Kwasniewski, Roman B. J., 1886-1980.

ABSTRACT: Roman B. J. Kwasniewski was a photographer who worked in Milwaukee's Polish-American community (Polonia). Kwasniewski took many of the images at his Park Studio, located on Lincoln Avenue, on Milwaukee's south side. Most of the studio photographs depict family events such as anniversaries, first communions, funerals, graduations, and weddings. Other images include scenes of accidents, fires, floods; fraternal organizations; homes; construction scenes; individual businesses, including Kuryer Polski; political parties; ceremonies such as church anniversaries, ordinations, and dedications; social events such as New Year's Eve celebrations and "Hard Times" parties which were popular in the 1920s; and sporting events. The result is a striking picture of Milwaukee's south side Polish-Americans and their contributions to the city in which they lived. The collection consists of over 25,000 negatives, 5,000 prints, and documents. The documents, which were included with the negatives or prints, mainly consist of correspondence between the photographer and his customers concerning photo orders.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection contains glass plate and plastic negatives, photographic prints, and miscellaneous correspondence/documents of the late Roman B. J. Kwasniewski. Kwasniewski's work provides a detailed picture of life on Milwaukee's South Side, largely from 1911 to 1947.

Kwasiewski took most of the images at his Park Studio on Lincoln Avenue on Milwaukee's south side. Photographs depict family events such as anniversaries, first communions, funerals, graduations, and weddings. Other images include scenes of accidents, houses, construction sites, businesses, fraternal organizations and activities, and sports. Also included are social events such as holiday celebrations and "Hard Times" parties which were popular in the 1920s.

Because Kwasniewski kept detailed records, a large percentage of the photographic images are identified by either the subject of the photographic image or the customer's name. It is important to note that many times the name identified with a photographic image may not be the person(s) appearing in the photographic image, but rather the person(s) who actually ordered or purchased the print.

The collection contains over 25,000 glass plate and plastic negatives, 5,000 prints, and documents mainly consisting of correspondence between the photographer and his customers regarding orders which were found with the negatives in the original envelopes used by Kwasniewski and processed as part of the collection.

ARRANGEMENT: The negatives (boxes 1-242) are organized chronologically by serial number. The prints (boxes 243-300 and oversize folder 1) are arranged according to the topical scheme described below. The documents (box 301) are arranged by serial number.

The photographic images are indexed in a database, available in the Archives. Records in the database contain the following information: customer's name and address, the image topic, serial number, date, plate size, and the availability of matching prints and/or documents, and box number.

Serial # = Original customer order number developed by Kwasniewski. If the serial number begins with an "A" Archives' staff assigned the number.

Date = The date the photographic image was taken or developed. Many of the negatives are undated or include only the month and day, but not the year. However, in many cases the specific year of the image can be ascertained through the serial number. The following chart can be used as a guide to approximate years:

serial #
13000-16000 --------------------------1920
17000-18000 --------------------------1921
19000-20000 --------------------------1922
21000-22000 ------------------------- 1923
23000's-------------------------------- 1924
24000's-------------------------------- 1925
25000's-------------------------------- 1926
27000's-------------------------------- 1927
28000's-------------------------------- 1928
29000's---------------------------------1929
30000's---------------------------------1930
31000's---------------------------------1931
32000's---------------------------------1932
33000's---------------------------------1933
34000's---------------------------------1934
35000's---------------------------------1935
36000's---------------------------------1936

Kwasniewski did not use 26000 series in his numbering system. It is believed that in 1927 he realized that there was only a one digit difference between the first two digits of his numbering system and the last two digits of the year, so in 1927 he skipped 26000 series.

Name = Either the name of the customer or subject.

Address = The customer's address or the location of the image. Please note: the City of Milwaukee changed street names and the numbering system in 1930. The database contains the original street addresses prior to 1930. Therefore, it is important to check the date of the image to verify the address. The Milwaukee City Directories are helpful for verification.

Topic = Each image was assigned a subject heading code. See the Topic Headings below for an explanation of these codes.

Plate Size = The size of the glass plate or plastic negative and/or available print.

PT = Availability of a print which matches the plate -- y(yes) or n(no). Prints that are oversize are listed as "o" followed by the oversize type. For example, o1 means oversize 1.

DC = Indicated if there was a document included in the customer order -- y(yes) or n(no).

Box = The box number for the negatives.

TOPIC HEADINGS: 

Activities and Organizations

1A1     employee celebrations
1A2     holiday celebrations
1A3     parades and rallies
1A4     picnics
1A5     other
1B       dance groups and performances
1C       drama troupes and performances
1D1     Polish Falcons
1D2     Polish National Alliance
1D3     Polish Scouts
1D4     Polish Women's Alliance
1D5     miscellaneous fraternal/cultural organizations
1E        musical groups and performances
1F        recreational activities/organizations
1G       miscellaneous

Business and Community

2A       business organizations
2B       civic organizations
2C       community leaders
2D       labor organizations
2E        visiting public figures

Citizenship/Immigration

3A       female photographs
3B       male photographs

Education

4A1     faculty & staff activities/organizations
4A2     faculty & staff group photographs
4B1     group graduation
4B2     individual graduation
4B3     student with family graduation
4C1     school exteriors
4C2     school interiors
4D1     student activities/organizations
4D2     groups of students
4D3     individual students

Family Events

5A       anniversaries
5B       birthdays
5C1     funeral ceremonies
5C2     funerals of children
5C3     funerals of men
5C4     funerals of women
5D       holiday gatherings
5E1      wedding--bride
5E2      wedding--bride and groom
5E3      wedding--ceremonies and receptions
5E4      wedding--groom
5E5      wedding--other

Kwasniewski

6A       Kwasniewski's business
6B1     children in Kwasniewski family
6B2     Kwasniewski family
6B3     Kwasniewski family--females
6B4     Kwasniewski family--males
6C       miscellaneous

Military

7A1     groups of military personnel
7A2     individual military personnel
7B       veterans/organizations
7C       miscellaneous

Passports

8A       passports photos for children
8B        family/group passport photos
8C       passport photos for men
8D       passport photos for women

Portraits

9A1     couples portraits--adults
9A2     female portraits--adults
9A3     group portraits--adults
9A4     male portraits--adults
9B1      female portraits--children
9B2      group portraits--children
9B3      male portraits children
9B4      sibling portraits
9B5      toddler/infant portraits
9C       family portraits
9D       miscellaneous portraits

Religion

10A1   altar boys--family/group
10A2   altar boys--individual
10B1    baptisms--family/group
10B2    baptisms--individual
10C1   church exteriors
10C2   church interiors
10D1   communion/confirmation--family/group
10D2   communion/confirmation--female
10D3   communion/confirmation--male
10D4   communion/confirmation--siblings
10E1    nuns--family/group
10E2    nuns--individual
10F1    priests--anniversary/ordination
10F2    priests--family/group
10F3    priests--individual
10G     miscellaneous religious photographs

Residential

11A1   house exteriors
11A2   house interiors
11B      real estate photos
11C     residential construction sites
11D     residential streetscapes

Rural scenery

12A     lakes
12B      landscapes
12C     structures
12D     miscellaneous rural scenery

Sports

13A     baseball
13B      bowling
13C     football
13D     other sports

Urban Scenes

14A1   bakeries
14A2   banks, savings and loans
14A3   beauty parlors
14A4   butcher shops
14A5   factories/employees
14A6   furniture stores
14A7   grocery stores
14A8   insurance offices
14A9   Kuryer Polski
14A10 Maynard Steel
14A11 pharmacies
14A12 professional offices
14A13 real estate offices
14A14 taverns
14A15 other businesses
14A16 unidentified buildings
14B      public buildings
14C1   commercial vehicles
14C2   insurance photos of automobile wrecks & injuries
14C3   private vehicles
14D     urban construction sites
14E      urban parks
14F      urban streetscapes
14G     miscellaneous

Miscellaneous
15A     artistic photography
15B      reproduction of art
15C     animals
15D     lantern slides

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Roman B. J. Kwasniewski, son of Jozef and Wanda (Dyniewicz) Kwasniewski, was born June 10, 1886 in Chicago. His father, a native of Jaroslaw, Poland was educated at Lwow prior to coming to the United States. He owned a shop at 654 Becher Street, Milwaukee, where he maintained a lithography and printing business, sold his own oil paintings and portraits, as well as books, statuary, religious and church items, picture frames, and stationary; and manufactured badgers, banners, and artificial flowers. Also, Jozef taught mechanical drawing, and edited the agricultural page of the Kuryer Polski until his death on May 17, 1927.

Roman Kwasniewski's mother, Wanda Dyniewicz, was the daughter of Albertyna and Wladyslaw Dyniewicz (1843-1928), who founded, edited, and published the Chicago Gazeta Polska. Dyniewicz opposed his daughter's marriage at the age of 16, and although he allowed the young married couple to live on his property in central Wisconsin for a time, he wrote his will so that only a Dyniewicz could inherit the property. Roman was the only child of the Kwasniewskis.

In the 1890s, the family moved to Milwaukee. As a young man, Roman Kwasniewski was educated at Milwaukee public schools until he was ten years old; he then attended St. Hyacinth's parochial school from 1898-1900, South Division High School, from which he graduated in 1904, and Marquette University (1926-1928). He managed his parents store until 1913 when he opened Park Studio at 1024 West Lincoln Avenue. After the studio was sold, he continued the artificial flower business begun in 1897 by his mother. At Marquette University Kwasniewski studied real estate, and subsequently pursued that career part-time. Kwasniewski married Mary Drozniakiewicz, daughter of Matthew and Paulina (Szymanski) Drozniakiewicz, and the couple became the parents of Edward, a chemist; Adele, wife of John Kaczmarowski; and Roman L., an industrial engineer.

Kwasniewski is best known for his photographic documentation of early twentieth century Milwaukee, especially of the Polish-American community. In addition to being a prolific photographer, he was an inventor as well. When his father became deaf late in life, the son invented a typewriter with a light signal rather than a bell to indicate the margin. He assisted his son-in-law in designing a special glass vent for use in metal plating processes, perfected a method to straighten and salvage scrap wire for the stems of artificial flowers, and invented a camera able to take a roll of glass negatives before others were available commercially. Following the death of his father, he took over responsibilities of writing for and editing the agricultural page of the Kuryer Polski.

Kwasniewski was active in many local business and community organizations. His hours of business were frequently sporadic, which enabled him to devote time to the Polish National Alliance, the Polish Falcons, Pulaski Council, the Lincoln Avenue Businessmen's Association, the Marquette Real Estate Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Boy Scouts, and other groups. During the depression Kwasniewski's financial difficulties forced him to curtail his community activities. Shortly before his death, Kwasniewski turned over most of his duties and offices to his son-in-law.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Kwasniewski, Roman B. J., 1886-1980. Photographs, 1907-1947. UWM Manuscript Collection 19. University Manuscript Collection. Archives. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Kwasniewski, Roman B. J., 1886-1980.  Papers, 1892-1953. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 22 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 38)

RELATED RESOURCE: Selections from this collection are included in the UWM Libraries' digital collection, Milwaukee Neighborhoods: Photos and Maps 1885-1992, at http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/Milwaukee/index.html.

ACQUISITIONS: The University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee acquired the collection through the Assistance of Polanki, the Polish Women's Club of Milwaukee; and Roman Kwasniewski's daughter, Adele, and her husband, John Kaczmarowski. Representative Walter Kunicki and Senator John Plewa secured state funding for the processing of the collection.

PROCESSING: William C. Mona and James P. Kusik led a team of students, including Kevin Corbitt, Linda Crippen, Michael Keane, Christel Maass, and Bob Mink, who processed the collection at the Archives between 1989 and 1991. Around 1998 Kathy Koch added assigned serial numbers to prints that did not have an assigned number. Christel Maass finished processing the documents and revised the finding aid in 2007.

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URL: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/arch/findaids/uwmmss19.htm
Last edited on October 25, 2007.
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