Saturday, November 11, 2023 is not only Veterans Day, but by a proclamation issued at this week’s Brazos County commission meeting, it is also Polish Day.
The author of the proclamation, Texas A&M agriculture professor Jim Mazurkiewicz, is a fifth generation descendant who is one hundred percent Polish.
The proclamation commemorates “the Polish immigrants that settled in Brazos County and their many contributions in developing this state seeking religious, social, and economic freedoms”.
Dr. Mazurkiewicz says by 1909, there were 6,000 Polish immigrants in the Brazos Valley.
The proclamation also included recognition of the St. Joseph Catholic Parish being established 150 years ago.
Before the parish, Mazurkiewicz says there were two priests based in Millican who served areas of heavy Polish settlements at missions in Navasota, Independence, Brenham, and Plantersville.
From what he has read, Mazurkiewicz says the St. Joseph parish was established by 12 families, seven Polish, three Czech, one German, and one French.
Click below to hear a visit with Jim Mazurkiewicz and WTAW’s Bill Oliver.