Immigration

All the Nations Under Heaven Revised

February 21, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

First published in 1996, All the Nations Under Heaven: Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York (Revised, Columbia University Press, 2019), written by Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, and Rovert W. Snyder, chronicles the role of immigrants and migrants in shaping the history and culture of New York City.

This updated edition of a classic text brings the story of the immigrant experience in New York City up to the present with new material on the city’s revival as a global metropolis with deeply rooted racial and economic inequalities. [Read more…] about All the Nations Under Heaven Revised

HDC Searching For NYC’s Latino Heritage

January 7, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Historic Districts Council of the City of New York is seeking information on historic place and events related to the city’s Latino Heritage.

The main altar of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, in the Financial District of New York, is embellished with a painting called The Crucifixion, by the Mexican artist Jose Vallejo. Many of the paintings that decorate this church, including The Crucifixion, were donated by Archbishop Nunez de Haro from Mexico City in the late 18th Century.

In 1965, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church was designated a landmark of the city by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, one of the earliest designations in the city. [Read more…] about HDC Searching For NYC’s Latino Heritage

The Case Against Peter Stuyvesant

December 16, 2018 by Alan J. Singer 16 Comments

There is a Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan at 16th Street and 2nd Avenue with a statue of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of its New Amsterdam colony, a Stuyvesant High School, and a Stuyvesant Town residential development.

At least one group wants these places renamed and the statue removed. According to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the head of the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center “Peter Stuyvesant was an extreme racist who targeted Jews and other minorities including Catholics and energetically tried to prohibit them from settling in then New Amsterdam.” [Read more…] about The Case Against Peter Stuyvesant

Catholic Missionary to the Adirondacks Father Fitz

November 13, 2018 by Roy Crego Leave a Comment

The Rev. John G. Fitzgerald, or “Father Fitz,” as he was known to contemporaries, was the first resident Roman Catholic priest in Old Forge. He is fondly remembered as a missionary to the widely scattered working people of the region and as a prolific builder of churches. His obituary in 1925 and local histories rightly focus on his time in Old Forge, but Father Fitzgerald had a significant career prior to that. His early assignments reveal a resourceful and energetic clergyman who made an impact across the Adirondacks and North Country. He served the people of northern New York State for a total of 49 years providing faith, culture, and kindness.

John Gerald Fitzgerald was probably born November 19, 1850 in Deptford, Kent, England (now part of Greater London). His parents, Patrick Fitzgerald and Joanna O’Connor, were both born in Ireland. John was educated in Catholic schools in England, namely: Blackheath; Sedgley Park in Wolverhampton; and St. Edmund’s in Ware, Hertfordshire. Records from St. Edmund’s show that a John Fitzgerald attended the school from 1868 until 1871. Soon after, John emigrated to the United States where he attended St. Joseph’s Provincial Seminary in Troy, NY. He was sponsored by the recently established Diocese of Ogdensburg. At seminary, John served as choirmaster and developed what would become a lifelong interest in music. He was ordained at Troy by Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid of Rochester on June 10, 1876. [Read more…] about Catholic Missionary to the Adirondacks Father Fitz

Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’ and New York History

June 24, 2018 by Robert Chiles 2 Comments

Because I teach urban history, immigration history, and in particular New York history, I often have students inquire about the merits of Martin Scorsese’s 2002 film “Gangs of New York.”

Here are a few observations about the movie and about New York history. [Read more…] about Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’ and New York History

The Alien & Sedition Act of 1798

June 6, 2018 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Terri Halperin, an instructor at the University of Richmond and author of The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Testing the Constitution (John Hopkins University Press, 2016), helps us explore the Alien and Sedition Acts and their origins. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/188

An Immigration Exhibit at the NYS Library

May 16, 2018 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

The New York State Library has a new exhibit, “A Nation of Immigrants,” which focuses on the past and present immigrants in the United States.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a two-page spread from the July 2, 1887 issue of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, which appeared less than a year after the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. The caption reads, “New York — Welcome to the Land of Freedom — An Ocean Steamer Passing the Statue of Liberty: Scene on the Steerage Deck.” [Read more…] about An Immigration Exhibit at the NYS Library

Peter Feinman: Lower Manhattan’s Little Syria

April 17, 2018 by Peter Feinman Leave a Comment

Once upon a time in the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan called Little Syria. The area was defined as west of Broadway to the Hudson River and from the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan north to Liberty Street.

Beginning in the 1880s, a variety of people from the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East began settling there. By the 1920s the population consisted of about 8,000 people, including 27 ethnicities. Their tenements were located near the docks where the residents worked. [Read more…] about Peter Feinman: Lower Manhattan’s Little Syria

New Book: Al Smith and the Revolution of 1928

April 5, 2018 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Robert Chiles new book, The Revolution of ’28: Al Smith, American Progressivism, and the Coming of the New Deal (Cornell University Press, 2018) explores the career of New York Governor and 1928 Democratic presidential nominee Alfred E. Smith.

The Revolution of ’28 charts the rise of that idiomatic progressivism during Smith’s early years as a state legislator through his time as governor of the Empire State in the 1920s, before proceeding to a revisionist narrative of the 1928 presidential campaign, exploring the ways in which Smith’s gubernatorial progressivism was presented to a national audience.

Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Reopen With NYS Funds

January 22, 2018 by John Warren 2 Comments

Funds from New York State will reopened the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island today, in the wake of the U.S. government shutdown that closed the two iconic federally operated historic sites on Friday.

The two sites have played important parts in America’s immigration history and have a significant impact on the New York State economy. According to an annual report by the National Park Service, 4.5 million people visited Liberty Island in 2016, generating $263.2 million in visitor spending per year and supporting 3,400 jobs, with an economic output of $364 million. [Read more…] about Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Reopen With NYS Funds