Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1870-1920: How the Second Great Wave of Immigrants Made Their Way in America

by June Granatir Alexander

Overview

The second "wave" of U.S. immigration, from 1870 to 1920, brought more than 26 million men, women, and children onto American shores. June Granatir Alexander's history of the period underscores the diversity of peoples who came to the United States in these years and emphasizes the important shifts in their geographic origins—from northern and western Europe to southern and eastern Europe—that led to the distinction between "old" and "new" immigrants.

Alexander offers an engrossing picture of the immigrants' daily lives, including the settlement patterns of individuals and families, the demographics and characteristics of each of the ethnic groups, and the pressures to "Americanize" that often made the adjustment to life in a new country so difficult. The approach, similar to David Kyvig's highly successful Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1940 (published by Ivan R. Dee in 2004), presents history with an appealing immediacy, on a level that everyone can understand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566638302
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/16/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

June Granatir Alexander teaches Russian and East European studies at the University of Cincinnati. She has also written Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism and The Immigrant Church and Community. She lives in Cincinnati.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Getting a Perspective on Immigrant Daily Life
Chapter 1: Immigration 1870 to 1920: A Historical Overview
Chapter 2: Life on the Land: Immigrants in the American West
Chapter 3: Life on the Job: Immigrants in the Industrial Workplace
Chapter 4: Life in Urban America: Migrants and Immigrant Families
Chapter 5: Life in Ethnic Communities: Immigrant Institutions and Businesses
Chapter 6: Life in a Hostile World: Immigrants in World War I America
Glossary
Further Reading

What People are Saying About This

Roger Daniels

"Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1870-1920 is an ideal introduction to immigrant life during the crucial time when the United States changed from a predominantly rural nation to one with an urban majority which worked largely in industrial and commercial pursuits. Ms. Alexander tells her story by focusing on the lives of a wide variety of individuals, mostly from Europe but including some from Asia and the Western Hemisphere. Individual chapters provide a general overview of the period, a look at immigrant farmers in the west, the experience of factory workers, family life, ethnic communities, and the particular difficulties of many immigrants in wartime America. The author writes well and provides a number of student-friendly features: meaningful illustrations, a useful chronology, a glossary, and a structured reading list, divided general histories, personal documents, biographies and novels, works on immigrant groups, and a guide to relevant websites and media."

John Bukowczyk

"Alexander's richly detailed description of immigrant life on the farm and in the factory, in their shops and their homes creates a sympathetic understanding of the 'lives of ordinary people' and the rigors and challenges they faced in a new land."

Diane Vecchio

"June Granitir Alexander offers an insightful and well-written study of the multitude of immigrants who entered America between 1870 and 1920. Documenting the many ways immigrants drew on the cultural values of their homeland, Alexander demonstrates immigrant adjustment through religious, educational, entrepreneurial and ethnic community formation. Immigrant life comes alive with spirited discussions of ethnic celebrations, rituals, and leisure time as well as the health, diets, and living conditions of immigrants in rural and urban America. Daily Life in Immigrant America provides a gateway for understanding the day to day realities of immigrants and their families during a dynamic period in American immigration history."--(Diane Vecchio, professor of history at Furman University)

Editorial Reviews

Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1870–1920 is an ideal introduction to immigrant life during the crucial time when the United States changed from a predominantly rural nation to one with an urban majority which worked largely in industrial and commercial pursuits. Ms. Alexander tells her story by focusing on the lives of a wide variety of individuals, mostly from Europe but including some from Asia and the Western Hemisphere. Individual chapters provide a general overview of the period, a look at immigrant farmers in the west, the experience of factory workers, family life, ethnic communities, and the particular difficulties of many immigrants in wartime America. The author writes well and provides a number of student-friendly features: meaningful illustrations, a useful chronology, a glossary, and a structured reading list, divided general histories, personal documents, biographies and novels, works on immigrant groups, and a guide to relevant websites and media.

Roger Daniels

June Granatir Alexander offers an insightful and well-written study of the multitude of immigrants who entered America between 1870 and 1920. Documenting the many ways immigrants drew on the cultural values of their homeland, Alexander demonstrates immigrant adjustment through religious, educational, entrepreneurial and ethnic community formation. Immigrant life comes alive with spirited discussions of ethnic celebrations, rituals, and leisure time as well as the health, diets, and living conditions of immigrants in rural and urban America. Daily Life in Immigrant America provides a gateway for understanding the day to day realities of immigrants and their families during a dynamic period in American immigration history.

Diane Vecchio

Alexander’s richly detailed description of immigrant life on the farm and in the factory, in their shops, and their homes creates a sympathetic understanding of the ‘lives of ordinary people’ and the rigors and challenges they faced in a new land.

John Bukowczyk