Destination America

Monday, October 15, 2018

Screenings and discussion: Monday, October 15 at 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Andrew Foster Auditorium and at 7:30 p.m. in Chapel Hall.

Beginning with the reflection that "Once, there was no such thing as an illegal immigrant. If you could get here, you could stay," historians Donna Gabaccia and Janet Nolan provide a historical context for America's long-conflicted relationship with immigrant labor. The film focuses on the stories of three groups: the Irish, who fled starvation at home in the mid-19th century and penetrated the urban workforce and helped build America's railroads; the Norwegians, who came to farm the Midwest when land ran out in their country; and the Mexicans, millions of whom were recruited by American industry in the 1920's as labor for American mills and factories, and then expelled when no longer needed.