Immigrants

Inspectors examined the eyes of immigrants at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, but did they change their names?

Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants?

On the 125th anniversary of the famous portal to the U.S., history shows inspectors were not the ones changing people's names

South Texas is among the most inhospitable places to cross the border—and is now the most popular.

New Database Helps Families ID People Who Died Crossing the Border

<i>I Have a Name/Yo Tengo Nombre</i> offers a devastating glimpse of those who are gone—and a glimmer of hope to those who want to find them

This Christmas, St. Peter's Square has a tree, a nativity scene and a message about refugees.

Pope’s New Nativity Scene Raises Awareness of Worldwide Refugee Crisis

It's a lavish display complete with a plea for racial tolerance

Love Locks on the Pont de l'Archevêché bridge in 2012.

Paris Is Selling Old Love Locks to Raise Money For Refugees

Putting clipped locks to good use

Making the Case for the Next American Saint

Sister Blandina Segale showed true grit while caring for orphans and outlaws in New Mexico

After U.S. Border Patrol spots their raft, migrants speed back toward the Mexico side of the Rio Grande.

Myth and Reason on the Mexican Border

The renowned travel writer journeys the length of the U.S.-Mexico border to get a firsthand look at life along the blurry 2,000-mile line

The low wages in the neighborhoods around Hull House can be seen in these maps, which illustrate income based on household. Each square shows an apartment building, and incomes are shown on the legend below. Black squares earned just $5 a week or less.

These Early Infographics Illustrated the Plight of America’s Poor

Florence Kelley used hard numbers to effect change

Children salute the American flag in 1915.

The Rules About How to Address the U.S. Flag Came About Because No One Wanted to Look Like a Nazi

During the National Anthem, Americans are asked to put their right hands over their hearts. But why?

Common African Union Passport to Allow Free Movement Across the Continent

The African Union unveiled a new passport earlier this week that will allow citizens to cross between its 54 member states without visas

The cover of Captain America Comics #1, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

Captain America Is Getting a Real-Life Statue, But Some Say It’s in the Wrong Place

Did Steve Rogers grow up in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side?

Would-be assassin Frank Holt, also known as Erich Muenter

The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America

Readers on July 4, 1915 learned the story of a would-be assassin who said he was trying to keep the U.S. out of the European conflict

A Coney dog

The Origin of the Coney Island Hot Dog Is a Uniquely American Story

They also have very little to do with the New York City amusement park

Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon and the son of a Cuban refugee, was awarded the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal at a U.S. Naturalization Ceremony at the Smithsonian.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos Honored at Citizenship Ceremony

The Smithsonian awarded the internet mogul during a ceremony welcoming newly naturalized citizens

Gambian asylum seekers look at a map while waiting in an Italian migrant center.

Report: Nine Out of Ten Refugee Children Travel Alone

Tens of thousands of kids are on the move—and face scary challenges as they migrate

Sikh passengers aboard the Komagata Maru in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, 1914.

The Story of the Komagata Maru Is a Sad Mark on Canada’s Past

Why Prime Minister Trudeau’s decision to formally apologize is so significant

The Library of Congress, where the subject term "illegal alien" will no longer be used.

The Library of Congress Will Ditch the Subject Heading “Illegal Aliens”

Student activists are to thank for the change

Italian City Bans New “Ethnic” Restaurants

Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet, is preventing new eateries from opening that primarily serve kebabs, gyros and fried food

The Super Cao Nguyen supermarket, founded by Vietnamese immigrants in 1979, offers fresh fish to landlocked seafood lovers.

Oklahoma City Is Becoming a Hotspot for Vietnamese Food

Southeast Asian immigrants are spicing up America’s fast-food capital with banh mi, curried frogs’ legs and pho

Ruee Gawarikar's Goddess of Visas is a humorous take on the otherwise tedious and often anxiety-ridden process of applying for a work visa. Accordingly, the style of the work is exaggerated, ironic and dramatic.

What It Means to Live Life Working in the U.S. on a Visa

A piece of paper affixed to a passport is the subject of a new Smithsonian online exhibit

Illustration of the slave revolt in Haiti, and what slaveholders in the United States feared.

The History of the United States’ First Refugee Crisis

Fleeing the Haitian revolution, whites and free blacks were viewed with suspicion by American slaveholders, including Thomas Jefferson

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