Fascinating museum. Many of the materials came from a Polish exhibit at the New York World's Fair - beautiful stained glass, art, and sculptures. There are also miniature/model boats, trains, and churches. There's a whole room dedicated to Paderewski, a famous Polish musician and later the first prime minister - a man I had never heard of, but was very glad to learn about. It has interesting artifacts such as his belongings and a golden quill he used when signing the Treaty of Versailles, creating modern Poland. The entry fee is also very low/affordable, so that's good too.

Being of Polish ancestry on both sides of the family, I really enjoyed this museum. I went there twice while living in the Chicago area. Lots of art that is germane to Poland. Great exhibit on Ignace Paderewski and his contribution to re-establish Polish independence at the beginning of the 20th century. The staff also told us about free parking and a great Polish diner that was a 10 minute walk away.

My family came here twice when the website and phone and Google map listings all said it was open, but it turned out to be closed. (Part of the time it was due to an unfortunate basement flooding issue they had to clean up so we were understanding, but thankfully the staff there let us browse and purchase some items in the gift shop and then surprised us by finding someone to give us a last-minute personalized tour! Pro-tip: plan to allow for about 2 hours for a guided tour as their tour guides are very informative and have a wealth of knowledge about the exhibits and many extra stories that give you context! (We simply didn’t know beforehand how long it would take and thought it would take more like 30-45 mins to browse or be on a short tour.) If you are all or part-Polish like me, (or just interested in how Polish-Americans contributed to the country they now call home and the history and culture of the country they left behind) this place and how well they have preserved so many artifacts means a great deal. I was fascinated to learn that they also have the nation’s largest secular piece of stained glass artwork too. It truly is a masterpiece!

Insane museum. There’s stuff with no explanation. There’s scepters. There’s a stained glass window. There are more expensive ways to see weird stuff on Milwaukee Avenue

Hidden gem! Get the tour from historian Jan Lorys and you will not be disappointed!! Most of the Polish exhibit at the 1939 world's fair in nyc is here. Great polish history, art, and cultural artifacts.

Always interested in Poland, visited the country in the past. What made a huge difference in this museum was Beatrix, an awesome guide, full of enthusiasm and really, a walking encyclopedia! No question unanswered, left full of knowledge about about the great country of Poland 🇵🇱

Lets talk about Poland and Polish comunity in Chicagoland over a hundreds years . This is the place that you can find the history.

My family visited the museum on Sunday. It was not crowded at all. It’s 3 levels of well preserved pieces of Polish history. Our favorite part of the experience was our guide, Beatrix. She’s a wealth of information and really captured my 8 & 10 year old boys interest. Ask for her if you go!

Wonderful museum with super friendly staff, very interesting collection, and welcoming vibe. I went there as someone with no Polish ancestry and limited knowledge of Poland, and found the experience extremely informative and enjoyable. Wide variety of Chicago-specific Polish information and exhibits, as well as more general Polish diaspora material. Museum employee Beatrix was a great guide who provided a lot of very valuable context to the museum. Would highly recommend to anyone trying to get a better understanding of Polish history, culture, and its role in the development of the US.

I had a wonderful time over the weekend at the Polish Museum of America. However, I dedicate my 5 starts to Beatrix! She took the time to explain Polish history to me in a way I was never taught. You can truly witness her true passion and dedication to the history and art. I am so grateful to have run into her! It is sweet souls such as she with personalized care to customers that makes this place light up! Thank you, Beatrix! I hope we cross paths again :) I recommend anyone going to ask for her.

Amazing museum! The main hall on the 3rd floor is incredible. Tons of great artifacts and interesting information about Polish people coming to Chicago. Beatrix did an impromptu tour and explained in great detail how Polish and American history have intertwined, which was very cool! She is very passionate and we had a great experience learning from her. Highly recommend for anyone who likes history! Pictures is the quill that the Polish prime minister used to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

If you are of Polish descent this is the place to stop it has many artifacts from Poland. Many books with written in Polish. Very helpful staff

Beautiful place, you will be amazed by great Polish heritage.

Beautiful place with a great art collection. No matter if you have some Polish heritage not i would recommend to visit this historic place.

I really wanted to like this museum, however we were treated with such little respect by the staff that it completely ruined our experience. We made reservations to see the museum for the last 45 minutes that they were open. Realizing that this wasn't very much time, we were in a hurry but at the man working at the front desk nearly locked us out and then lectured us in a condescending tone about how we had little time to see the museum while making rude gestures (long sighs and eyerolls) towards us the whole time. After politely insisting several times that we had made the reservations and we were aware of the time they were closing, he let us pay but was still visibly annoyed with us. When we got upstairs, we heard several museum-goers playing what appeared to be a free-to-play piano in the center of the main exhibit. So after nervously looking around for signs saying DO NOT TOUCH, my friends and I decided it would be okay for me to play something on the piano after finding nothing of the sort. Minutes later, the man from the front desk came up behind me and gave me several nonsensical reasons why *I* could not play their piano. We were all very upset by this so we decided to quickly look through the rest of the museum, but not without the man from the front desk following us at a close distance to surveil us for our entire stay. He even ignored other people that were clearly just messing around on the grand piano to watch over us. I have never been made to feel so singled out by an organization/business in my life.

A lot of important Polish history there. Collection of Paderewski's items and history. Great items from Poland's exhibition at Chicago's World Exhibition

Worth going. Once. I went last year because of the Easter egg workshop. Don’t go to that if you want to learn the art. Do go if you have a family and want to have some entertainment. There were over 150 people and one teacher. They had cameras and bright lights to film and they couldn’t care less if you were trying to see and hear the teacher. It was a circus. No one except the teacher spoke English. They were all yelling and visiting with no regard for the class. This year I didn’t repeat. But I had joined and my friend wanted to see the photo exhibit. Don’t join!!! For $50 don’t get in free like every other museum in Chicago. You get $2 off and 10 percent off in the gift shop. Gift Shop?? You call that a gift shop? The photo exhibit we went to see was nice. They had installed lighting so you could see each photo, but neglected to plug it in. One photo was behind a huge speaker. I asked if there was a booklet about the exhibit- that is still coming. Not! The junior historian, who was older than me and I’m a senior, cornered us. We heard how wonderful Poland was and how terrible the USA is and Germany for selling out the Ukraine. Well- go live in Poland then.

This is a very unique Museum. I'm not off Polish decent, but I do love history. I would've given this five stars, but the musuem completely broach the subject of the Poles that died during the Holocaust. Six million, is a bit too much to not include it

I had a great time at this museum! Beatrix was unbelievably sweet and knowledgeable, and she single-handedly made our experience 10/10

Really unique, only polish museum in the world outside of Poland. A great way to spend a Sunday instead of scrolling Netflix. Highly recommend to anyone! You’ll come away with more knowledge than you went in with, and the ticket is just $8-10.

A great museum and Gabby was a great guide to the space. Gabby & Christine in the library were especially helpful in answering my questions for a personal research project. Thanks for the help!

Great institution of Polish community. Notable exhibitions

My family is Polish through my mother's side, but until our visit, I knew almost nothing about our rich heritage. Thanks to this wonderful museum - and thanks to Beatrix, who shared with us so much that we wouldn't have learned otherwise! - I left with pride in my heritage that I haven't had before. The educational accomplishments were particularly impressed upon my mind, and learning about the Polish hussars thrilled me. Again, a sincere thank you to Beatrix Czerkawski, who made sure our time spent here was well worth it!

Small but rich with exhibits and information on first Polish history and culture.

All I have to say is positive things about this museum, the collection, its presentation, and our experience. The museum far exceeded our expectations and is of very high quality. Beatrix Czerkawski, one of the historians, was our guide. We signed up ahead of time online (and then paid at the museum). The guided tour was informative and engaging. Everything was in both Polish and English. Our children, ages 4, 5, and 9, also enjoyed the experience, especially the "Passport to the Exhibit" brochure (different grade levels available) that had age-appropriate information, reflective questions, and coloring pages. I highly recommend and look forward to someday returning to see it again.

Love love loved this beautiful museum! My partner is Polish, so it was so nice to go here together and see the wonderful art and craftsmanship they have on display here.

A great deal of information about Polish-American history. Many pieces from the 1937 world's fair.

Wonderful displays of Polish American history art and transportation. Includes Paderewskis display of music and furnishings. Very knowledgeable and helpful docents and beautiful items and books in the gift shop. Allow at least 2 hours!

A really, really cool museum. It's huge and has a variety of items celebrating Polish history and culture. Everyone there is so excited to share their knowledge about Polish history and that makes it all the more exciting to visit. There was also a quill used by Paderewski to sign the Treaty of Versaille which was very cool. In general, the Paderewski room was quite exciting to explore with a mix of "pop culture" from his time as a star pianist and politics from his time as an activist and prime minister.

PMA is a must place to visit for everybody, not only with polish roots. Always something interesting on display and always you can learn something new. Great people are coming there and you can meet with them, listen to them and talk to them. People who are working in the Polish Museum and volunteers are friendly, always with smile, and they have huge amount of knowledge. I hope PMA will stay on the Chicago's map for next hundreds of years! and btw they are located in very good spot!

One of the oldest and biggest ethnic Museums in Chicagoland. You find here a big collection of pictures costumes ,artwork and different artifacts -mostly brought by emigrant from Poland.

My Polish mother loves to find establishments that advance her Polish heritage. When she moved south, we couldn't find Polish stores or Polish museums. Thus I figured I'd give her the next best thing: gifts from Polish establishments! So props to this museum for offering mail order! I trust my Polish mother will love her gifts, so I thank this museum for providing this opportunity!

What a gem of a museum! Lucie was our tour guide and her knowledge of Polish-American history is second to none. Highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about the history of Poland and seeing unique artifacts from all periods of Polish history!

My son and I had the opportunity to visit this excellent museum yesterday afternoon. Beatrix was our guide and offered such a tremendous history of Poland over the centuries and the Polish people! I grew up in a Polish community and learned so many fascinating things. A tremendous experience in every way! We will return.