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Title Congressional Record, Articles of Interest
Date 1 Feb 1949 - 21 Sep 1960
Document Type Report; Press Release; Pamphlet; Periodical
Reference MSIPL 67, Box 2, Folder 18, Series 1
Library / Archive Special Collections & University Archives, University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago
Collection Name Immigrants' Protective League Records, 1919-1967
Description A mixture of newspaper clippings and pamphlets. Report of the Displaced Persons Commission to the president and congress; copies of the 'Congressional Record' dealing with issues such as immigration, citizenship, human rights and refugee rights; an appendix of the Interpreter Release regarding President Eisenhower's immigration message and clippings from 'Congressional Record' dealing with foreign policy and views on immigration.
Series Description The Immigrants' Protective League was founded in 1908 as a resource for all new immigrants arriving in Chicago. The Women's Trade Union League had overseen an immigration committee for the protection of women immigrants, but the desire to expand the committee's scope led to the founding of a separate organization, the IPL. The IPL's mission was to assist immigrants in adjusting to American life, not unlike the work being undertaken at Hull House. Indeed, it was Hull House's Grace Abbott who served as the IPL's first director, a position she held until 1921. The State of Illinois briefly took over the work of the IPL beginning in 1919, but when the government retreated, the IPL carried on its activities independently once again. The Immigrants' Protective League's undertook many activities. Initially the group defended immigrants against opportunistic exploitation by porters, ticket agents, and cabbies when they first arrived, and against bad employment practices and threats of deportation once they were working. The group also advocated for improved health care, urged fewer federal immigration restrictions, and acted as an agent for re-uniting new arrivals with their families. After the passage of restrictive immigration legislation in the early 1920s the IPL spent much more time providing legal and technical services than it did on its earlier activities. During the depression, the IPL assisted immigrants in returning to their home countries, and in obtaining naturalization papers in order to benefit from New Deal programs. Then, during World War II, the IPL aided families trying to find relatives displaced by the war. In 1958, the group's name was changed to the Immigrants' Service League. It then merged in 1967 with the Travelers Aid Society of Metropolitan Chicago. The two renamed the joint group Travelers and Immigrants Aid (TIA) in 1980, then in 1995 changed the name once again to Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights. The Immigrants' Protective League records contain agendas, reports, memoranda, case histories, affidavits, legislative bills, dissertations, press releases, resolutions, photographs, maps, addresses, statements, clippings, articles, reports, published materials, divided into five series. The material spans the years 1919 through 1967.
Theme(s) Religion, Ethnic Identity and Community Relations; Displaced Persons and Refugees; Politics, Legislation and Governance
People Kennedy, President John Fitzgerald; Eisenhower, President Dwight D; Lehman, Herbert H
Keywords legislation, legislature, newspaper, colonialism, aliens, inflation, cold War, diplomacy, communism, land, citizenship, agriculture, farming, labour, labour union, Second World War, immigration, refugees, religion, employment, eligibility, unemployment, child migration, Christianity, defence, transport, medical examination, visa, United Nations, housing, civil rights, discrimination, Refugee Relief Act, Judaism, racism, quota
Language English
Copyright Special Collections & University Archives, University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago