Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930 Open Collections Program Harvard University Library Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930 Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930

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Browse Institutional Records

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, includes links to a range of institutional records that are described below. These archival materials are held by various repositories at Harvard University and may be part of larger collections. For further information on these materials, please contact the owning repository, which is listed in the catalog record for each item.

Amoskeag Manufacturing Company

The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, located in Manchester, New Hampshire, was a cotton-textile firm incorporated in 1831. It operated the world's largest textile plant in addition to producing a variety of other products. The cotton mill was closed and the business was liquidated in 1936. The records of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company contain mainly 20th-century materials with an emphasis on labor and production. The collection includes letter books, minute books, stockholders' records, patent materials, semiannual accounts, insurance and property records, minutes of meetings of employees' committees, records of grievances, and descriptions of company events.

The records of a large-scale project to document the nationalities of employees of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, below, are among the holdings of Historical Collections in Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. Records, 1831-1936 (inclusive). Included here:

  • Number of Persons Employed by Nationality
  • Nationality of Employees, Bound Record, 1912-1926
  • Nationality of Employees, Monthly, Jan., 1920-Dec., 1921
  • Nationality of Employees, Monthly, Jan., 1922-Dec., 1922
  • Nationality of Employees, Annual, 1911-1929
  • Nationality of Employees, Detail for Annual Reports, 1912-1928

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Children's Aid Society

Children's Aid Society Italian House photograph collection, by Underwood & Underwood, ca. 1909.
[Christmas.]Children's Aid Society Italian House photograph collection, by Underwood & Underwood, ca. 1909.
In 1853, Charles Loring Brace (1826-1890), a Methodist minister, established the Children's Aid Society to assist impoverished youth in New York City.

Below, a collection of photographs (ca. 1909) depicting classes and evening activities at the Five Italian House—a trade school and social center established by the Children's Aid Society of New York for Italian immigrants—accompanied by a manuscript outlining the activities and programs of the Children's Aid Society are among the holdings of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, Harvard College Library.

Children’s Aid Society Italian House photograph collection. Widener Library. Included here:

  • Collection of 24 black and white photographs depicting classes and evening activities, ca. 1909
  • One typewritten manuscript describing the activities and programs of the Five Points [Italian] House, ca. 1909-1917

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Denison House

Founded in 1892 in Boston's South End by a small group of college-educated women, Denison House was a settlement house that offered camps, clubs, sports for girls and boys, classes, a library and clinic, union organization, and other services for the neighborhood's mixed nationalities. Many of the constituents of Denison House were Greek, Italian, or Syrian immigrants. There was an especially strong relationship between Denison House and the Italian-American community. Under the auspices of Denison House, Circolo Italo-Americano, an Italian-American organization, held an annual cultural festival every May and an exhibition of Italian arts and crafts every December.

Below, the daily reports of the Denison House head workers together with selected issues of Circolo Italo-Americano are among the holdings of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Denison House. Records, 1890-1984. Included here:

Series III. Program

Box 3, Folders 72-77: Daily activity reports; includes entries by Helen Cheever, Emily G. Balch, Lucinda Wyman Prince, et al.

  • 72. Dec. 27, 1892-Mar. 21, 1893
  • 73. Jan. 2-18, 1893
  • 74. Jan. 18-Feb. 14, 1893
  • 75-76: "Day Book[s]"
    • 75. 1893-1894
    • 76. 1894-1897
  • 77. "D.H. Diary," 1900-1908

Box 4, Folders 80-86: Circolo Italo-Americano; disassembled scrapbook includes pamphlets, fliers, newsletter, programs

  • 80. 1903-1906
  • 81. 1906-1908
  • 82. 1907
  • 83. 1908
  • 84. 1909; includes club constitution
  • 85. 1910
  • 86. 1911

The full finding aid for the Denison House papers can be found at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00182

For further information and some publications of the Denison House, see the Denison House page.

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Immigration Restriction League

The Immigration Restriction League (IRL) was founded in 1894 by three Harvard College graduates: Prescott Farnsworth Hall, Robert DeCourcy Ward, and Charles Warren. Their hope was to educate the populace to problems of the immigration system in the US, to gain support for immigration restriction from powerful individuals and groups, and to lobby for restrictive legislation. The League remained active for nearly twenty years, disbanding only after the death of Hall.

Below, a series of circular letters sent by the IRL to various recipients across the country eliciting opinions about the characteristics of specific immigrant groups, several books of minutes of the meetings of the League, and a scrapbook containing correspondence and clippings are among the holdings of the Houghton Library, Harvard College Library.

Immigration Restriction League (US). Records, 1893-1921. Included here:

Series: I. Correspondence to and from the IRL. B. Circular letters.
Replies from states across the country to the League's public opinion poll. Arranged by date.

Series: II. Record books of the IRL.
This series contains four bound volumes that are record books of the internal workings of the League. Three of the volumes are the minutes of meetings of the executive committee from 1894 to 1920. The minutes generally include date, place, and attendees of the meetings, votes taken, reports by committee members, and notes on the meetings' discussions. The fourth volume is a ledger book recording income and expenditures from 1910 to 1917, entered by date, including the name of contributor or recipient of funds.

Series: III. Scrapbook.
This series consists of one bound volume and one folder of loose sheets (removed from the volume), forming a scrapbook containing correspondence, clippings, and resolutions signed by outside organizations favoring immigration restriction.

  • MS [Shelved with v.1 (1110)] (1054) Immigration Restriction League. Scrapbook, 1896-1898. 2 v.

The complete finding aid for this collection can be found at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00163

For further information and some publications of the Immigration Restriction League, please see the Immigration Restriction League page.

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North Bennet Street Industrial School

Located in Boston's congested North End, the North Bennet Street School was founded with a dual mission: education for employment and acculturation of its neighborhood's primarily Italian immigrant residents. These residents struggled both to make a living and to adapt to American customs and culture. Under the leadership of Boston philanthropist Josephine Agassiz Shaw, the school opened in 1880 as the North End Industrial Home.

Below, scrapbooks and issues of The North End Lantern are among the holdings of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

North Bennet Street Industrial School (Boston, Massachusetts). Records, 1880-1973. Included here:

Series II. Office Files

Series IV. Class Registers and Attendance Books

Series VII. Scrapbooks
North Bennet Street Industrial School. Headworker's Scrapbooks:

The full finding aid for the records of the North Bennet Street Industrial School can be found at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00829

For further information and some publications of the North Bennett Street Industrial School, please see the North Bennet Street Industrial School page.

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Scovill Manufacturing Company

The Scovill Manufacturing Company produced brass objects, such as buttons, screws, and tools, in Waterbury, Connecticut, from 1802 to 1956. The company kept detailed records about its work force.

Below, records of a 1920 strike that analyze employee participation by gender and marital status, as well as skill level, nationality, age, literacy level, and distribution through the factory, are among the holdings of Historical Collections at Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

Scovill Manufacturing Company. Records, ca. 1790-1956. Included here:

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Women's Educational and Industrial Union

from the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.) Dept. of Research. Schelesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute

In 1877, Dr. Harriet Clisby, one of America's first female physicians, established the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (WEIU) in response to social problems facing Boston in the late 19th century.

Below, two WEIU studies related to immigrant women in Boston are among the holdings of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Massachusetts). Records, 1877-1980. Included here:

Folders 46-64a: Research Department Reports and Studies.

  • 48: Immigrants—protection—service and WEIU studies, as source of supply in domestic work.
  • 49: Immigrant women and girls in Boston.

These records, and the remainder of those in Folders 46-64a, are also part of the Women Working, 1800-1930 collection.

The full finding aid for the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (B-8) records can be found at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00209

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