migration and acculturation of the
Lithuanians, and such writing as there is about them con­
sists of statistical compilations, brief analyses of the
causes of emigration, the geographical and occupational dis­
tribution of the foreign-born Lithuanians In this country,
some account of New World institutions and personalities,
an Inventory of foreign language newspapers, with brief
^Sociologists, American historians and writers generally,
speak of the history of American immigration as having oc­
curred in two waves. The year 1882 is generally regarded as
one of far-reaching significance in the history of immigra­
tion. This year is the general dividing line between the
”01d Immigration” and the ”New Immigration” because of the
time element involved. The Old Immigration consisted of im­
migrants from the British Isles, Germany, Holland, other
sections of north-western Europe, and formed the predominant
element entering the United States during the last quarter
of the 9th and the first quarter of the 20th centuries.
This is the terminology adopted by the Dillingham Commis­
sion Report of 1911* For futher discussion of the statis­
tics and the differences between these two sources of immi­
gration, see the Dillingham Report, Reports of the Immigra­
tion Commission, Abstracts of Reports of the Immigration
Commission. Vol. I, Washington, D. C., Government Printing
Office, 1911, PP. 13, 14, 23, 24, 60-65, 166-167, 170, and
180-183; Maurice R. Davie, World Immigration. New York, The
MacMillan Co., 1936, pp. 19-20&; Henry P. Fairchild, Immi­
gration . New York, The MacMillan Co., 1925, pp. 132-133;
Donald R. Taft, Human Migration. New York, The Ronald Press,
1936, pp. 77-78 and 241-242; Edward G. Hartmann, The Move­
ment to Americanize the Immigrant. New York, Columbia Uni­
versity Pres8,1948, pp. 13-38; and Imre Ferenczi, Interna­
tional Migrations. Vol. I, Statistics, New York, National
Bureau of Economic Research, 1929, PP* 86 and 177*
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
-2-
statements of their editorial policies, and, more recently,
collections of Lithuanian ballads, songs, and legends. But
thorough sociological studies of these people in the Eng­
lish language are rare.
However, there are many studies of the Lithuanians in
their native country written in the Lithuanian, French, and
German languages. These works are hard to procure owing to
post-war conditions in Europe.
No comprehensive study of the acculturation of these
people has been done. This study is concerned with the for­
eign-born Lithuanians who emigrated from Lithuania between
the years 1900-1914 and settled down to a new way of life in
Chester, Pennsylvania. It endeavors to present the chief
facts about the acculturation and Americanization of these
people in this industrial-harbor city which is located on
the Delaware River twelve miles southwest of the city of
Philadelphia. The overall purpose of this study is to show
the social process of acculturation at work among these im­
migrants under the pressures of the American environment.
Specifically, the problem is to describe the main character­
istics of family and culture in Lithuania as contrasted with
family life and culture in Chester. The thesis, which this
research strives to demonstrate, is that the concept of ac­
culturation can be described by analyzing the modifications
in family structure, function, and culture content which is
the result of the contact with the American community life
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.