1889 – 1920 Modernizing America Immigration and the Great Migration

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Xenophobia and Racism

Key Ideas

1. The turn of the 20th century was a time of mass immigration and migration in the United States.

2. Women from all over the world immigrated to the US to seek a better life, but there were specific laws and politics in place to restrict the rights of immigrants of color.

3. The US rarely lived up to the expectations of the women who immigrated here, but most were able to persevere and thrive.

4. Black women who participated in the Great Migration carried the additional burden of building new homes and communities to keep their children safe.

Introduction

Black and white photograph of Japanese women in traditional kimonos (left) and white government officials (surrounding the women) reviewing their passports. The image was taken at Angel Island in 1920.

Bettmann, Japanese Picture Brides at Immigration, 1920. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Immigration and the Great Migration

There was unprecedented movement of people throughout the US at the turn of the 20th century. Immigration to the US was at an all-time high, but the country did not often live up to the expectations of hopeful arrivals. Immigration policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Gentleman’s Agreement with Japan made emigration from Asia difficult. The Expatriation Act stripped American women of their citizenship if they married foreign-born men who had not naturalized. Immigrants who tried to enter the United States through Ellis Island or Angel Island were met with suspicion and skepticism, with the worst treatment reserved for anyone of Asian descent. Once they gained entry to the country, immigrants faced dangerous living conditions, exploitative workplaces, cultural exclusion, and discrimination. In spite of all this adversity, immigrant populations built tight-knit communities to support one another and found ways to persevere and contribute to the reshaping of US society.

Meanwhile, over 500,000 Black Americans chose to migrate north to escape the restrictions and violence of the Jim Crow South. Northern cities offered better opportunities for Black Americans, but prejudice and segregation were still rampant, and violence was not uncommon. Regardless of the challenges they encountered, Black communities continued to rebuild and rebound, laying the foundation for the explosion of creative output that would come to be known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Section Essential Questions

1. Why did many of the racist and nativist policies of this era target women? What does this reveal about the role of women in immigrant and migrant communities?

2. How did the reality of life after immigration or migration measure up to expectations? Why did hundreds of thousands of people still choose to immigrate or migrate?

3. What particular challenges did immigrant and migrant women face because of their gender? How did they respond to the challenges?

Resources

PICTURE BRIDES AND JAPANESE IMMIGRATION
A photograph that tells the story of Japanese exclusion and the lengths women would go to gain entry to the US.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, AAPI History, Japanese immigrants, immigration law, anti-Asian discrimination, Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907, Asian exclusion, Angel Island, California
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BLACK LIFE IN THE URBAN NORTH
An article that describes the new opportunities and challenges Northern cities offered Black women who migrated from the Jim Crow South.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Black history, Great Migration, Jim Crow, race and racism, work, labor, home life, social work, women’s rights, women’s suffrage, Illinois
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MIGRATING NORTH
Three photographs that document the experience of Black women and girls migrating from the rural South to Chicago.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Black history, Great Migration, Jim Crow, race and racism, work, labor, Illinois
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LIFE IN THE TENEMENTS
A collection of images that document the experience of immigrant women and girls in New York City.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, tenements, Irish immigrants, Italian immigrants, piecework, labor, work, social work, childhood, home life, New York
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MEDICAL EXAMS ON ELLIS ISLAND
Two images that illustrate some of the challenges immigrants had to face to make it through Ellis Island.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, Ellis Island, New York
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THE SILENT PROTEST
A photograph of the NAACP’s 1917 silent march against lynching, which included thousands of women protesters.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Jim Crow era, race and racism
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Life Stories

EDITH MAUDE EATON, AKA SUI SIN FAR
The story of a Chinese British immigrant who wrote about the unfair treatment of Chinese Americans in the Chinese Exclusion era.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, AAPI history, Chinese Exclusion, Chinese immigrants, Chinese Americans, US foreign policy, anti-Asian discrimination, journalism, literature, California, Washington, Massachusetts
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PAIK KUANG SUN, AKA MARY PAIK LEE
The story of a Korean immigrant’s lifelong struggle for acceptance.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, AAPI history, Asian exclusion, anti-Asian discrimination, Christian communities, Korean immigrants, Korean Americans, Hawaii, California
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MOTHER CABRINI, AKA MARIA FRANCESCA CABRINI
The story of an Italian nun who dedicated her life to helping immigrant communities.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, Italian immigrants, Italian Americans, missionaries, tenements, social work, social reform, anti-immigrant discrimination, immigrant communities, Catholic Church, American saints, New York, Illinois, Colorado
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KALA BAGAI
The story of one of the first Indian women to immigrate to the US.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Immigration, AAPI history, Indian immigrants, Indian Americans, Angel Island, Asian exclusion, anti-Asian discrimination, Luce-Celler Act, immigrant communities, 1965 Immigration Act, California
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