21H.221 | Fall 2006 | Undergraduate

The Places of Migration in United States History

Readings

SES # TOPICS READINGS
Part 1: Then
Introduction
1 Lecture and Discussion: Where is Immigration History?

Holt, Hamilton, ed. “The Life Story of an Irish Cook.” In The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans: As Told By Themselves (1906). Expanded ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999. ISBN: 9780415925105.

Jen, Gish. “Who’s Irish?” In Who’s Irish: Stories. New York, NY: A. A. Knopf, 1999, pp. 1-16. ISBN: 9780375406218.

Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 2004, pp. 1-58. ISBN: 9780809053438.

Lawrence
2 Lecture: European Migrants at the Turn of the Century Watson, Bruce. Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream. New York, NY: Viking, 2005, pp. 1-118. ISBN: 9780670033973.
3 Discussion Watson, Bruce. Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream. New York, NY: Viking, 2005, pp. 119-240. ISBN: 9780670033973.
Chinatown
4 Lecture: Asian Immigrants at the Turn of the Century Shah, Nayan. Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001, pp. 158-203 and 225-258. ISBN: 9780520226296.
5 Discussion Shah, Nayan. Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001, pp. 158-203 and 225-258. ISBN: 9780520226296.
Mapping Lawrence, Mapping Chinatown
6

Multimedia Resources

Informal Student Presentations

Kazal, Russell. “Revisiting Assimilation: The Rise, Fall, and Reappraisal of a Concept in American Ethnic History.” American Historical Review 100 (April 1995): 437-471.

Gabaccia, Donna R. “Is Everywhere Nowhere?: Nomads, Nations, and the Immigrant Paradigm of United States History.” Journal of American History 86 (December 1999): 1115-1134.

7 Film: Farmingville

Farmingville. Directed by Catherine Tambini and Carolos Sandoval. 2003.

PBS Web site on Farmingville

Tampa
8 Lecture and Discussion: The World of Caribbean Migration

Mormino, Gary R., and George E. Pozzetta. The Immigrant World of Ybor City: Italians and Their Latin Neighbors in Tampa, 1885-1985. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1986, pp. 1-42 and 63-141. ISBN: 9780252013515.

Students will read and report on one additional chapter from chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Gabaccia, Donna. “Gli Italiani nel Mondo: Italy’s Workers around the World.” OAH Magazine of History 14 (Fall 1999): 12-16.

The Border
9 Lecture and Discussion: The Border/Nuestra America

Johnson, Benjamin Heber. Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans into Americans. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780300094251.

The book is fairly long, but there are ways to focus your reading. The Introduction, as always, is very useful. Chapter 1 is particularly useful for the history of south Texas - definitely read it, but don’t worry too much about the details. Chapters 2 and 3 give you background on the Tejano/a community and the Mexican Revolution - if you skim anywhere, skim here. Chapters 4-7 are the heart of the book.

“Some Events in the History of Mexico and the Border.” Journal of American History 86 (September 1999): 453-455.

Chicago
10 Lecture: Was the Great Migration Great? Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America. New York, NY: A. A. Knopf, 1991, pp. 1-221, begin reading. ISBN: 9780394560045.
11 Discussion

Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America. New York, NY: A. A. Knopf, 1991, pp. 1-221, finish reading. ISBN: 9780394560045.

Kirby, Jack Temple. “The Southern Exodus: A Primer for Historians.” Journal of Southern History 49 (November 1983): 585-600.

Hollywood
12

Discussion (cont.)

Film: The Jazz Singer

The Jazz Singer. Directed by Alan Crosland. 1927.

Please see readings for Ses #10-11.

13

Film: The Jazz Singer (cont.)

Discussion

The Jazz Singer. Directed by Alan Crosland. 1927.

Ewen, Elizabeth. Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars: Life and Culture on the Lower East Side, 1890-1925. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press, 1985, pp. 207-224. ISBN: 9780853456827.

Ross, Steven J. Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997, pp. 1-33. ISBN: 9780691032344.

The Lower East Side
14 Lecture: Remembering Ethnicity in an Age of Multiculturalism Diner, Hasia R. Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, begin reading. ISBN: 9780691007472.
15 Discussion Diner, Hasia R. Lower East Side Memories: A Jewish Place in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, finish reading. ISBN: 9780691007472.
  Trip to New York City

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Museum of the Chinese in America

Zagat Restaurant Guide

National Museum of the American Indian

African Burial Ground, New York City

Five Points: Urban Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century New York

Museum of Jewish Heritage

Part 2: Now
The “New” Immigration
16 Lecture and Discussion: What’s New about “New Immigration”?

Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 2004, pp. 129-268. ISBN: 9780809053438.

The reading is incredibly informative but a little dry. For the purposes of our discussion, you might want to read pp. 219-268 first and then read the other chapters later.

17

Film: The New Los Angeles

Brainstorming for Collaborative Research Project

The New Los Angeles. Directed by Lyn Goldfarb. Part 3, California and the American Dream. 2005.

(no readings)

Manila/Chicago
18 Lecture: American Imperialism and Filipino/a Experience Choy, Catherine Ceniza. Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003, pp. 1-57. ISBN: 9780822330899.
19 Discussion Choy, Catherine Ceniza. Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003, pp. 93-192. ISBN: 9780822330899.
Collaborative Research Project: U.S. - Mexico Border Relations
20-21 Discussion

Skerry, Peter. “How Not to Build a Fence.” Foreign Policy (September/October 2006).

The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras

Binder, Norman E., J. L. Polinard, and Robert D. Wrinkle. “Mexican American and Anglo Attitudes Toward Immigration Reform: A View From the Border.” Social Science Quarterly 78 (1997): 324-337.

“U.S. - Mexico Relations.” CQ Researcher (November 2001): 11-29.

“Illegal Immigration.” CQ Researcher (May 2005): 15-17.

This includes a summary of what we know about whether migration is keeping down wages in the U.S.

“Policing the Borders.” CQ Researcher (February 2002): 12-7.

This is mostly about homeland security and terrorism, but could be useful for us generally.

Migrant Photos and Minutemen Photos from the Border Film Project

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Optional: Arizona Border Watch

Recommended: U.S. - Mexico Border Issues (PDF) from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Collections

22 Guest Lecturer: Raúl Rubio on the Cuban-American Experience

Rubio, Raúl. “Discourses of/on Nostalgia: Cuban America’s Real and Fictional Geographies.” Letras Hispanas 3, no. 1 (Spring 2006).

———. “Materializing Havana and Revolution: Cuban Material Culture.” Letras Hispanas 3, no. 1 (Spring 2006).

Watson, Bruce. Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream. New York, NY: Viking, 2005, pp. 241-258. ISBN: 9780670033973.

23 Lawrence D’Ambrosio. Paul S. Ralph Fasanella’s America. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2001. ISBN: 9780917334269.
24 Paper Meetings (no readings)
25 Student Presentations on U.S.-Mexico Border Relations (no readings)
Conclusion
26

Film: My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Directed by Joel Swick. 2002.

(no readings)

Course Info

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Fall 2006
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Written Assignments with Examples