Bohemians are much given to clubs, lodges, and societies, which
usually have rooms over Bohemian saloons. The second generation is
prone to free thinking and has a weakness for radical socialism.

The Bohemians are assiduous readers, and illiteracy is almost unknown
among them. They support many periodicals and several thriving
publishing houses. They cling to their language with a religious
fervor. Their literature and the history which it preserves is their
pride. Yet this love of their own traditions is no barrier,
apparently, to forming strong attachments to American institutions.
The Bohemians are active in politics, and in the cities where they
congregate they see that they have their share of the public offices.
There are more highly skilled workmen among them than are to be found
in any other Slavic group; and the second generation of Bohemians in
America has produced many brilliant professional men and successful
business men. As one writer puts it: "The miracle which America works
upon the Bohemians is more remarkable than any other of our national
achievements. The downcast look so characteristic of them in Prague is
nearly gone, the surliness and unfriendliness disappear, and the young
Bohemian of the second or third generation is as frank and open as his
neighbor with his Anglo-Saxon heritage."[36]

The bitter, political and racial suppression that made the Bohemian
surly and defiant seem, on the other hand, to have left the Polish
peasant stolid, patient, and very illiterate. Polish settlements were
made in Texas and Wisconsin in the fifties and before 1880 a large
number of Poles were scattered through New York, Pennsylvania, and
Illinois. Since then great numbers have come over in the new
migrations until today, it is estimated, at least three million
persons of Polish parentage live in the United States.[37] The men in