The American Immigrants’ Protective League’s Aid Thought And Practice In The Early Twentieth Century

In the early 20 th century,with the further growth of the number of immigrants in the United States,the immigration problems and the social ills derived from them received more and more attention.Immigration was inevitably regarded as the focus of the social problems in the United States,and nativism gradually developed,which provided the soil for the voice to restrict immigration.At the same time,nativism opponents were developing a progressive movement in major cities to cure America’s "industrial civilization syndrome," many of them were sympathetic to immigrants.They were optimistic about immigration and progressive,on the one hand,they were fighting nativism denigration of immigrants,on the other hand,they were confident that they could promote assimilation of immigrants through a series of reforms to help immigrants,so as to solve social problems related to immigration.Born at a time of rising nativism,the Immigrants’ Protective League was also an outgrowth of the Labor and Settlement movements of the Progressive Movement,particularly under the influence of Hull House,a prominent Chicago Settlement.In1908,organized by Jane Addams,Grace Abbott and others,the League was proclaimed at Hull House.The newly formed League soon began work of support and protection for the immigrants in public opinion and communities.The confrontation between League and nativist ran through the whole process.Influenced by Addams,Grace proposed "American Internationalism",which advocated respecting the differentiation of different social and political environments and accepting the harmonious life of various ethnic groups in the world.Although idealistic,the League proved its viability in immigrant communities and gradually became an ideological weapon against nativism.During the Progressive Movement,the League’s rescue activities for immigrants mainly had three aspects.The first was to help immigrant women,to clean up the chaos of immigrant trains and train stations,and finally to promote the Chicago Immigration Station,which had been the goal of the League since its inception.Secondly,during this period of time,the League conducted a long-term survey of immigrant communities in the form of "visits",and carried out a series of actions aimed at various problems in the community,including immigrants’ difficulties and problems in housing,education,money,employment,health and other aspects.Finally,after the outbreak of World War I,the focus of the League’s work turned to immigrant communities,and the center of the League’s rescue activities also began to change into a series of special wartime immigration issues.In sum,as a witness to the rescue activities of immigrants in the Progressive Era,the League’s protection of immigrants is not limited to the criticism and debate of nativist,but also acted as a key link of cooperation among federal,state and urban communities.It brought the concept of "Cultural Pluralism" into reality,and successfully enabled the government to use its public resources to intervene in the governance of immigration issues.It pointed out a feasible way for non-governmental organizations or institutions to deal with similar social problems in the future.