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A Mexican Immigrant Expresses Ambivalence about Her New Life
Elisa Silva was born in Mazatlán, Mexico and emigrated to the United States at age twenty, eventually settling in Los Angeles. In this interview, conducted during the mid-1920s, Silva describes her ambivalence towards the culture and traditions of [...]
Mexican and Japanese Laborers Form a Union
In 1903, Mexican and Japanese farmworkers in Oxnard, California joined together to resist a wage cut by their employers. When they requested that their union be allowed to join the American Federation of Labor, President Samuel Gompers told the [...]
Employers Favor Increased Mexican Immigration
During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the U.S. passed a number of laws restricting immigration by nationalities seen as racially inferior. For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred all immigration from China, while [...]
"Workers leaving Pennsylvania shipyards, Beaumont, Texas"
Beaumont, Texas, like many U.S. cities, became a boomtown during World War II, as new residents flooded in to take jobs at the city's shipyards and petroleum production facilities. Between 1940 and 1943, population rose by 35% and the city suffered [...]
Coal Miners' Final Messages (1902)
Working as a coal miner in the early 20th century was incredibly dangerous. In addition to the dangers faced by miners, coal mining has a considerably detrimental impact on the environment. On May 19, 1902, a coal mine exploded near Fraterville, [...]
Jourdon Anderson Responds to his Former Enslaver (1865)
After the Civil War, many former enslavers in the South were desperate to not lose laborers and attempted to maintain control over formerly enslaved people. One such former enslaver, P.H. Anderson, contacted a formerly enslaved man named Jourdon [...]
Lenora M. Barry Describes Women's Working Conditions in New Jersey (1887)
Lenora M. Barry was the national women’s organizer for the Knights of Labor in the late nineteenth century. The Knights of Labor aimed to improve the lives and health of laborers by encouraging them to organize unions and other groups to fight for [...]
NAACP Representative Testifies before Congress about the Economic Security Act (1935)
In January 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent the Economic Security Act to Congress. Congress held committee hearings on the bill. Charles H. Houston, a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) [...]
Reagan's Address about the Economy (1981)
After his election in 1980, President Ronald Reagan set his sights on the American economy, including issues like interest rates, inflation, unemployment, and wages. In his first address to the nation in February 1981, Reagan outlined his intentions [...]
Immigrants' Contributions to the Nation (1939)
This 1939 illustrated map of the United States appeared in a guidebook that accompanied a series of radio broadcasts that highlighted various immigrant groups and their work in the nation. The radio series and accompanying guide were produced by [...]