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Shaun Tan. The Arrival. Arthur A. Levine Books. 2007. (Hardcover).
This graphic novel takes readers of any age through the strange journey of one man who travels ahead of his family to a new land in search of a place to call home. Wordless but for signs in an unidentifiable language, the story explores the immigrant experience from the immigrant’s point of view, inviting readers into a strange world of unfamiliar things—vehicles, appliances, foods, musical instruments, customs, etc. The man makes his way, but his sense of loneliness, confusion, and interesting discoveries become the reader’s experience. According to Jesse Karp of Booklist, this book “is a unique work that not only fulfills but also expands the potential of its form.”

Did You Know?

• In the centuries leading up to the 20th century, immigrants to the United States who sailed by ship might arrive at any of the more than 100 ports of entry. (65)
• Immigrants who came across the northern border from Canada or the southern border from Mexico were not counted before 1908. (69)
• Turn of the 20th centuryimmigration policy, like much of U.S. legislation and custom, was strongly class-conscious. First- or second-class passengers were examined (usually minimally) aboard ship, then were able to land directly after docking, avoiding the long lines and processing at Ellis Island and other ports of entry. Thus, if a family feared rejection for a health issue and could possibly pull the money together, it purchased a second-class ticket for that individual to increase the chances of entry. (66)
• Third-class, or steerage, passengers were subjected to a rigorous inspection. While the total rejection rate in the Ellis Island years (1892-1954) only amounted to two percent, that figure equaled more than 250,000 individuals who were forced to return to their port of departure. If a child was rejected, an adult was required to accompany him or her. (66)
• Beginning in 1891, the U.S. government required that shipping companies vaccinate, disinfect, and examine emigrants before they boarded the ship to cut back on the number of rejections on the U.S. end. (67)
• Between 1903 and 1906, the U.S. consul in Fiume, Italy, Fiorello La Guardia, insisted that emigrants receive a thorough medical examination before departure. This model proved so successful that it was adopted by Italy and other European countries thereafter. (68)
• The U.S. Congress formally shifted the primary medical exam of immigrants abroad in 1924. (68)

Source: Brownstone, David M. and Irene M. Franck, Facts About American Immigration (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 2001).

Noteworthy Immigrants
(Inventors/Builders/Authors/Artists/Thinkers/Citizens, etc.)

Frederick Henry Harvey (June 27-1836-February 9, 1901) was a hospitality industry pioneer in the American West who developed the empire that included Harvey House lunch rooms, restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels, serving the Aitcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Gulf Coast and Santa Fe Railway, the Kansas Pacific Railway, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, between 1876 and the 1960s. Born in England, he came to America to make his fortune and put in years of miserable long distance travel as a salesman who was served inconsistent, often inedible food by substandard restaurants along various rail lines. Understanding his market, Harvey developed his mission “to provide good food at a fair price, prepared to high standards and graciously served” (ix). A demanding taskmaster, he offered his employees, most of them women, a decent work environment at reasonable pay. The 1946 musical, “The Harvey Girls,” starring Judy Garland, was based on his enterprise.

Source: Wikipedia.com; William Patrick Armstrong. Fred Harvey: Creator of Western Hospitality. Canyonlands Publications. 2000.

• Adolphus Busch (July 10, 1839-October 10, 1913) became an American beer industry magnate through hard work and sound investments. Born in Mainz, Germany, the second youngest of 22 children, Busch left home in 1857 with three of his brothers for St. Louis, Missouri. There he met Lilly Eberhard Anheuser, whose father owned a small brewery (the Busch family in Germany worked in winery and brewery supplies). Busch worked as a clerk and in a wholesale company until he served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Afterwards, he used money received from an inheritance to start a wholesale brewer’s supply store; four years later he bought a share in his father-in-law’s brewery. Upon his father-in-law’s death in 1879, he changed the brewery’s name to the Anheuser Busch Company. Adolphus envisioned a national beer with universal appeal. He created a network of rail-side icehouses and launched the industry’s first fleet of refrigerated freight cars. He revolutionized the industry when he discovered a method to pasteurize the beer to keep it fresh., which allowed him to bottle it and ship it all over the country.

Source: Wikipedia.com

See more Noteworthy Immigrants.

Recipe of the Month
In the core course Our Food: Immigrant, Ethnic and American, participants will explore the convergence of the foodways from many immigrant cultures. We'll feature some recipes here that reflect that blending of cultures. Check back periodically for new recipes.

Explore the Immigrant Experience with OASIS
OASIS centers are offering a series of classes The Immigrant Experience: A Journey to Becoming American Find a program in your city.

Partners
This project is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. This project has also been designated a We the People project.


Additional support has been provided by Macy’s Foundation.


OASIS thanks the project team for their contributions to this program.