Bowling played a key role in community life among Polish Americans in Milwaukee during the first half of the 20th century. This working-class pastime was uniquely suited to industrial Milwaukee, which long held the reputation as “America’s bowling capital,” and the Polonia of the city accounted for a dominant share of its bowling public, focused for the most part in alleys within taverns on the Polish “South Side.” The locally-based Polish American Bowling Association attempted to unite Polish American bowling nationwide under its leadership. The bowling culture of Polish Milwaukee came to an end by mid-century, linked with larger social phenomena such as suburbanization and ethnic succession in what had been traditional ethnic urban neighborhoods.
