LibGuides: Social Justice and Human Rights Dialogues: Migration: Historic Immigration in the United States

Liberty

Other Immigration Related Sites

Cayton's weekly., July 05, 1919, Image 1

Discusses where African Americans should live in Seattle and the issues around that from an early 20th Century perspective.
Roslyn African American History Photographs

This collection features photographs of African Americans who settled in Roslyn, Washington--originally as strike-breakers following an 1888 strike at the local coal mines.
End of Old Days

This 13 minute film explores a century of African American community growth and civil rights activism in Seattle. It begins with the "Black Victorians" who formed a tiny community in the 1890s, moves through the forging of a more sizeable black community in the early 20th century, and ends with the momentous surge of activism that culminated in the late 1960s.

Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers: Perspectives on Day-to-Day Life

"One of the darker chapters in American history and one of the lesser discussed events of World War II was the forced internment, during the war, of an important segment of the American population-persons of Japanese descent. This collection, consisting of 25 individual titles, documents life in the internment camps."

The Wenatchee daily world., May 13, 1909, Page 3, Image 3

Discusses the issue of Japanese immigration to the U.S. This is an interesting pre-WWII perspective from a Washington newspaper.

Final Accountability Rosters of Japanese-American Relocation Centers, 1944-1946

"This collection provides demographic information on the 'evacuees' resident at the various relocation camps... The rosters, which are part of the Records of the War Relocation Authority, consist of alphabetical lists of evacuees resident at the relocation centers during the period of their existence."

Karl R. Bendetson: oral history interview

As Undersecretary of the Army, Karl R. Bendetson was responsible for directing the internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1972 he participated in an interview in which he discussed, among other things, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent incarceration of Japanese Americans. Excerpts of the interview follow.

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

Detailed demographics of Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S.

Chicano/a Movement in Washington State History Project

Expansive resources regarding Hispanic immigrants. Includes links to a timeline, historical background, video oral histories, photos, documents, newspaper coverage, etc.

The American Indian Experience: The American Mosaic

Database highlighting reference content, primary documents, and images illustrating the histories and cultures of North American Native peoples.

Washington Timeline

Provides a bird's eye view of Native American history and rights in Washington.

"One Sky Above Us" from The West (Episode 8)

A visual portrayal of the forced migration history of native Americans in the Western United States.

Densho Digital Repository

The Densho Collection contains "thousands of historic photographs, documents, newspapers, letters and other primary source materials that tell the story of the Japanese American community, from immigration to the WWII incarceration and its aftermath."

This repository has materials from all across the country, and a sizeable collection of Japanese American oral histories, documents, newspapers & more.

Oral Histories from first and second generation residents of Kittitas County

Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald Oral History Interviews

This collection contains items and interviews gathered in Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald, Washington, to document the region's history--in particular, the local history of coal mining in the 20th century.

These oral histories were collected by local social studies teacher Frederick Krueger, his students and colleagues between the 1970s and 2000s. In each interview, a resident of upper Kittitas County speaks about the ethnic, racial, cultural, and industrial history of Kittitas County and in particular the history of coal mining at Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald, Washington.

Please note: To access the following audio and video recordings, click on "Link to Audio/Video File" after opening each record. If you have trouble playing the videos, you may have better success using a different Internet browser such as Safari or Chrome. If problems persist, please contact the site administrator at scholarworks@cwu.edu with a note about the title of the video you were attempting to access, the URL, and the browser you were using. Thanks!

More Oral Histories Online

Oral Histories from the Ellis Island Foundation Since 1973, the Ellis Island Oral History project has been dedicated to preserving the first-hand recollections of immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station between 1892 and 1954 and the employees who worked there.
South Asian Oral History Project The University of Washington Libraries greatly recognizes the importance of oral histories as an important primary source for historical narratives. This recognition has led to the South Asian Oral History Project (SAOHP) at the University of Washington Libraries. The SAOHP represents one of the first attempts in the U.S. to record pan-South Asian immigrant experiences in the Pacific Northwest using the medium of oral history. This initiative not only has the goal of preserving the history of South Asian immigration to the region, but also of making these historical resources/material available to everyone. This project began in 2005 through a generous grant to the UW Libraries Special Collections from Irene Joshi, the former South Asia Studies Librarian at UW Libraries. Her contribution of $7000 set in motion this exciting project of remembering and celebrating the achievements of South Asians.
Seattle Civil Rights and Oral History Project: Activist Oral Histories Part of a larger collection focusing on efforts of activists during the civil rights era in Seattle. This era did not only span from the 1950-60's instead it started in 1910 and lasted into the 1970's and was relied on not only African American, but also on Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Jews, Latinos, Native Americans, and their allies. This collection offers brief biographies and video excerpts of these activists' oral histories.
SEAAdoc - Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience - SEAAdoc is an educational resource of the Southeast Asian Archive at the UC Irvine Libraries focusing on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States.
The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 (American Memory, Library of Congress) This collection illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials.
Open Collections Program: Immigration to the US, Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) - Harvard collection
The Issei Immigrants and Civil Rights - First generation Japanese Americans
Regional History Project | UC-Santa Cruz University Library - The Regional History Project has been documenting the history of the Central Coast of California and the institutional history of UC Santa Cruz since 1963, through oral history. This web site includes the complete catalog of our collection, oral history resources, and links to other oral history sites on the Internet. All of the oral histories are available in full text (PDF).
Voices of Minnesota - Since 1948 the Minnesota Historical Society has collected oral histories of Minnesotans from all walks of life and all corners of the state, on a variety of topics. Look specifically at the Immigrant histories.

General History and Treatment of Migrants

Migration Patterns of New American Immigrants: Modern World

"The geographic shift that caused southern and eastern Europe to replace the continent's northwestern region as the chief source of American immigration began slowly."
New Immigrant Farmers and Laborers: Modern World

"Many immigrant farm families never achieved success. On one hand, there were those who hung on and spent their lives eking out a living on the land. They remained poor or existed only at a subsistence level. On the other hand, there were those who, unable to keep their heads above water and discouraged by constant setbacks, gave up."
Immigrant Press: Modern World

"From 1884 to 1920, at least 3,444 new foreign-language papers were added to the uncounted number of existing immigrant publications."
Draft Resisters and Rejects: World War I

"Anger that immigrants had migrated to benefit from the economic opportunities available in the United States, yet then refused to serve in the military bolstered anti-immigrant feelings in some inner cities."
Fleeing the Big Burn: Refugees, Informal Assistance, and Welfare Practices in the Progressive Era

"The article discusses the responses of communities in Missoula, Montana and Spokane, Washington to refugees fleeing the 1910 Big Burn wildfire in the Western U.S. in order to analyze informal community welfare practices during the Progressive Era in the United States. The author contrasts the fast and efficient efforts to provide relief to refugees by Missoula's Chamber of Commerce, businesses, and lodges and fraternal orders with the lack of relief support provided by Spokane's businesses and Chamber of Commerce. Problems with both cities' long-term assistance plans are highlighted."