New York Since 1898: Immigrants & Ethnic Groups

Ethnic newspapers are a valuable source of information on the lives and concerns of immigrant and ethnic groups. You can search for ethnic newspapers held by the Rutgers Libraries in the Catalog. As your search terms, use the name of the group in which you are interested followed by the word "newspapers;" search this as a SUBJECT Keyword.

For Example: germans newspapers; OR east indians newspapers; OR irish americans newspapers

Ethnic NewsWatch
A full-text collection of over 200 newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic (including Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian-American, European, and Jewish), minority, and native press. Complete articles dating back to 1960, in English and Spanish. Rutgers-restricted Access

U.S. Ethnic Press
Newspapers and periodicals published by various North American ethnic groups and held by the Center for Research Libraries (Chicago). These are available to Rutgers users via Interlibrary Loan. Searchable by ethnic group.

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930

Online collection of approximately 1,800 books and pamphlets as well as 9,000 photographs, 200 maps and 13,000 pages from Harvard manuscript and archival collections. Emphasis on 19th century materials. An amazing resource!

Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850 to 1990

22 Detailed tables.

Claghorn, Kate Holladay. " The Foreign Immigrant in New York City," Reports of the Industrial Commission 15, 1901, 465-492.

"Two Immigrants Out of Five Feebleminded," The Survey 38, September 14, 1917, 528-529.

Report published in the leading social work journal of the day on a 1913 study by psychologists at the Training School in Vineland, N.J. who spent two and a half months at Ellis Island administering intelligence tests to immigrants ("35 Jews, 22 Hungarians, 50 Italians and 45 Russians"). The study concluded that two out of every five immigrants studied was feeblemined.

We the People: An Atlas of America's Ethnic Diversity

James Paul Allen and Eugene James Turner. New York, Macmillan, 1988.
Data based on the 1980 Census, this atlas maps the geographical patterns of 67 ethnic and racial groups in the US.

Dana Call Number: REF E184 .A1A479 1988 Available?

The Newest New Yorkers: An Analysis of Immigration into New York City During the 1980s.

New York City, Department of City Planning, 1992.

Dana Call Number: JV7048.N49 1992 Available?

New Americans: A Guide to Immigration Since 1965

Edited by Mary C. Waters and Reed Ueda. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 2007.

Account of changes in American demographics since the major changes in immigation law after 1965, including the new waves of immigrants from non-European countries.

Dana Call Number:JV6455 .N49 2007 [REF plus STACKS] Available?

To locate materials in the Rutgers Libraries relating to specific ethnic groups in New York, do a SUBJECT KEYWORD search in the Catalog, using the name of the group followed by "new york." Some possible searches:

asian americans new york
chinese americans new york
east indian americans new york
irish americans new york
japanese americans new york
italian americans new york
jews new york
mexican americans new york

Other Resources

The Irish Experience in New York City: A Select Bibliography.

Ann M. Shea and Marion R. Casey. New York, New York Irish History Roundtable, 1995.

"Nearly seven hundred entries include unpublished materials such as Master's theses and doctoral dissertations, as well as published articles, chapters, books, and videos." Available?

The Five Points

New York, Film for Thought, American Working Class History Project, 1983.

140 slides plus 2 sound cassettes. "Depicts the social conditions of the 19th century Irish immigrants of New York City, the background for a riot in the 6th ward on July 4, 1857."

Dana Media Call Number: A-VKIT 43

American Immigration History: Immigrant Groups

The Newark Experience: Ethnic Groups