Immigrant Heritage Month
- Leslie Ryan
- Jun 2
- 2 min read
Happy Immigrant Heritage Month! We have celebrated the importance of immigrants to America's shores since 2014. And since is our 250th American Birthday we should celebrate our immigrant heritages in a big way!
MyHeritage is offering free access to all of their immigration records this week from Monday June 1 through Friday, June 5th so we can search for info about when and where our ancestors first arrived here.
The Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, one of the first among many people fleeing their homelands looking for religious freedom and economic betterment in the 17th and 18th centuries. If your ancestors came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands, you may find them in records of this time period. Sadly, this was also the period where people were forced to move here to supply labor for an agrarian economy.
The 19th Century saw large waves of people from China and Japan, brought here to build the railroads, and also in search of their fortunes from the Gold Rush beginning in 1849. Wars and famine brought in more immigrants from Europe, largely to staff the Industrial Revolution in America. We needed laborers in our growing factories and most of these ancestors were from Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain.
The late 19th Century and early 20th Century was the first appearance of American Xenophobia. The definition of which (according to Britannia) is, "Xenophobia is the fear, dislike, or hatred of people perceived to be foreigners or strangers. The term comes from the Greek words xenos (meaning "stranger" or "foreigner") and phobos (meaning "fear"), and immigration quotas were established in 1920.
Have you done a DNA test that shows what your origins are? When does your family first appear in America? Why did they leave their homeland? We have a month to find out before the big birthday party! If you are not a MyHeritage member, Immigrant Heritage Month is a great time to take advantage of their free records, FREE this week!
If you'd like some help getting started with your tree or getting unstuck, send me an email. We will gladly review your tree to see if we can point you in another direction or answer a question FOR FREE! Here's a link! https://www.myheritage.com/research/records-catalog/usa/immigration-travel/catid-4000?tr_brand=blog&utm_source=organic_blog&utm_medium=Blog&tr_category=historical_records&tr_landingpage=myheritage_offers_free_access_to_u_s_immigration_records_for_immigrant_heritage_month&tr_creative=myheritage_offers_free_access_to_u_s_immigration_records_for_immigrant_heritage_month&tr_language=EN&tr_country=US&tr_contentfunnel=web
Stay cool, and thanks for sharing a few minutes with me,
Leslie Ryan
No compensation is received for any links or referrals herein.
No Copyright infringement is intended.
