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Decades of US Immigration History Comes to Light

National Archives receives documents of 21 million

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 4, 2009 12:55 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The US is sending the files on some 21 million immigrants to the National Archives, revealing volumes of early 20th-century history, USA Today reports. The documents tell the stories of celebrities like Salvador Dali as well as the successes and tribulations of ordinary people, from refugees to “enemy aliens.” “As a collection, they document the story of American immigration,” says an official.

That includes both the “wonders” and “blemishes” of the story, he says. The records, assembled under a 1940 law, include photos, birth certificates, letters, and transcripts of conversations, telling odd tidbits—Dali apparently wasn’t sure how tall he was—and longer tales, like that of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which set quotas on Chinese immigrants. The materials are headed to Archives centers near San Francisco and Kansas City.

circa 1920: A group of women immigrants to the USA on Ellis Island. During their detention there they are doing embroidery under the direction of the Matron.
circa 1920: A group of women immigrants to the USA on Ellis Island. During their detention there they are doing embroidery under the direction of the Matron.   (Getty Images)
Rear view of an immigrant family on Ellis Island looking across New York Harbor at the Statue of Liberty, 1930s.
Rear view of an immigrant family on Ellis Island looking across New York Harbor at the Statue of Liberty, 1930s.   (Getty Images)
Immigrants wait to disembark from a passenger ship at Ellis Island, New York, New York, 1939.
Immigrants wait to disembark from a passenger ship at Ellis Island, New York, New York, 1939.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Robert_Dada
Jun 4, 2009 11:38 AM CDT
"There's blacks with knives and whites with clubs fighting in Howard Beach There's no such thing as human rights when you walk the N.Y.streets A cop was shot in the head by a 10 years old kid named Buddah in Central Park last week The fathers and daughters are lined up by the coffins by the Statue of Bigotry, hey You better hold on something's happening here You better hold on well I meet you in Tompkins Square" - Lou Reed, 'Hold On'

Searchable index of immigration history
Citizenship and Immigration Services

More on the files
Los Angeles Times

US

 
immigration • history • immigrant • National Archives • American history • Salvador Dali

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