CLA: Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration

By Haven Hawley, Program Director, IHRC

The spread of a particularly virulent influenza strain in Mexico has rung a public health alarm bell because of similarities to the deadly flu pandemic of 1918. It's far too early to predict that the 2009 experience could be as devastating, but a new historical source based on fraternal association records at the IHRC may help researchers in modeling responses to today's situation.

The Ukrainian Fraternal Association Collection offers a wealth of information about ethnic life in the United States during the 20th century, but until 2008-2009 the collection -- which is mostly in Ukrainian for early years -- simply was inaccessible for most researchers. In the past year, the IHRC began translating and digitizing records from 1918 to 1920 as part of "The Ukrainian American Health, Mortality and Demography Project," funded by a seed grant from the Minnesota Population Center. The pilot database provides a powerful tool for analyzing the effect of a pandemic on an ethnic community.

Infections from the influenza A (H1N1) virus identified in Mexico are now appearing in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1918, a flu virus was identified in the United States, with waves of infection following as the virus mutated and traveled to Europe, across the globe, and back to the United States the following year. The UFA database provides a range of demographic information that allows both multivariate analysis of social patterns and, with the support of manuscript holdings, access to long-term correspondence revealing the context of Ukrainian migration to the United States.

The horror of World War I overshadowed the 1918 pandemic in public memory, but about twice as many people died from the early 20th-century virus as from the war. The fact that the virus seemed to target healthy victims has remained a hallmark of that pandemic. Recent deaths in Mexico have also been among those in the prime of life rather than the youngest or the elderly, but this parallel should not be overstated, because the course of the disease is not fully predictable, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Health scientists have begun mathematically modeling the social interactions of communities to devise effective ways of reducing transmission, and the UFA data can be incorporated into such models.

The UFA database includes information much broader than mortality and health, however. The new data set, available for onsite use at Elmer L. Andersen Library, reveals the crossroads of immigrant life. The level of information for individuals is deep and includes village of origin in Europe, changes in family size, and type of occupation, among many possible variables. Fraternal associations often were the only institutional providers of assistance for new immigrants. The insurance policy records of organizations such as the UFA are a vital source for reconstructing evidence about ethnic communities and migration.

For the 2009 virus, the World Health Organization has raised its designation of the threat level because of recent findings of human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus potentially to spread at the community level. Although the WHO has not advised travel restrictions, the CDC has issued guidelines for travel to infected areas.

As in the opening decades of the twentieth century, global travel has increased dramatically, making a truly world-wide threat extraordinarily difficult to halt. Understanding the global aspects of how diseases operate is important, but it is even more critical to determine the specific patterns of interaction within communities, where containment and mitigation efforts can be implemented successfully.

Institutions in the United States have begun implementing procedures to ensure preparedness. The University of Minnesota is among those institutions with plans in place to deal with public health disasters, whether the spread of swine flu or another threat.

The IHRC currently is working to obtain a grant for expanding the project to the beginning of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association's files in 1911 and extending, in time, across the 20th century. Digitizing the collection will allow the IHRC to provide individual-level information while putting in place controls for ensuring confidentiality as the project moves forward. The UFA data set for 1918-1920 creates a window for new scholarship with significant public health applications, and especially for careful analysis of historical parallels with the 1918 pandemic.

Global health concerns have provided special urgency for making the IHRC's vast collections of fraternal association records available, and they can be used for much more than the study of immigrant and ethnic health. The three-year snapshot of UFA records allows scholars to analyze linguistic patterns and literacy, occupational mobility, and the effect of nation-state formation on diaspora identity. As the UFA project expands longitudinally and IHRC databases broaden to include other collections, the value of preserving the records of American immigration will only increase.

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 6:33 PM | Permalink

By Haven Hawley, Acting Director and Program Director, IHRC

The spread of a particularly virulent influenza strain in Mexico has rung a public health alarm bell because of similarities to the deadly flu pandemic of 1918. It's far too early to predict that the 2009 experience could be as devastating, but a new historical source based on fraternal association records at the IHRC may help researchers in modeling responses to today's situation.

The Ukrainian Fraternal Association Collection offers a wealth of information about ethnic life in the United States during the 20th century, but until 2008-2009 the collection -- which is mostly in Ukrainian for early years -- simply was inaccessible for most researchers. In the past year, the IHRC began translating and digitizing records from 1918 to 1920 as part of “The Ukrainian American Health, Mortality and Demography Project,” funded by a seed grant from the Minnesota Population Center. The pilot database provides a powerful tool for analyzing the effect of a pandemic on an ethnic community.

Infections from the influenza A (H1N1) virus identified in Mexico are now appearing in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1918, a flu virus was identified in the United States, with waves of infection following as the virus mutated and traveled to Europe, across the globe, and back to the United States the following year. The UFA database provides a range of demographic information that allows both multivariate analysis of social patterns and, with the support of manuscript holdings, access to long-term correspondence revealing the context of Ukrainian migration to the United States.

The horror of World War I overshadowed the 1918 pandemic in public memory, but about twice as many people died from the early 20th-century virus as from the war. The fact that the virus seemed to target healthy victims has remained a hallmark of that pandemic. Recent deaths in Mexico have also been among those in the prime of life rather than the youngest or the elderly, but this parallel should not be overstated, because the course of the disease is not fully predictable, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Health scientists have begun mathematically modeling the social interactions of communities to devise effective ways of reducing transmission, and the UFA data can be incorporated into such models.

The UFA database includes information much broader than mortality and health, however. The new data set, available for onsite use at Elmer L. Andersen Library, reveals the crossroads of immigrant life. The level of information for individuals is deep and includes village of origin in Europe, changes in family size, and type of occupation, among many possible variables. Fraternal associations often were the only institutional providers of assistance for new immigrants. The insurance policy records of organizations such as the UFA are a vital source for reconstructing evidence about ethnic communities and migration.

For the 2009 virus, the World Health Organization has raised its designation of the threat level because of recent findings of human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus potentially to spread at the community level. Although the WHO has not advised travel restrictions, the CDC has issued guidelines for travel to infected areas.

As in the opening decades of the twentieth century, global travel has increased dramatically, making a truly world-wide threat extraordinarily difficult to halt. Understanding the global aspects of how diseases operate is important, but it is even more critical to determine the specific patterns of interaction within communities, where containment and mitigation efforts can be implemented successfully.

Institutions in the United States have begun implementing procedures to ensure preparedness. The University of Minnesota is among those institutions with plans in place to deal with public health disasters, whether the spread of swine flu or another threat.

The IHRC currently is working to obtain a grant for expanding the project to the beginning of the Ukrainian Fraternal Association’s files in 1911 and extending, in time, across the 20th century. Digitizing the collection will allow the IHRC to provide individual-level information while putting in place controls for ensuring confidentiality as the project moves forward. The UFA data set for 1918-1920 creates a window for new scholarship with significant public health applications, and especially for careful analysis of historical parallels with the 1918 pandemic.

Global health concerns have provided special urgency for making the IHRC’s vast collections of fraternal association records available, and they can be used for much more than the study of immigrant and ethnic health. The three-year snapshot of UFA records allows scholars to analyze linguistic patterns and literacy, occupational mobility, and the effect of nation-state formation on diaspora identity. As the UFA project expands longitudinally and IHRC databases broaden to include other collections, the value of preserving the records of American immigration will only increase.

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 11:15 AM | Permalink

By Taehohn Lee

These are hard times. As of February 2009, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.6% in Minnesota.

A lot of jobs have been lost, forcing us to live on our savings or take out loans. On the bright side, we know how to ride the waves. This is not our first recession, and we’ve spent our whole lives learning how to navigate around the waters of the US financial system.

But what of those who are new to this socio-economic terrain? There are about 70,500 refugees living in Minnesota, and many of them are finding it extremely difficult to stay afloat financially. Refugees are hard pressed to pay for rent and utilities, often spending 85 to 90 percent of their income on rent alone.

Of course, refugees do receive some support from the government. In Minnesota, refugees receive a $450 one-time payment per person by the State Department plus cash and medical support for the first eight months through voluntary resettlement agencies. After this, refugees are eligible to receive employment and language support from community based NPOs for another four years and four months. (For an example of a community based NPO mentioned above, visit www.capiusa.org.)

Despite such efforts of the government and community organizations, however, many refugees find it difficult to obtain financial self-sufficiency after government support dries up.

Why?

One factor may have to do with differences in the education accreditation system. Even refugees who possess higher education degrees (e.g. recent Iraqi refugees) find it hard to get their degrees recognized by U.S.-based institutions. Naturally, refugees and the children of refugees have a hard time climbing up the social ladder, because they need to first relearn how the ladder looks like in the US.

Of course, some refugees do come with little formal education. For instance, as of 2003 only 23% of minors age 5 through 17 were enrolled in school at UNHCR-sponsored refugee camps. This makes it difficult for students who have spent their youth in refugee camps to complete their secondary education and go on to university and beyond.

Differences in the structure of the economy play a big role as well. As of 2007, the top five countries of origin for refugees admitted to the US were Burma, Somalia, Iran, Burundi, and Cuba. The economies of these countries are based on industries different from that of the US, which causes a structural disadvantage to admitted refugees. In other words, refugees find that the skills that served them well back home bring few dividends in their new home. It is especially difficult for them to initiate entrepreneurial projects, as they cannot access the credit market (due to lack of credit history as well as lack of working knowledge of the system) to cover upfront costs.

The language barrier and differences in cultural/religious norms are also major factors. Such factors make communication difficult between refugees and employers on multiple levels, which sometimes bring about xenophobic actions from the latter. This presents a challenge for refugees to acquire and maintain higher paying jobs. (A recent conference titled "Racism vs. Xenophobia" at the University of Minnesota discussed this important issue in a comparative perspective.).

Refugees, by definition, have fled from a well founded fear of persecution in their home countries. America is indeed the land of the free for these people: freedom of expression, freedom of choice, and freedom to pursue happiness. It is therefore ironic indeed that these freedoms should be shackled by a more subtle form of collective socio-economic persecution from our capitalist society.

About the Author: Taehohn Lee is a Graduate School Fellow in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. This article appears as part of a policy research project conducted by graduate students in "Immigration and Public Policy" (PA 5490, Prof. Katherine Fennelly).

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 11:36 AM | Permalink