National Liberal Immigration League - Unique et importante réunion de 170 documents : ensemble de plaquettes, correspondances et tirés à part d'articles de presse

National Liberal Immigration League
Unique and significant collection of 170 documents:
set of pamphlets, correspondence and off-print articles
1906-1914 | 25 x 29 cm| full morocco
Unique and significant collection of 170 documents from the National Liberal Immigration League. The collection is divided into three parts: the first is dedicated to the pamphlets published by the League, the second recounts its correspondence and the final part is a collection of off-print articles linked to immigration published in American daily newspapers. All of these documents, in perfect condition, are mounted on guards, bound or set in made to measure frames. Except for some isolated pamphlets, we have not been able to find such a complete collection in any American or European library.
Contemporary binding in navy blue morocco, spine in five compartments richly decorated with fillets and large gilt motifs, plates framed with triple gilt fillets with a large typographical gilt motif stamped in the centre. In the middle of first board, the initials of the National Liberal Immigration League and on the second board, the initials of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. Binding signed Flammarion Vaillant.
Considerable collection of documents published by the National Liberal Immigration League, demonstrating the prevailing influence of this organisation at the height of the great migratory movements towards the American dream and its promises. • For the first time, this precious album shows the strong links uniting the National Liberal Immigration League and the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, keen to discover the latest reforms in force on American soil. The relationship between these two organisations, combining social politics and lobbying, are only very rarely mentioned in the American Congress archives.
Between 1900 and 1920 the United States experienced its largest wave of immigration, estimated at more than 14.5 million people, including 1,004,756 immigrants in 1907 which was the record year on Ellis Island. This significant migratory flow gave rise to the introduction of restrictive legislation. It is within this context that the National Liberal Immigration League gets going in 1906.
The creation of the League has its origins in the Alliance Israélite universelle, founded in France in 1860 to help Jews across the world by upholding their civil and political rights. In 1901, Nissim Behar was sent to the United States as an emissary to develop a branch of the Alliance. He finally settled there and became one of the founding members as well as the Chief Executive of the National Liberal Immigration League. The League was officially founded following the mass rallies in Boston and New York in June 1906, which united participants of various nationalities, mostly Italians and Irish. At the time of these rallies, resolutions against immigration restrictions were adopted and delegations were appointed to present these in particular to President Roosevelt and members of Congress. The success of these meetings in attracting the attention of the public, the President and Congress, persuaded Behar and Ellis (the president of the Alliance Israélite universelle in the United States) of the need to create a national, non-sectarian organisation to combat the efforts of the supporters of restrictive immigration. Behar was then convinced that his mission in America was not only to help Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe to adapt to their host country, but also to ensure that the Jewish migratory flow towards the United States remained free. The creation of a non-Jewish organisation dedicated to keeping the doors of America open would consequently better serve the needs and interests of the Jewish immigrants who had for several years already been fleeing the pogroms and European anti-Semitism. Behar's idea is to invite immigrant leaders, American businessmen and other significant personalities to join the leadership of the League in order to convince the American public – in keeping with the spirit of American traditions – of the economic benefits and the humanitarian outcome inherent with free immigration. Behar then convinces Edward Lauterbach, influential lawyer and iconic leader of the New York Jewish community, to use his network to set up an organisation to face up to the restrictions. Lauterbach accepts and persuades several organisations and individuals to join the initiative and to form the National Liberal Immigration League. On 10 March 1908, the League held its first annual meeting during which its constitution and regulations were adopted.
As the vast diversity of documents in our collection shows, one of the highest priorities for the League is to publish publications against the limitation of immigration. The League then publishes excerpts from speeches by members of Congress, brochures containing the opinions of personalities who oppose the restriction and articles from the daily press. From time to time, the League also publishes articles on the economy or other subjects linked to immigration, particularly with the aim of showing the influence of immigrant labor on economic development and growth in the United States; our collection contains several pieces of this type: “Figures on immigration”, “Need of Labor in the South”, etc. There are also several documents from immigration critics, particularly the transcription of an anti-Jewish booklet, addressed to all members of Congress, unequivocally entitled, “Protect your country from destructive mongrelization!”
Since the League does not have a permanent agent in Washington, it remains in very close contact with members of Congress who play the part of true informants. This is revealed by the numerous correspondence reproductions contained in our collection; in particular, they include important letters from William S. Bennet, Congressman and active supporter of the League. In addition to their role as informants, those approached by the League play a vital role of messenger, actively defending the organisation's values in the political field: opposition to the introduction of a literacy test, capping the tax to enter American territory, fighting against the electoral corruption of immigrants, selection according to physical condition...
A significant collection of documents from one of the most influential American immigrant rights groups of the twentieth century*.