Overview
There are countless immigrant stories interwoven into the history of the United States.
How did immigrants communicate their experiences and how was the immigrant experience communicated to others? How did this story change over time and how does the history of immigration shape the present day? Diaries, biographies, books, pamphlets and other writings can help tell the story of voluntary immigration in America.
Houghton Library holds numerous items and collections related to immigration to the United States.
To search digitized material held across Harvard Libraries, visit Harvard's Curiosity Collection Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930.
Please see below for examples of material relating to immigration from Houghton Library's collections.
Examples
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French ways and their meaning
Edith Wharton was devoted to the French people and their culture. During the First World War, while living in France and devoting herself to numerous war and relief efforts, she wrote several essays about the French and the unique attributes of their civilization, having in mind particularly the need for both Americans and the English to understand the ways of a people whose nation they were defending in the Great War.
