The Many Faces The Many Faces of Boston of Boston A Broad-brush History of A Broad-brush History of Boston’s Immigrant Heritage Boston’s Immigrant Heritage
The Many Faces of Boston
Nov 16, 2014
Brief history of immigrants and immigrant communities in Boston.
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The Many Faces The Many Faces of Bostonof BostonA Broad-brush History of A Broad-brush History of
Boston’s Immigrant HeritageBoston’s Immigrant Heritage
The original residents of Massachusetts
Tens of thousands of Native Americans lived in Massachusetts.
Initial contact with Europeans brought new diseases that wiped out 90% of the population in 1616 and 1617.
Today, the 2,000 or so surviving Wampanoag descendants still live in Plymouth county.
First Europeans Settle in Massachusetts
Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, sail for the New World and establish a colony in Plymouth in 1620.
Puritans arrive in 1630 and settle in what will soon become the City of Boston.
1620
First Africans are brought to Boston by force
Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were the first colonies to authorize slavery through legislation.
Boston later became one of the important centers of the abolitionist movement.
In 1781, Massachusetts was the first state to abolish slavery.
1638
French Huguenots and Scots Seek Freedom
Boston seen as a place of religious freedom for many Protestant groups persecuted in Europe.
Some Huguenots anglicize their names as they assimilate, like Apollis Rivoire, father of Paul Revere.
1715
Boston History & Innovation Collaborative© for We Are Boston
The first Chinese student brought to Boston by
missionaries graduates and goes to Yale
Yung Wing graduated from Yale in 1854. The he went back to China and persuaded the government to sponsor
students annually to study in America.
Boston's Chinatown was formed in the 1870's after the completion of the transcontinental railroad brought former
workers to the East Coast.
1847
Whaling industry attracts new migration
Cape Verdeans migrate to the United States to work in the whaling industry.
Today, 2 Massachusetts colleges- Roxbury Community College and Bridgewater State College- are headed by
Cape Verdeans.
1850’s
W.E.B. DuBois is the first African-American to receive a
Ph.D. from Harvard In 1912, W.E.B. DuBois establishes the Boston Branch
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the first official and now the
oldest branch in the country.
1895
U.S. troops invade Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-American-Cuban WarThe Census in 1860 and 1880 showed only three Puerto
Rican living in Boston.
After the war, Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico, which later became a United States Territory with
Commonwealth status.
1898
More and more immigrants drawn to the American Dream
From 1895 we see waves of Italians, Greeks, Russian Jews, Armenians, Polish, French and English Canadians -small number of immigrants also come from Jamaica and
Barbados, and Chinese from California.
In 1900, 32% of Massachusetts residents –and 41% of the workforce- are immigrants.
1900
Jones-Shafroth Act confers U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans
In 1988, Nelson Merced becomes the first Puerto Rican and Latino/a elected to State-wide office in
Massachusetts.
Today, Puerto Ricans are the third largest ancestry group in the City of Boston, behind Irish and Italians.
1917
New Immigration Laws Close the Gates
The next four decades are characterized by very low levels of immigration.
1925
Martin Luther King, Jr. receives a Ph.D. from Boston
University. In April 1965, Dr. King led a march from Roxbury to the Boston Common to protest school segregation in Boston. Dr. King spoke at the State House and two months later
the legislature passed The Racial Imbalance Act requiring school desegregation.
1955
Haitians migrate to escape the rule of “Papa Doc”
DuvalierToday, Haitians are the 9th largest ancestry group in
Massachusetts and simultaneously make up almost 10% of Boston’s New Bostonian population.
1960
Boston becomes home to many groups
After 1965 the gates open to the entire world and we see more Latin Americans, Caribbean Islanders, Southeast Asians, West Indians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Thai,
Koreans and many more.
1965
Vietnamese refugees settle in the Boston area in the 1980s
In the early 1990s, Vietnam allowed its former political prisoners to leave the country.
By 2000, the Vietnamese community numbered 10,000, mostly in settled in Dorchester.
1985
Brazil becomes the largest source of immigrants to
MassachusettsFrom 2000 to 2003 nearly 1 out of 5 immigrants entering
the Commonwealth was Brazilian.
2000
Minority groups have become Boston’s new “majority”
Latinos, Asians, African Americans, together with other minorities make up 50.5% of the city’s total population.
2000
People from more than 100 countries call Boston
home.Irish, Italians and Puerto Ricans are still the largest ancestry groups in the City.
Haitians, Dominicans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Salvadorians, Cape Verdeans, Jamaicans and Colombians
make up the largest groups of New Bostonians.
2000
New Bostonians speak more than 140 languages
The most common languages in the City are Spanish, Haitian Creole, Chinese, Portuguese and Cape
Verdean Creole, Vietnamese, French and Italian.
2000
Boston’s neighborhoods become increasingly diverseThe neighborhoods that have experienced the most dramatic
change are East Boston, Roslindale and Allston/Brighton.
East Boston has the largest proportion of immigrants, while Allston/Brighton has the largest number of foreign-born
residents.
2000
Despite this, not all New Bostonian’s find it easy to
thrive26,000 households in Boston are linguistically isolated (in which no person aged 14 years and over speaks
English at least “very well”).
2000
Immigrants keep Massachusetts Growing
Immigrants account for 14% of the population and 17% of the workforce.
If not for immigrants, the State’s population and labor force would have shrunk from just five years earlier.
2004
New Bostonians play an increasing role in the local
economyImmigrants spend, from their after-tax earnings,
$3 billion annually.
These annual expenditures generate a regional product of $2.8 billion and $823 million in State and Federal taxes.
2004
Immigrants are entrepreneurs
Immigrants own more than 8,000 small businesses in the greater Boston area in different industry sectors.
Combined, these businesses represent more than $5.5 billion in annual sales and employ nearly 37,000
people.
2006
Immigrants will be critical in filling future labor gaps
76 million “baby boomers” will retire in 2030 while only 46 million native-born workers will have
entered the workforce.
2030
Boston has always been a gateway for immigrants.
In fact, 1 in 6 U.S. citizens trace their ancestry back to the port of Boston. Immigrants have helped make Boston a world-class city. That proud tradition continues today. Our future depends upon how well we embrace the city’s growing diversity.
Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston
The original residents of Massachusetts
Tens of thousands of Native Americans lived in Massachusetts.
Initial contact with Europeans brought new diseases that wiped out 90% of the population in 1616 and 1617.
Today, the 2,000 or so surviving Wampanoag descendants still live in Plymouth county.
First Europeans Settle in Massachusetts
Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, sail for the New World and establish a colony in Plymouth in 1620.
Puritans arrive in 1630 and settle in what will soon become the City of Boston.
1620
First Africans are brought to Boston by force
Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were the first colonies to authorize slavery through legislation.
Boston later became one of the important centers of the abolitionist movement.
In 1781, Massachusetts was the first state to abolish slavery.
1638
French Huguenots and Scots Seek Freedom
Boston seen as a place of religious freedom for many Protestant groups persecuted in Europe.
Some Huguenots anglicize their names as they assimilate, like Apollis Rivoire, father of Paul Revere.
1715
Boston History & Innovation Collaborative© for We Are Boston
The first Chinese student brought to Boston by
missionaries graduates and goes to Yale
Yung Wing graduated from Yale in 1854. The he went back to China and persuaded the government to sponsor
students annually to study in America.
Boston's Chinatown was formed in the 1870's after the completion of the transcontinental railroad brought former
workers to the East Coast.
1847
Whaling industry attracts new migration
Cape Verdeans migrate to the United States to work in the whaling industry.
Today, 2 Massachusetts colleges- Roxbury Community College and Bridgewater State College- are headed by
Cape Verdeans.
1850’s
W.E.B. DuBois is the first African-American to receive a
Ph.D. from Harvard In 1912, W.E.B. DuBois establishes the Boston Branch
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the first official and now the
oldest branch in the country.
1895
U.S. troops invade Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-American-Cuban WarThe Census in 1860 and 1880 showed only three Puerto
Rican living in Boston.
After the war, Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico, which later became a United States Territory with
Commonwealth status.
1898
More and more immigrants drawn to the American Dream
From 1895 we see waves of Italians, Greeks, Russian Jews, Armenians, Polish, French and English Canadians -small number of immigrants also come from Jamaica and
Barbados, and Chinese from California.
In 1900, 32% of Massachusetts residents –and 41% of the workforce- are immigrants.
1900
Jones-Shafroth Act confers U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans
In 1988, Nelson Merced becomes the first Puerto Rican and Latino/a elected to State-wide office in
Massachusetts.
Today, Puerto Ricans are the third largest ancestry group in the City of Boston, behind Irish and Italians.
1917
New Immigration Laws Close the Gates
The next four decades are characterized by very low levels of immigration.
1925
Martin Luther King, Jr. receives a Ph.D. from Boston
University. In April 1965, Dr. King led a march from Roxbury to the Boston Common to protest school segregation in Boston. Dr. King spoke at the State House and two months later
the legislature passed The Racial Imbalance Act requiring school desegregation.
1955
Haitians migrate to escape the rule of “Papa Doc”
DuvalierToday, Haitians are the 9th largest ancestry group in
Massachusetts and simultaneously make up almost 10% of Boston’s New Bostonian population.
1960
Boston becomes home to many groups
After 1965 the gates open to the entire world and we see more Latin Americans, Caribbean Islanders, Southeast Asians, West Indians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Thai,
Koreans and many more.
1965
Vietnamese refugees settle in the Boston area in the 1980s
In the early 1990s, Vietnam allowed its former political prisoners to leave the country.
By 2000, the Vietnamese community numbered 10,000, mostly in settled in Dorchester.
1985
Brazil becomes the largest source of immigrants to
MassachusettsFrom 2000 to 2003 nearly 1 out of 5 immigrants entering
the Commonwealth was Brazilian.
2000
Minority groups have become Boston’s new “majority”
Latinos, Asians, African Americans, together with other minorities make up 50.5% of the city’s total population.
2000
People from more than 100 countries call Boston
home.Irish, Italians and Puerto Ricans are still the largest ancestry groups in the City.
Haitians, Dominicans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Salvadorians, Cape Verdeans, Jamaicans and Colombians
make up the largest groups of New Bostonians.
2000
New Bostonians speak more than 140 languages
The most common languages in the City are Spanish, Haitian Creole, Chinese, Portuguese and Cape
Verdean Creole, Vietnamese, French and Italian.
2000
Boston’s neighborhoods become increasingly diverseThe neighborhoods that have experienced the most dramatic
change are East Boston, Roslindale and Allston/Brighton.
East Boston has the largest proportion of immigrants, while Allston/Brighton has the largest number of foreign-born
residents.
2000
Despite this, not all New Bostonian’s find it easy to
thrive26,000 households in Boston are linguistically isolated (in which no person aged 14 years and over speaks
English at least “very well”).
2000
Immigrants keep Massachusetts Growing
Immigrants account for 14% of the population and 17% of the workforce.
If not for immigrants, the State’s population and labor force would have shrunk from just five years earlier.
2004
New Bostonians play an increasing role in the local
economyImmigrants spend, from their after-tax earnings,
$3 billion annually.
These annual expenditures generate a regional product of $2.8 billion and $823 million in State and Federal taxes.
2004
Immigrants are entrepreneurs
Immigrants own more than 8,000 small businesses in the greater Boston area in different industry sectors.
Combined, these businesses represent more than $5.5 billion in annual sales and employ nearly 37,000
people.
2006
Immigrants will be critical in filling future labor gaps
76 million “baby boomers” will retire in 2030 while only 46 million native-born workers will have
entered the workforce.
2030
Boston has always been a gateway for immigrants.
In fact, 1 in 6 U.S. citizens trace their ancestry back to the port of Boston. Immigrants have helped make Boston a world-class city. That proud tradition continues today. Our future depends upon how well we embrace the city’s growing diversity.
Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston
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