LibGuides: U.S. History: Immigration &amp; Migration

Recommended Databases

Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930 This link opens in a new window
1880 - 1930. Unlimited users.
Primary source documents of investigations made by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the massive immigration wave of 1880-1930. The files cover Asian immigration, especially Japanese and Chinese migration, to California, Hawaii, and other states; Mexican immigration to the U.S. from 1906-1930, and European immigration. There are also extensive files on the INS’s regulation of prostitution and white slavery and on suppression of radical aliens.
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Series A: Subject Correspondence Files:
- Part 1: Asian Immigration and Exclusion, 1906-1913
- Part 1: Supplement: Asian Immigration and Exclusion, 1898-1941
- Part 2: Mexican Immigration, 1906-1930
- Part 3: Ellis Island, 1900-1933
- Part 4: European Investigations, 1898-1936
- Part 5: Prostitution and White Slavery, 1902-1933
- Part 6: Suppression of Aliens
LANTERN SLIDES OF THE NIPPON RIKKOKAI: Japanese Immigrants to Americas (力行会海外日本人移民関係幻燈資料) This link opens in a new window
19th - 20th century. Unlimited users.
The collection features 179 black/white and hand-colored images of the lantern slides, which were created and provided by the Nippon Rikkokai Foundation 日本力行会. The main images of the lantern slides at this site are lives of those immigrants to Americas, mainly to Brazil, in late 19th and early 20th century.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
1800 - 1980. Unlimited.
Presents thousands of unique original sources focusing on the growth of colonisation companies during the nineteenth century, the activities of American immigration and welfare societies, and the plight of refugees and displaced persons throughout the twentieth century.
Search across Adam Matthew primary source databases using AM Explorer
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories
1840 - 1950. Unlimited users.
Updated quarterly (until completed). Provides a view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. When completed, will include more than 100,000 pages of personal narratives including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories. Currently contains 342 authors and approximately 37,500 pages of information.

Open Access Resources

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
This digital collection of historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums documents voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the start of the Great Depression. Concentrating heavily on the 19th century, the collection includes more than 2,200 books, pamphlets, and serials; over 9,600 pages from manuscript and archival collections, more than 7,800 photographs
Digitizing Immigrant Letters
The Immigration History Research Center Archives in the University of Minnesota Libraries (IHRC) is a renowned archives and library for the study of immigration, ethnicity, and race. The Digitizing Immigrant Letters Project aims to make available online letters from the IHRC Archives and other collections that were written between 1850 and 1970 both by immigrants (the so-called “America letters”) and to immigrants (“homeland letters”).
Hmong Oral History Project
The Hmong Oral History Project consists of nine interviews with Hmong men and women from the Twin Cities metropolitan area who have immigrated to Minnesota from Laos or Thailand. The interviews are made up of personal stories that describe their experiences both before and after their immigration.
South Asian American Digital Archive
Documents the South Asian diaspora experience in the United States; includes photographs, correspondence and more

Focus: Migration

Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
Collection of the original writings of 49 voyagers on the Mormon, California, Oregon, and Montana trails who wrote while traveling on the trail.
Plantations Records (Part II): Records of Southern Plantations From Emancipation To The Great Migration
1863 - 1915. Unlimited users.
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Series B: Selections from the Louisiana andLower Mississippi Valley Collections, LouisianaState University Libraries:
Part 1: Louisiana Sugar Plantations
Part 2: Louisiana Cotton Plantations
Part 3: Louisiana Sugar Plantations (BayouLafourche and Bayou Teche)
Part 4: Mississippi Cotton Plantations
Part 5: Albert Batchelor Papers
Part 6: Weeks Family Papers
Series C: Selections from the South CarolinaLibrary, University of South Carolina:
Part 1: The Hammond Family Papers
Part 2: Selected Collections