newspaperman, politician, b. Slabomierz, Poland. He attended the colleges of Filehne and Wougrowitz in Prussia, and in 1880 migrated to the U.S., settling in New Jersey where he worked as an insurance agent. In 1883 he moved to Milwaukee, and in 1885 established the Polish-language weekly, Krytyka, which he published until 1888 when he discontinued it in favor of a daily, the Kuryer Polski, the first Polish daily newspaper in the U.S. He was editor and publisher of this paper from 1888 until his death. A Democrat, he was state assemblyman (1891-4892) and state senator (1893-1896). A leader among the Polish- American Catholics in Milwaukee, Kruszka fought for equal representation for the Polish clergy in the Catholic church hierarchy, and advocated popular representation in the administration of parochial property. His actions led to a bitter struggle within the Church, and in 1912 the Kuryer Polski was black-listed and the Catholic faithful forbidden to read it. During World War I, Kruszka was a leader in the movement to popularize the establishment of an independent Polish state, and to aid this cause established an English-language newspaper, Poland's Cause. His brother, WACLAW KRUSZKA, b. Poland, migrated to Milwaukee in 1893, attended St. Francis Seminary, and in 1895 was ordained in the Roman Catholic priesthood. From 1895 to 1909 he held pastorates at Ripon, Oshkosh, and Kenosha, and in 1909 was named pastor at St. Adelbert's in Milwaukee, serving in this capacity until his death. With his brother, he became a leader among Polish-American Catholics, and was a vigorous advocate of proportional appointment of Poles to the Catholic episcopate. He also opposed the substitution of the English language for Polish in Polish Catholic services. Kruszka was the author of several books in Polish, including a history of the Poles in America. Who's Who in Polish Amer. (1943); T. Borun, We, the Milwaukee Poles [Milwaukee, 1946]; B. Still, Milwaukee (Madison, 1948); E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); W. G. Bruce, ed., Hist. of Milwaukee (3 vols., Chicago, 1922); Milwaukee News, Dec. 2, 1937.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
