Books in the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island series

Using oral history interviews and citrus company records, this book argues that Mexican Americans helped lay the groundwork for civil rights struggles and electoral campaigns in the post-World War II era. It also shows how Mexicans transformed leisure spaces into politicized spaces where workers voiced their grievances and built solidarity.

Becoming Mexican in early-twentieth-century Chicago

An insightful history of Italian immigrants' personal experience of language in America

Explores the ways in which immigrant lives are shaped by transnational bonds, globalization, family ties, and personal choice, and the ways in which they engender a sense of belonging and a sense of themselves as "Americans." It considers a plurality of historical, economic, regional, familial, and cultural contexts.

In this ethnographic portrait, the author examines the shifting gender roles of many Dutch Protestant women who crossed the Atlantic from 1880 to 1920 to make new homes in the United States. Lively and absorbing, the stories of their lives are told in their own words as preserved in personal letters and diaries.

Analyzes the processes of migration and settlement of Sicilian fishers from three villages in Western Sicily to Monterey, California. This title demonstrates that the cannery work done by Sicilian immigrant women is crucial in terms of the identity formation and community development.

Focusing on a period of American history marked by a sharp division between Anglo-Americans and non-Anglo European immigrants, this title examines the creation and dissemination of "homemaking myths": stories that weave immigrants into the basic fabric of America by linking them to the pivotal events and ideas of their new homeland.

Using Italian and American sources, this book reveals that women in Italy had economic responsibilities that often included work experiences outside of the home, including jobs as midwives and businesswomen. This book demonstrates the regional variation of Italian women's work as well as the skills they transplanted to America.