Partners in Gatekeeping: How Italy Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy over Ten Pivotal Years, 1891-1901 (University of Georgia Press, 2023) illuminates a complex, distinctly transnational story that recasts the development of U.S. immigration policies and institutions. In particular, she details how an asymmetric partnership emerged between the United States and Italy to manage migration beginning in 1891. Starting in New Orleans and traveling through Ellis Island in its first decade, then moving back and forth between Rome and Washington, and finally considering the story of Italian migrants sent to farm cotton in Arkansas, Partners in Gatekeeping tells a history of Italians in America and their impact that you haven’t heard.
Lauren Braun-Strumfels is an associate professor in the history department at Cedar Crest College. She was also a Fulbright Scholar at Roma Tre University in 2020.
Farley’s Bookstore of New Hope will be on hand with copies to purchase.
Wines are available for purchase by the glass or flights.
