Full Citation
Title: Internal immigrant mobility in the early 20th century: evidence from Galveston, Texas
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2020
ISBN:
ISSN: 0014-4983
DOI: 10.1016/J.EEH.2019.101317
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: Between 1907 and 1914, the “Galveston Movement,” a philanthropic effort spearheaded by Jacob Schiff, fostered the immigration of approximately 10,000 Russian Jews through the Port of Galveston, Texas. Upon arrival, households were given train tickets to pre-selected locations west of the Mississippi River where a job awaited. Despite the program's stated purpose to locate new Russian Jewish immigrants to the Western part of the U.S., we find that roughly 85 to 90 percent of the prime-age male participants ultimately moved east of the Mississippi, typically to large Northeastern and Midwestern cities. We use a standard framework for modeling location decisions to show destination assignments made cities more desirable, but this effect was overwhelmed by the attraction of religious and country of origin enclaves. Economic conditions appear to be of secondary importance to our ethnic measures, even for participants at the top of the skill distribution.
Url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2019.101317
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Aaronson, Daniel; Davis, Jonathan; Schulze, Karl
Periodical (Full): Explorations in Economic History
Issue:
Volume: 76
Pages: 101317
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Population Mobility and Spatial Demography, Race and Ethnicity
Countries: