On May 26, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge (above) signed into law the Immigration Act of 1924, the most stringent U.S. immigration policy up to that time in the nation’s history.
The new law—also known as the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act, reflected the desire of Americans to isolate themselves from the world after fighting World War I in Europe, which exacerbated growing fears of the spread of communist ideas.
It also reflected the pervasiveness of racial discrimination in American society at the time. Many Americans saw the huge influx of largely unskilled, uneducated immigrants during the early 1900s as causing unfair competition for jobs and land.
The first organized immigration of freed enslaved people to Africa from the United States departed New York harbor on a journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The immigration was largely the work of the American Colonization Society, a U.S. organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to return formerly enslaved African people to Africa. However, the expedition was also partially funded by the U.S. Congress, which in 1819 had appropriated $100,000 to be used in returning displaced Africans, illegally brought to the United States after the abolishment of the slave trade in 1808, to Africa.
The program was modeled after British’s efforts to resettle formerly enslaved people in Africa following England’s abolishment of the slave trade in 1772.
Most Americans of African descent were not enthusiastic to abandon their homes in the United States for the West African coast.
On November 12, 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shut
it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since
opening in 1892. Today, tens of millions of Americans can trace
their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off
the New Jersey coast and named for merchant Samuel Ellis,
who owned the land in the 1770’s.
Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shut its doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today, an estimated 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off the New Jersey coast and named for merchant Samuel Ellis (1733-1794), who owned the land in the 1770s. Ellis’s heirs sold the island to the State of New York in 1808. Today, Ellis Island is one of the most popular destinations in the National Park system, with over 3 million visitors each year.
Auschwitz concentration camp, the largest mass murder site in human history.
It was on this day in 1999.
The "El Dorado" arriving with Cuban refugees during the Mariel Boatlift which began on this day in 1980.
Ted Williams made his baseball debut on this day in 1939.
Williams played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball career as a left fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960, only interrupted by time in the service during World War ll and the Korean War. Nicknamed "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", "Teddy Ballgame", "The Thumper",and "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest players in baseball history.
Theodore (Ted) Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002)
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr.(April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005)
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