Migration and Immigration

Dr. Melnea Cass, distinguished in 1977 as a "Grand Bostonian," was a devoted advocate for the city's most vulnerable residents. Among her many efforts, Cass helped achieve legal protections for low-wage migrant workers and proved the potency of Black women's activism.

Alexander Lemmon was an Irish immigrant who joined the Continental Army in 1775, fought in the attack of Quebec and survived the Siege of 1777. Although not many details of his life are known, the personal descriptions in his story go to show the humanity of all the forgotten soldiers of the American Revolution.

Curiosity Kits inspire exploration and learning of history through place. These multi-piece resources include articles that explore historic places and provide educational activities for life-long learners. This kit focuses on the life and work of Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a suffragist. By the time she was 16, Lee was a known figure in New York’s suffrage movement. Learn more about her contributions to the movement.

The Munemitsu family’s story intertwines Japanese incarceration, questions of labor and loyalty, and a Mexican American family's fight for equal rights. During World War II, the Munemitsu family was forcibly removed and sent to an incarceration camp. Because the family leased their farm to Gonzalo Mendez, the lead plaintiff of Mendez et al. v. Westminster, et al. (1947), the Munemitsus retained ownership of the farm. To learn more, check out the rest of the Entangled Inequalities project.

Entangled Inequalities is a project that tells the story of the two (extra) ordinary families. The Munemitsu and Mendez families lived on a farm in southern California. Their story connects two pieces of World War II history: the US incarceration of Japanese Americans and the segregation of Latino students in California schools. The three lessons in this series allow students to learn more about the entangled inequalities faced by the two families. It supports the Entangled Inequalities Series.

Chien-Shiung Wu is a pioneer and pivotal figure in the history of physics. An immigrant to the United States from China, she did important work for the Manhattan Project and in experimental physics. Her crucial contribution to particle physics was, however, ignored by the Nobel Prize committee when it awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Madison Grant was a key figure in the history of the National Park Service. He supported environmental conservation and worked to protect plant and animal species like redwood trees and the American bison. But he is also remembered for his support of eugenics. His 1916 book The Passing of the Great Race spread racist ideas that Grant claimed were scientific. Policymakers used Grant's ideas to restrict immigration and to control people's ability to have children.

Ethel C. Mackenzie was a white suffragist from California. In 1909, she married a Scottish national. Under a 1907 law called the Expatriation Act, women lost their American citizenship if they married non-American men. In 1915, Mackenzie challenged the constitutionality of the law.

There are many legends about Mary Fields, an African American pioneer in late 19th century Montana. These myths have been exaggerated in the century since her death, yet oral and written accounts describe her as one of the toughest, most resilient residents of Cascade, Montana. Learn more about her story here!

Revolutionary War soldier Jacob Hadley served in the Continental Army at the 1775 siege of Boston. His grandson, Daniel Dunbar Brockway, headed west to the Great Lakes for his own adventures.