Ancestors and Immigrants: A Changing New England Tradition

Ancestors and Immigrants examines the transformation of New England society and culture between 1850 and 1920, focusing on Boston's Brahmin class and their response to waves of immigration. The book tracks how these established families shifted from cosmopolitan tolerance to nativist resistance. Solomon documents the evolution of immigration restriction efforts through the lens of prominent Boston institutions and families. She analyzes the roles of Harvard University, immigration control organizations, and influential figures in shaping policies and attitudes toward newcomers. Using extensive primary sources and archival research, the book reconstructs the social dynamics and cultural tensions of an era when New England's traditional power structures faced unprecedented demographic change. The narrative follows key historical developments including quota laws, literacy tests, and the rise of eugenics theories. This study reveals broader patterns about how established groups react when their cultural dominance is challenged, and how ideology can shift to protect social position. The work remains relevant to modern debates about immigration, assimilation, and American identity.

This book has limited online reviews and discussion, making it difficult to gauge broad reader sentiment. The few available reviews focus on Solomon's examination of Boston Brahmin attitudes toward immigration in the late 1800s. Readers appreciated: - Clear documentation of upper-class New England prejudices - Analysis of how immigration challenged established social hierarchies - Balanced treatment of complex cultural tensions Readers noted drawbacks: - Dense academic writing style - Limited scope focusing mainly on Boston elites - Some outdated language and perspectives (book published 1956) Available Ratings: Goodreads: 3.5/5 (4 ratings, 0 written reviews) WorldCat: No ratings/reviews Amazon: Currently unavailable, no reviews The book appears primarily used in academic settings rather than by general readers, with most citations appearing in scholarly works rather than consumer reviews. Note: Limited online reader feedback makes it challenging to draw broad conclusions about reception.

The Protestant Establishment by E. Digby Baltzell This examination of Protestant upper-class dominance in American society traces the shift from colonial era power structures through immigration waves and social changes of the nineteenth century.

Ethnic Americans by Leonard Dinnerstein, David M. Reimers The text chronicles immigration patterns and cultural adaptation in America from the colonial period through modern times, with focus on ethnic groups' struggles for acceptance.

Boston Immigrants by Oscar Handlin This study documents the Irish immigrant experience in Boston and the transformation of the city's social structure from 1790-1865.

The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics by Michael Novak The book analyzes how Catholic and Jewish immigrants challenged Protestant cultural hegemony in New England and other American regions during the twentieth century.

Yankee City by W. Lloyd Warner This sociological study of Newburyport, Massachusetts presents how immigration altered the social structure of a traditional New England community between 1930-1935.

🔹 Barbara Miller Solomon was the first woman to earn a PhD in American Civilization from Harvard University (1953), and this book was based on her doctoral dissertation. 🔹 The book, published in 1956, was one of the first scholarly works to examine how Boston's elite Brahmin class responded to the waves of immigration that transformed New England in the late 19th century. 🔹 Solomon revealed how many of Boston's upper-class families, who themselves descended from immigrants, developed increasingly restrictive and nativist attitudes despite their own immigrant heritage. 🔹 The research uncovered how Harvard University's admission policies in the late 1800s and early 1900s were deliberately designed to limit Jewish student enrollment, reflecting the broader social attitudes of the time. 🔹 The book's findings influenced later immigration historians and helped establish immigration history as a legitimate field of academic study in the United States.