Abstract

Our project focuses on the health, economic, and social impact of Covid-19 on African, Asian, and Latinx immigrant and refugee communities in the United States. Our research will contribute to a curated digital collection of news reports, data, perspectives, and other resources documenting the experiences of immigrants and refugees across the country. Created at the University of Minnesota under the leadership of Professor Lee, the database covers the first six months of the pandemic. Professor Marinari and her researchers will cover the rest of 2020 and expand the database to include refugees and asylees. Our goal is to document the current crisis for the historical record and provide a publicly accessible resource for research, teaching, creative work, and advocacy that informs equitable and social-justice-centered responses to the pandemic. We aim to examine how long-standing inequalities influence why and how these communities have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Principal Investigators

Maddalena Marinari

Associate Professor, History, Gustavus Adolphus College

Bio

Maddalena Marinari is associate professor of history at Gustavus Adolphus College. She has published extensively on immigration restriction, US immigration policy, and immigrant mobilization. Her latest book, Unwanted: Italian And Jewish Mobilization Against Restrictive Immigration Laws, 1882-1965, explores Italian and Jewish mobilization against restrictive immigration laws from 1882 to 1965. Along with Maria Cristina Garcia and Madeline Hsu, she is one of the editors of A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered: U.S. Society in an Age of Restriction, 1924-1965, an anthology on the impact of immigration restriction on the United States in the twentieth century. Marinari and Erika Lee have worked together on public history projects (#immigrationsyllabus and Global Minnesota: Immigration from Then to Now, an NEH-sponsored project) and are currently coediting a special issue of the Journal of American History on the centenary of the passage of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924

Erika Lee

Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies, University of Minnesota

Bio

Erika Lee is a Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History, and director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. Lee is a well-known immigration scholar and advocate with a strong record of research and public engagement with immigrant and refugee communities. Lee is author of dozens of articles and four award-winning books including, most recently, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the US.

Catherine Lim

Student Research Assistant, Gustavus Adolphus College

Bio

Catherine Lim is a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she is majoring in biology and history with a concentration in Europe and the United States. Her interest in history stems from growing up in a multicultural family that frequently travels abroad. These experiences allowed her to gain new perspectives and appreciation of diverse cultures, traditions, and histories. Lim aspires to pursue a career in pharmacology and work toward developing safe and effective medications, while also inspiring the next generation of scientists. When she is not studying for the PCAT, she enjoys hiking and spending time with her family.

Lillie Ortloff

Student Research Assistant, Gustavus Adolphus College

Bio

Lillie Ortloff is a junior at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she is majoring in history with minors in gender, women, and sexuality studies and public health. She has taken particular interest in World War II, specifically in the topics of the role of bystanders during the Holocaust and inequality on the American home front. Ortloff has spent her summers volunteering at local museums and plans on pursuing a degree in museum curating. Next summer, she will intern at a museum in Washington, DC. In her time away from studying history, she enjoys swimming with her college team and reading a good book in a hammock.