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Rudolph J. Vecoli and the New Social History: An Appreciation
JON GJERDE
Editor's Note: Professor Rudolph J. Vecoli was former director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota and a past president of the Immigration History Society. The author presented an earlier version of this essay at a retirement celebration held in his honor at the University of Minnesota in 2005. Professor Vecoli passed away on June 17, 2008 after a long illness. We publish this essay now in appreciation of his life and work. It is a sad irony that Professor Gjerde himself died suddenly in November 2008, at the age of 55, as this issue of the journal was going to press. A gifted scholar, he too will be sorely missed.
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THE DOCTOR-FATHER lineage is a line of intellectual and scholarly descent. Scholars can determine their doctor-father (or -mother) by tracing backward from their doctoral adviser, to their adviser's doctoral adviser, and so on. In so doing, they might outline their own connections to a major figure in the historical profession. The concept permits us to recognize on whose shoulders we stand. And it allows us to see how much we differ from our forebears. Rudolph J. Vecoli's doctor-father certainly had a different perspective from Vecoli himself. He was Frederick Jackson Turner. |
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I make this reference to frame my observations in this essay on Vecoli's role in the birth of the New Social History, specifically in the context of the study of immigration, ethnicity, and race in the historical profession. I will first argue that the image of the immigrant is a powerful symbol in American life, particularly in recent decades. The representation of the immigrant is manipulated by political figures as a trope to provide support for their political agenda. The immigrant story, moreover, is utilized by historians, as well it should be, because it is an integral building block in understanding the modern world. Yet I will also contend that this has not always been so. Indeed, the careers of many early historians of immigration were both lonely and underappreciated. Unwelcome in the world of professional historians, these figures were also often disparaged by their communities of descent. Finally, I will argue that the New Social History that blossomed in the 1960s played an essential role in centering the immigrant story in the narrative inscribed by American historians. I will maintain that Rudolph Vecoli was a central actor in many of these developments. In short, I will contend that his historical vision is a world away from that of Frederick Jackson Turner. |
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THE IMMIGRANT TO THE UNITED STATES IN MYTH AND HISTORY | |
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The United States has often been called a nation of immigrants, a claim that is difficult to deny. Since 1820, over fifty million people have immigrated to the United States. A recent count has determined that the U.S. is home to residents born in 155 other nations; certainly the number is higher now. Throughout the past three centuries, this diversity has created both challenges and opportunities for the American nation. In a 1994 survey of American historians, for example, "diversity" was cited as the second most popular "good" thing about the U.S. after "American political ideals." In the same survey, however, "racism," which is a byproduct of this diversity, was the most mentioned "bad" thing about America.1 |
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