A People's History of Immigration, from New York Harbor to Little Syria
Tour Guide: Rebecca Manski · Start Location: Bowling Green · 2 Hours
Before the twin towers overtook the Lower Manhattan skyline, New York City was a different kind of world trade center, buzzing with migrants, merchants, sailors and refugees, crowding onto passenger liners and cargo ships, around pushcarts and Customs desks. What did it mean for all these people to "wait their turn in line", whether they disembarked at Ellis Island, at Castle Clinton, or before the United States ever existed? Did this nation ever have open borders?
Searching for answers, we will walk along the waterfront where more than half of America’s immigrants first disembarked and most of America’s customs revenue was generated from wares shipped by sea. Along the way we’ll excavate the ruins of the Twin Towers and rediscover a different kind of marketplace— the one at the heart of “Little Syria”, where some Mediterranean salesmen collected cargo off nearby piers and sold them in dry goods stores, and others readied to carve the first nationwide trade-routes by horse and cart. There in the last tiny remnant of New York’s first immigrant neighborhood, it will all become clear: few newcomers to America were accepted right off the boat, but each found ways to define themselves as “native” to this land, at least, relative to the next wave of immigrants! Still, what does it actually mean to be “native”, what does it mean to be an “immigrant”, and what about the many Americans who defy classification? Come down to the tip of Manhattan and let New York harbor tell you the story of who has always “belonged” in America, how that was decided, and why our immigration system came to be.
Themes Covered: Immigration, Race, Seaport Culture, Public Health, Settlement House Movement, Underground & Informal Economies, Intercultural Exchange & Conflict
Before the twin towers overtook the Lower Manhattan skyline, New York City was a different kind of world trade center, buzzing with migrants, merchants, sailors and refugees, crowding onto passenger liners and cargo ships, around pushcarts and Customs desks. What did it mean for all these people to "wait their turn in line", whether they disembarked at Ellis Island, at Castle Clinton, or before the United States ever existed? Did this nation ever have open borders?
Searching for answers, we will walk along the waterfront where more than half of America’s immigrants first disembarked and most of America’s customs revenue was generated from wares shipped by sea. Along the way we’ll excavate the ruins of the Twin Towers and rediscover a different kind of marketplace— the one at the heart of “Little Syria”, where some Mediterranean salesmen collected cargo off nearby piers and sold them in dry goods stores, and others readied to carve the first nationwide trade-routes by horse and cart. There in the last tiny remnant of New York’s first immigrant neighborhood, it will all become clear: few newcomers to America were accepted right off the boat, but each found ways to define themselves as “native” to this land, at least, relative to the next wave of immigrants! Still, what does it actually mean to be “native”, what does it mean to be an “immigrant”, and what about the many Americans who defy classification? Come down to the tip of Manhattan and let New York harbor tell you the story of who has always “belonged” in America, how that was decided, and why our immigration system came to be.
Themes Covered: Immigration, Race, Seaport Culture, Public Health, Settlement House Movement, Underground & Informal Economies, Intercultural Exchange & Conflict