Dictionary of Races or Peoples

For the first time the government tries to find out not what nations but what races are pouring into America and It reaches some conclusions that will make the average man stare. --from The races that go into the American melting pot New York Times May 21 1911In the early 1900s US immigration changed dramatically. Not only did the annual immigration levels soar to over one million a year resulting in an immigrant population of 10 million but the origin of immigrants was changing greatly as well. In the 1880s 87 percent of the immigrants came from northern and western Europe while by the early 1900s 81 percent came from southern and eastern Europe. From 1899 on immigrants were no longer classified by country of birth but according to race or people. This was due to the many new immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian or Russian empires who could not easily be distinguished by country of birth. In 1907 the US IMMIGRATION COMMISSION (a.k.a. the Dillingham Commission) a joint House and Senate commission was formed to study these changes in immigration. The commissions chairman the Republican Senator William P. Dillingham (1843-1923) and a Progressive reformer was a vocal advocate of restriction of immigration. As part of its 41-volume report on immigration the commission released the Dictionary of Races and Peoples in 1911. It was written by the commissions senior researcher Daniel Folkmar with his wife Elnora and became a crucial source of anthropological cultural historical and geographical information about the many races entering the US. Although it consisted of many cultural stereotypes it was initially well received and only from the early 1950s on did it receive widespread criticism.The Dictionary of Races and Peoples and the commissions overall findings including that the new immigration formed a serious threat to American society and should be greatly reduced were later used in 1920s legislation reducing immigration. Students of immigration academics journalists and anyone interested in the history of US immigration and solutions for 21st century America will find this controversial dictionary a vital background reading.