7 pm
July screenings in the Bank of America Free Thursday Film Series continue Becoming American: A Documentary Film and Discussion Series on our Immigration Experience. This six-week series is a project of City Lore, a cultural center for the arts and humanities based in New York City. It is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of NEH’s Community Conversations initiative, and features documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions designed to encourage an informed discussion of immigration issues against the backdrop of our immigration history.
The National Hispanic Cultural Center is one of 24 organizations selected nationwide to participate in the Becoming American project. The scholar/moderator for the screenings and discussions at the Center is Dr. Gabriel Sanchez, Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico. The theme for Unit Four, presented on July 26, is “Help Wanted: Immigration and Work.”
“If you could get here, you could stay.” In Episode 1, “The Golden Door,” of Destination America, historians Donna Gabaccia and Janet Nolan provide an historical context for America’s long-conflicted relationship with immigrant labor. The film focuses on three groups: the Irish, who fled starvation at home in the mid-19th century and penetrated the urban workforce and helped build America’s railroads; the Norwegians, who came to farm the Midwest when land ran out in their country; and the Mexicans, many of whom were recruited by American industry in the 1920s as labor for American mills and factories, and then expelled when no longer needed.
2005; Stephen Stept and David Grubin; English; 54 minutes; not rated.
Free ticketed event; tickets available one hour before show
