A Longtime, Mutually-Rewarding History Continues
By Donald Gilpin | Photographs courtesy of the Institute for Advanced Study
The United States is a country of immigrants, but the question of immigrants and immigration has never been without controversy. It has been especially dominant in the national media during the past two years. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” wrote Emma Lazarus in an 1883 poem to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. Long before 1883 and in the 135 years since, immigrants, from refugees in direst poverty to students, entrepreneurs, and the most prosperous, have helped to shape the country and have permeated its civic and political dialogue.
