Russian immigrants

A compelling introduction to the topic, Russian Immigrants spans the period between 1820 and 1920 when more than 3 million Russians immigrated to America to the present. Readers will learn how Russia evolved into a vast empire composed of hundreds of distinct ethnic and cultural groups and how this diversity became a major factor in Russian immigration due to state-sponsored repression on the basis of ethnicity, religion, culture, and politics. A look at Russian Americans today discusses significant contributions by both Russian-American workers and noted individuals including scientists, writers, thinkers, artists, and captains of industry. Numerous photographs and quotes from original source material round out this comprehensive reference. History covered includes: How Czar Alexander II's assassination triggered the first wave of immigration -The contribution of Russia's serf system to early immigrant waves - How the number of immigrants to Pennsylvania from Slavic countries between 1890 and 1900 almost doubled - Russian immigrants' participation in and contribution to the American Revolution and Civil Wars - How later Russian immigrants were received in the United States World War II and the U.S. alliance with the Soviet Union - A description of the cold war. The United States is truly a nation of immigrants, or as the poet Walt Whitman once said, a "nation of nations." For more than 200 years, people of diverse nationalities and religions from all over the world have come to America's shores seeking a new life. Their story is the story of America. Spanning the time from when the Europeans first came to the New World to the present day.

Introduction: Russian immigration: Becoming Russian Americans -- Adventure in the new world: Early Russian arrivals -- Poverty and passage: Flight to America -- New life in America: 1880-1920 -- Russian communities: Lives of the immigrants -- Worlds collide: 1920-1945 -- Cold war: 1945-1991 -- Iron curtain lifts: 1991-today -- Time line of Russian immigration -- Glossary -- Further reading -- Index.