Immigration Archives

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico, illustrated book cover

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico: Portraits of Soldaderas, Saints, and Subversives

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Sosa, Clark, and Speed. 2020. 352 pages.
This anthology examines female role models and subversives who stood up for their visions and ideals in Mexico and Texas.

Teaching Activity by Edited by Kathy Sosa, Ellen Riojas Clark, and Jennifer Speed

Fasanella - The Great Strike | Zinn Education Project

One Hundred Years After the Singing Strike

By Norm Diamond

Today’s Occupy movement is a reminder that throughout U.S. history a major engine of change has been grassroots organizing and solidarity. As an old Industrial Workers of the World song goes:

An injury to one, we say’s an injury to all, United we’re unbeatable, divided we must fall. —“Dublin Dan” Liston, The Portland Revolution

Major history textbooks, however, downplay the role of ordinary people in shaping events, especially those who formed labor unions and used the strike to assert their rights. One of the most significant strikes in U.S. history occurred exactly 100 years ago, in the Lawrence, Mass. textile mills, and yet it merits barely a mention in the most widely used U.S. history textbooks.

Columbus resources | Zinn Education Project

It’s Columbus Day . . . Time to Break the Silence

By Bill Bigelow

This past January, almost exactly 20 years after its publication, Tucson schools banned the book I co-edited with Bob Peterson, Rethinking Columbus. It was one of a number of books adopted by Tucson’s celebrated Mexican American Studies program — a program long targeted by conservative Arizona politicians.

The school district sought to crush the Mexican American Studies program; our book itself was not the target, it just got caught in the crushing. Nonetheless, Tucson’s — and Arizona’s — attack on Mexican American Studies and Rethinking Columbus shares a common root: the attempt to silence stories that unsettle today’s unequal power arrangements.

Aug. 9, 1970: The Mangrove Nine Arrested in London

Nine Black activists were arrested in London, England and charged with inciting a riot when they led over 150 protestors in a march against police harassment.

Aug. 15 and 17, 1973: Two Striking United Farm Workers Killed

Two striking United Farm Workers (UFW) were killed on Aug. 15 and 17, 1973, while picketing.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (Book)

Book — Non-fiction. By Juan Gonzalez. 2022. 560 pages.
An updated and thorough account of the role the United States in the mass migration of Latinos to the U.S.

Sugar

Book — Fiction. By Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2013. 288 pages.
Historical fiction about Reconstruction-era Louisiana through the eyes of a young girl who bridges the divide between the long-time plantation workers and the Chinese indentured servants.

Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Brischetto and Avena. 2021. 408 pages.
This book is an examination of the social change of Mexican Americans of Texas over the past half century.

Arise!: Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution

Book — Non-fiction. By Christina Heatherton. 2022. 336 pages.
This book tells the international history of radical movements and their convergences during the Mexican Revolution, reconstructing how this era's organizers found new ways to fight global capitalism.

South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War

Book — Non-fiction. By Alice L. Baumgartner. 2020. 384 pages.
The story of why Mexico abolished slavery and how its increasingly radical antislavery policies fueled the sectional crisis in the United States.

La historia del pueblo de Estados Unidos para jóvenes

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. Translated by Hugo García Manríquez. 2023. 608 pages.
A Spanish translation of the young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States.

A graphic showing a Black hand, medical equipment, and flowers, along with the words "The People's Hospital"

The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine

Book — Non-fiction. By Ricardo Nuila. 2023. 384 pages.
Tells the story of five uninsured Houstonians who are each struggling with life-threatening ailments and denied critical care until they arrive at Ben Taub Hospital, where they find a crucial model of innovative healthcare.

Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park

Picture book. By María Dolores Águila and illustrated by Magdalena Mora. 2024. 40 pages.
The true story of how community members organized a massive protest in 1970, forcing the city council to change its plans.

Jan. 10, 1860: Pemberton Mill Collapse

More than 100 textile workers died when a mill collapsed due to inadequate construction.

Question the Election Sound-bites

As politicians head for the nearest sound-bite they fail to help people think about the roots of problems or the profound changes needed to address them, like climate change and immigration.

Abolishing Fossil Fuels: Lessons from Movements That Won

Book — Non-fiction. By Kevin A. Young. 2024. 264 pages.
Offers lessons for building a multiracial, working-class climate movement that can win a global green transition that’s both rapid and equitable.

May 3, 1913: California’s Alien Land Law Enacted

California enacted the Alien Land Law to bar Asian immigrants from owning or leasing land. These restrictions, and others imposed later, remained in place through both World Wars.

April 10, 2006: Immigrants’ Rights Protests Peak

During a Spring filled with pro-immigrant activism, on this day the largest number of people gathered in over 100 cities in the United States to protest new anti-immigrant legislation.

May 6, 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act Signed

The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, prohibiting Chinese immigration to the United States.

Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth

Film. Graham Street Productions. 2009. 110 minutes.
The story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status.

book cover showing freedom riders protesting near a bus

A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. 2022. 544 pages.
A young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, ideal for 6th through 9th grade students.

May 23, 1914: Indian Migrants on the Komagata Maru Denied Entry Into Canada

Nearly 400 South Asian immigrants — many of whom were Sikh — steamed into Vancouver’s harbor on the Japanese ship Komagata Maru in search of a new home, but were blocked from docking and disembarking due to racist immigration policies.

June 15, 1982: Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court Decision

Striking down a Texas state law, the Supreme Court ruled that “all children, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to a free public education from kindergarten to 12th grade.”

“Prisons Make Us Safer”: And 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration

Book — Non-fiction. By Victoria Law. 2021. 240 pages
An accessible guide for activists, educators, and all who are interested in understanding how the prison system oppresses communities and harms individuals.

Teaching Activity by Victoria Law

Remembering 1882: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Shadow of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Digital collection. Primary documents, historical background, and more on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the history of Chinese American struggles for civil rights.

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