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Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection

1799-1971

Two centuries of immigrant life in the United States
Summary
Learn what makes this product unique
  • More than 130 fully searchable newspapers in 10 languages from 25 states, including many rare 19th-century titles
  • Extensive coverage of many of the most influential ethnic groups in U.S.history
  • Covers immigrant contributions to U.S. business, music, science, education, labor movements and war efforts

Featuring more than 130 fully searchable newspapers in 10 languages from 25 states—including many rare 19th-century titles—this online collection provides extensive coverage of many of the most influential ethnic groups in U.S. history. With an emphasis on Americans of Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Welsh descent, this unique resource will enable students and scholars to explore often-overlooked aspects of this nation’s history, politics and culture. 

Two centuries of immigrant life in the U.S.
Spanning the Early Republic’s Open Door Era to the Era of Liberalization in the mid-1960s, Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection covers two centuries of immigrant life in the United States. Nineteenth-century topics include the denial of citizenship to “nonwhites”; the founding of nativist political movements, including the anti-immigrant “Know-Nothing” party; the 1849 discovery of gold in California, which lured people from all over the world; New York City’s place as the world’s largest Irish city in 1860 with more than 200,000 Irish-born citizens; and the Immigration Act of 1882, which levied a tax on all immigrants landing at U.S. ports.

In addition to the major contributions of immigrants to business, music, science, education, labor movements and war efforts, later topics include the Naturalization Act of 1906, which for citizenship required immigrants to learn to speak English; the 1921 Emergency Quota Act, which favored northern and western Europeans; the 1942 internment in “War Relocation Camps” of Japanese Americans, several of whom published newspapers; Truman’s 1953 Commission on Immigration and Naturalization, which revealed the positive impact of immigrants; and much more. 

Partnership with a leading ethnic research center
This new resource features newspapers from the former Balch Institute of Ethnic Studies—arguably the best known ethnic research center in America, which merged with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 2002—and the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania itself, one of the largest and oldest family history libraries in the nation. Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection is the third collection in the Readex American Ethnic Newspapers series, which also includes African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980. It can be cross-searched with all other America’s Historical Newspapers series, including Early American Newspapers and Caribbean Newspapers.

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Take a step toward access for your library
“... A marvelous window…”
“....many different ethnic groups and diverse localities embrace over 200 years of the American experience.”
James M. Bergquist, Emeritus Professor of History, Villanova University
Areas of Study
This product supports the following subjects
American Studies
Ethnic Studies
Immigration Studies
US History
Title List
Reviews & Accolades
Notable Titles
Chronological Segments
MARC-Records
Series List
Case Study
FAQS
Advisory Board

James Bergquist, Professor Emeritus of History
Villanova University 

David Brundage, Professor of History
University of California, Santa Cruz

Donna Gabaccia, Professor of History and Director of the Immigration History Research Center
University of Minnesota

Walter Kamphoefner, Professor of History
Texas A&M University

Eric Pumroy, Director of Library Collections, and Seymour Adelman Head of Special Collections
Bryn Mawr College

Dorothee Schneider, Lecturer in History
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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