Immigrant Voices: New Lives in America, 1773-1986

By: Dublin, Thomas

Book Overview

In this richly evocative collection ten men and women of European, Latin American, and Asian backgrounds tell of their immigrant experiences. They range from a Shetland Islander who sailed to Virginia as an indentured servant before the American Revolution to a Vietnamese refugee family living in Chicago in the 1980s. Thomas Dublin presents diaries, letters, reminiscences, and oral history in a volume that memorably reflects the diversity and commonalties of two centuries of U.S. immigration. His introduction places the primary sources in a broad interpretive framework and offers readers an overview of the place of immigration in national development.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252062906
• ISBN13: 9780252062902
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A good place to start

If you're trying to find great individual stories of immigrants to America from many parts of the world and at many points in American history, this is a good place to start. A number of the stories are excerpts from longer amazing autobiographies of people like Rosa Cassetari (Italian, late 19th century) and Ernesto Galarza (Mexican, early 1900s). If you're trying to round up some of the best, this book will help you do it. Check out the table of contents. Nutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1Take Me With You When You Go

U.S. immigrants ARE U.S. history

Through primary source material from each American immigrant, Dublin presents a book that spans the American immigration experience from Revolutionary America to 1986. From a motley crew of different American immigrants, we see the drama and lives of different peoples who come to America to become Americans. We hear the voices of John Harrower, an indentured servant in Revolutionary America; the Seyyfardts, who migrate to 1850s Michigan; Rosa Cassettari, an early 20th century Italian immigrant who wants to go back home; and the Nguyens, Vietnamese War refugees granted a safe haven to live in America. These different stories all show us what type of people come to America, the reason why they come, and the reasons why they leave their original countries. It also gives insight into the reader's own personal identity, and what it means to be American. Dublin's book also presents the underlying, similar characteristics of all immigrants to America. Highly recommended.