Immigration and Industry in New York
Suggested Teaching Instructions
NYS Social Studies Framework
8.8 DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE: After World War II, the population of the United States rose sharply as a result of both natural increases and immigration. Population movements have resulted in changes to the American landscape and shifting political power. An aging population is affecting the economy and straining public resources. (Standards: 1, 3, 4, 5; Themes: ID, GEO, SOC, GOV, ECO)
8.8b The postwar United States experienced increasing immigration, debates over immigration policy, and an increase in cultural diversity.
Students will examine migration and immigration trends in New York State and New York City such as the increase in Spanish-speaking, South Asian, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and African populations and the contributions of these groups.
Related documents and images: Chinatown sweatshops—experiences of immigrant women in the workforce, both difficulties and advantages
Photograph, Woman sewing at a garment factory on Canal St., 1984, Collection of the Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA) https://mocanyc.pastperfectonline.com/media/4E79EE42-0B88-4AC3-8FE8-491154082246
Photograph, Two women in a Smart Parts garment factory, 1979-82, Collection of the Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA) https://mocanyc.pastperfectonline.com/media/7EE26203-5ACA-4FB8-925F-409278403179
Photograph, An old woman in a garment factory, 1984, Collection of the Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA) https://mocanyc.pastperfectonline.com/media/4ADF6EE8-9992-47E6-8D87-059431045430
Photograph, protesters in NYC’s Chinatown, Local 23-25 ILGWU AFL- CIO, Collection of the Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA) https://mocanyc.pastperfectonline.com/Photo/618A364F-5E67-4F31-B12A-493839371418
Other reading & resources:
“Artifact NY: Industrial Sewing Machine,” Ashley Hopkins-Benton, New York History, Volume 104, Number 1, Summer 2023, page 184.
https://considerthesource.s3.amazonaws.com/1117/0965/0883/Hopkins-Benton.pdf
American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods, Bonnie Tsui, New York: Free Press, 2009, part II. [not digitized]
“The Geographical Movement of Chinese Garment Shops: A Late-Twentieth Century Tale of the New York Garment Industry,” Xiaolan Bao, in A Coat of Many Colors: Immigration, Globalism, and Reform in the New York City Garment Industry, ed. Daniel Soyer, New York: Fordham University Press, 2005, pages 67-87.
Empire State Engagements, No 21 (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQjvnVfi9_s