A shift of economy in the 1880s from commerce to industry brought about a rapid influx of
Eastern European Catholics to the region. St. Stanislaus and the surrounding neighborhood quickly grew to become the center of Polish life in Milwaukee. Mitchell Street was often referred to as the "Polish Grand Avenue," reflecting its importance and distinction from the
German dominated
Grand Avenue (now Wisconsin Avenue), a popular downtown merchant street. From 1876 to 1883, the parish was served by Pastor
Hyacinth (Jacek) Gulski On May 1, 1886 about 2,000 Polish workers gathered at St. Stanislaus to organize and protest the 10-hour work day. Factories closed down as they marched through the city adding to their numbers, until sixteen thousand strong. The
Bay View Tragedy later followed when State
Militia confronted protesters who had camped out at the
rolling mill in
Bay View. The church started a number of other Polish-speaking congregations in the
East Side and
Jones Island neighborhoods. By 1903, Milwaukee held the largest number of Catholics found in any city, and helped to establish a presence in other growing industrial towns that were part of the
Archdiocese of Milwaukee. January 14, 1914 was the focal point of the celebration of Father
Edward Kozlowski being named as
Milwaukee's first Polish bishop. He was only the second Polish-speaking Bishop in America, following the appointment of Bishop
Paul Peter Rhode in
Chicago in 1908. A parade was organized from
St. John's Cathedral, where Father Kozlowski had been consecrated, to Saint Stanislaus in a
carriage pulled by four horses. Passing along
Milwaukee's streets, which had been lit with torches, an estimated 50,000 gathered at the church to witness Bishop Kozlowski's assumption of the bishop's
mitre. Crowds gathered once again at the church a year later after Bishop Kozlowski fell ill from
blood poisoning and died on August 7, 1915; 30,000 mourners attended the funeral. Bishop Paul Rhode famously declared at the memorial service: "How difficult it was for us to obtain a second Polish bishop, and how easy to lose him." In 1926 the school was expanded and given a new facade. The original copper sheet domes of the church were replaced with 23
carat gold leaf in 1966, and all of the stained glass windows were removed. A mural featuring the iconic
Our Lady of Czestochowa was also added to the Mitchell Street side. As the city's
Polish-American population slowly followed the
urban sprawl that began in the 1950s, they were replaced by other ethnic groups. St. Stanislaus continues to serve the local community, now mostly
Hispanic, by offering bilingual confession and Sunday services in Spanish. In May 2007, St. Stanislaus became the home of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's
Latin Mass community, offering the Extraordinary Form (the 1962 missal of John XXIII) weekly on Sundays, at 10:00 AM. While Mass in Spanish was relocated to neighboring St. Anthony's Church, St. Stanislaus continues to offer the "missa ordinaria" (the 1970 missal of Paul VI) in English each Saturday evening, at 4:00 PM. In 2008, the church was erected an Oratory of the
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, an order of priests dedicated to the celebration of the
Traditional Latin Mass. Canon Olivier Meney of the Institute was appointed the rector of the oratory. ==See also==