A Great Many Refugees - by Thomas a Krainz (Hardcover)

About the Book

Thomas A. Krainz examines how communities in the American West cared for refugees during the Progressive Era.

Book Synopsis

Local communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries commonly addressed the needs of refugees, defined broadly during the Progressive Era to include internally displaced people and economic migrants. These communities' efforts to assist people in need created a type of informal pop-up welfare system of short-term assistance that provided for hundreds, and often thousands of refugees.

In A Great Many Refugees Thomas A. Krainz examines how communities in the American West cared for refugees. The ten case studies include a range of different causes that forced people to flee, including revolution, war, genocide, environmental disaster, and economic recession. Communities tapped into their local resources to provide for refugees, and this informal welfare proved--in the short term--remarkably efficient, effective, and, at times, flexible and innovative. However, local communities simply could not sustain their widespread relief efforts for long and providing meaningful and comprehensive long-term aid proved a near-universal failure.

Krainz's examination of how Progressive Era residents cared for refugees uncovers a significant segment of welfare policies and practices that have remained largely obscured. These examples of informal, short-term assistance efforts profoundly challenge our standard depiction of local Progressive Era welfare practices as anemic and unresponsive to those in crisis.

Review Quotes

"In this fascinating book, Thomas Krainz reveals a hidden history of local aid provided to refugees and internally displaced people across the American West at the turn of the century. Examining people fleeing the Mexican Revolution or Native Americans escaping genocide, as well as victims of flood, fire, and economic distress, Krainz untangles the complex factors that generated diverging policies. Krainz's pathbreaking work transforms our understanding of refugee history as well as, more broadly, Progressive Era welfare policies."--Julie Greene, author of Box 25: Archival Secrets, Caribbean Workers, and the Panama Canal

"In light of the modern parallels, A Great Many Refugees encourages us to think about both the definition and the mere existence of refugee experiences in turn-of-the-century America. Moreover, it pushes scholars to think about the legacy of 'reform' in the Progressive Era and to make important connections to the present."--Jeffrey A. Johnson, editor of Reforming America: A Thematic Encyclopedia and Document Collection of the Progressive Era

About the Author

Thomas A. Krainz is an associate professor of history at DePaul University. He is the author of Delivering Aid: Implementing Progressive Era Welfare in the American West.