The Paradox of Ethnicity in the United States : The French-Canadian Experience in Worcester, 1870-1914

The Paradox of Ethnicity in the United States : The French-Canadian Experience in Worcester, 1870-1914

Brief essay that examines the focus terms "ethnicity" and "assimilation" through a case study of the Franco American population of Worcester, Massachusetts, before 1914. McClymer tells how the French Canadian immigrant ethnic group negotiated the persistence of elements of its culture amid trends and forces of Americanization. Study is largely comprised of commentary on the statements of Massachusetts Commissioner of Statistics of Labor, Carroll D. Wright. From the author: "I will argue that there was a symbiotic relationship between ethnicity and assimilation for white immigrants to the United States in the decades between the Civil War and World War I. It is this symbiosis, between social processes usually considered to be contraries, that defines the 'paradox' of ethnicity in the United States" (16). Featured in a collection of essays on American immigration and ethnicity.

McClymer, John

Greenwood Press

1992

English

Book Section

1870-1914, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

D'Innocenzo, Michael

Sirefman, Joseph P.

Book Section

9780313277597

Immigration and Ethnicity : American Society--"Melting Pot" or "Salad Bowl"?

15-24

Westport, Connecticut