The Great Migration
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment.” You can listen to the entire episode here. William Brown moved north from Jacksonville, FL, during the Great Migration. He describes what happened when he asked a Philadelphia real estate agent for a job. Discussion of challenges for [...]
Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment
With unemployment at its highest level in 25 years, we’re taking on the history of Americans between jobs. When did the concept of “unemployment” arise in the first place? Are people more or less attached to their jobs than they used to be?
"Aliens" in America
In a country populated by immigrants, why are Americans so wary of newcomers? What’s the difference between the nativism of the early Republic and and the anti-immigrant sentiment on talk radio today? How do we draw the line between “us” and “them?” Historian Mae Ngai explains that the door slammed shut in the the 1920s. [...]
