Don Binkowski papers

Collection

Identifier: IHRC329

Staff Only

Abstract

Collection consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, photocopied articles, pamphlets, print items, event fliers and other materials documenting the history and activities of the Polish American community in America and its relationships to Poland.

Dates

Creation: 1945-2005

Creator

Binkowski, Donald (Person)

Language of Materials

English, Polish

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.

OWNERSHIP & LITERARY RIGHTS

This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

For further information regarding the copyright, please contact the IHRCA.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

Born October 26, 1929 in the heart of Detroit's Polish ghetto to Alex Binkowski (b. Detroit, 1901-1949) and Helen Wojtowicz (b. Podwysokie, Poland, 1904-2000), at the start of the Great Depression, Don Binkowski was baptized at St. Albertus, Detroit's first Polish Roman Catholic Church. Graduating from the University of Michigan, Binkowski attended the University of Detroit Law School in the evenings while working for the Social Security Administration. Drafted into the army, Binkowski was fortunate to be stationed in Austria where he began his European travels in 1954 to Germany, Paris, London, and Italy. After his graduation from Wayne State University Law School, he worked for the Michigan Attorney General and later started his elective career as a Delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention. Crossing 8 Mile Road to adjoining Warren, Binkowski was elected to the City Council and then as a district judge in 1969, retiring in 1987. He was president of the Warren Historical Commission and donated his Michigan histories to the Warren Library. Listed in Who's Who in the Midwest; Michigan Authors, Who's Who in Polish America, 1996; Who's Who in American Law, 2007-2008, he authored Col. P. W. Norris - Yellowstone's Greatest Superintendent, 1995; Poles Together: Leo Krzycki and Polish Americans in the American Labor Movement (Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2001); Leo Krzycki and the Detroit Left (Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2001) and currently completing a two volume work about Polish American officials of Michigan as well as various articles. His web page: www.binkowski.org Married to Christina Swieczkowski, Binkowski is particularly proud of his children, Donna F. Binkowski (1959), Beth Ann Binkowski (1960, Elder), and Alex Binkowski (1964). Binkowski has returned to travel over a dozen times in most countries of Europe, Mexico, and South America. He has donated historical materials to the Bentley Library, University of Michigan; University of Montana; Reuther Labor Archives; and the Immigration History Research Center. Binkowski is a member of various professional, historical, and Polish American organizations.