Echo-Ing the Spirit of the Times: A Polish Canadian Youth Experiment in the 1970S‪.‬

Abstract The First National Polish Canadian Youth Convention was held in October, 1969, at York University in Toronto. A major result of this meeting was the creation of Echo as a socio-cultural "Canadian Publication of Polish Youth," which debuted in February, 1970, and lasted until 1975. This paper argues that the historical context of the 1970s is crucial for understanding the generational differences amongst Polish Canadians at the time, questions of identity for the second generation, and the creation, success, and demise of Echo magazine. The staff and content of Echo were in many ways more Canadian than Polish or Polish Canadian because Canadian society was experiencing youth consciousness and ethnic consciousness simultaneously. This context stimulated Polish Canadian youth to create their own voice that was not necessarily deferential to authority in the Polish Canadian community. These youth were not affected by the society around them in the same way as non-ethnic middle-class Canadian youth. Nonetheless, Echo was a successful forum for young Polish Canadians across Canada to debate the meaning of Polish Canadianness and discover themselves in a 1970s context of greater ethnic activism and changing social attitudes.