In Thursday night’s address to the nation, Donald Trump said the coronavirus was a “foreign virus.” CNN asked several historians to reflect historically on this claim. Here is a taste of Catherine Choicet’s piece: For immigration historians and other...
Immigration History
Can Democracy Survive Our Current Moment?
What is causing our political polarization? Can democracy survive our current political climate? Atlantic senior editor Yoni Appelbaum joins others, such as Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (those who attended Levitsky’s recent lecture at Messiah College will find a lot that sounds...
“Welcoming the Stranger”
Back in July, I spoke with journalist Menachem Wecker about evangelicals and immigration. I completely forgot about this conversation until I saw Wecker’s recent piece at Religion & Politics: “For Many Immigration Activits, Welcoming ‘Strangers’ Is an Act of Faith.’ Here...
The Author’s Corner with Niels Eichhorn
Niels Eichhorn is Assistant Professor of History at Middle Georgia State University. This interview is based on his new book, Liberty and Slavery: European Separatists, Southern Secession, and the American Civil War (LSU Press, 2019). JF: What led you to...
Waldman: Immigration is Making the United States a More Christian Nation
Steven Waldman, author of Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom, makes a very interesting point in a recent piece at Talking Points Memo. After mentioning Trump’s anti-immigration policies and his defense of Christianity, Waldman writes: “It’s a...
Emma Lazarus’s Biographer Weighs-In
After the recent Ken Cuccinelli debacle, several outlets are doing a nice job of informing the public about Emma Lazarus and her relationship to American immigration history. Over at Slate, Rebecca Onion interviews Princeton professor and Lazarus biographer Esther Schor....
What Might Emma Lazarus Think About Her Poem Today?
Check out National Public Radio’s (“All Things Considered”) recent piece on Emma Lazarus‘s poem The New Colossus. This, of course, is relevant in light of recent comments by Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Director of the Citizenship and Immigration Service Office. Here is the...
What I Learned from Viewing 37 Immigration Maps
Back in February 2017, VOX published a series of maps under the title “37 Maps that explain how America is a nation of immigrants.” I recently spent some time with these maps and here is what I learned (or was reminded of):...
Ellis Island vs. the Mexican Border
Megan Wolff is a historian and administrator at the DeWitt Wallace Institute for the History of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. She was also an Ellis Island tour guide. Over at CNN, she compares the immigrant experience at Ellis...
James Dobson Visits the Border and Shows His Nativism
Court evangelical James Dobson, the evangelical who is most associated with the idea of “family values,” visited the Mexican border and wrote a letter to his supporters. I have published it here: Dear Friends, Several weeks ago, I was invited...
Why Americans are Divided Over the Migrant Caravans
Jeanne Petit, a professor of history at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, offers some historical perspective as the United States awaits the central America migrant caravan. Here is a taste of her Washington Post piece “Refugees or threat?: How we see...
Laura Ingraham’s Controversial Remarks are Rooted in a Long History of Fear
In case you missed it, here is CNN’s Brian Stelter’s report on Ingraham’s recent comments about “massive demographic changes.” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNRTTctoWo&w=560&h=315] Ingraham is correct about the demographic changes facing America today. This is not the first time we have seen...
Does Nativism Still Exist Among U.S. Catholics?
Catholic University historian Julia G. Young believes that it does. Here is a taste of her piece “‘We Were Different‘”: A few years ago, I taught an undergraduate course on migration at the Catholic University of America. During one lecture,...
Song of the Day
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktLPTZGkGzw&w=560&h=315]...
Happy Columbus Day
That’s right. I said it. I have blogged about Columbus statues here and here, but I also want to call your attention to Yoni Appelbaum‘s piece at The Atlantic: “How Columbus Day Fell Victim to Its Own Success.” The subtitle is “It’s...
“No Irish Need a Apply”: The Film
Learn more about this new documentary film here [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI1Yp7fs8A4&w=560&h=315] (HT: History News Network)...
Does Steve Bannon Have His Facts Straight About “The American System?”
Sunday on 60 Minutes, Charlie Rose asked former Trump adviser and Breitbart chief Steve Bannon the following question: America was in the eyes of so many people. and its what people respect America for, [a place where people] can come…, find a...
The Great Irish Emigration
According to historian Kevin Kenny, “one in every two American immigrants in the 1840s was Irish, and one in every three in the 1850s.” Check out his recent Aeon piece on the Irish diaspora. Here is a taste: From 1700...
Chinatown at the Jersey Shore
I am always a sucker for a good story from New Jersey shore history. Over at Atlas Obscura, Eveline Chao tells the story of how Chinese immigrants living in New York formed a neighborhood at Bradley Beach. This one hit home...
JSTOR Daily’s Charlottesville Syllabus
If you want to understand what happened in Charlottesville and hate in America, this is a good place to start. Here is a taste of Catherine Halley‘s introduction to JSTOR Daily’s Charlottesville syllabus: It has been a difficult week in...