Some Immigrant Neighbors

In Short

This book offers a pastor's firsthand look at the diverse immigrant communities of early twentieth-century New York City, focusing particularly on Jewish, Russian, Italian, and Chinese newcomers. It explores the powerful economic and political forces driving vast migrations, the difficult realities of tenement and labor life, and the deep-seated mutual suspicions that often divide the foreign-born from native Americans. Written to encourage empathy and better neighborliness, the book argues that through education, institutional support, and genuine Christian kindness, America can bridge these cultural divides and profoundly influence the wider world.

The Story

The inquiry opens by asking who the strangers arriving in America truly are, examining native-born prejudices against foreigners who speak differently, dress in unfamiliar ways, or compete for jobs. It traces the complex push and pull factors of mass migration, noting how poverty, tyranny, and deceptive steamship advertisements draw millions away from comfortable familiarity into an uncertain destiny. The narrative then shifts to specific groups, beginning with Jewish immigrants, whose rich intellectual life, deep devotion to family and principle, and heavy sacrifices during garment worker strikes reveal a people driven by a quest for basic justice. Turning to Russian newcomers, the book explores the background of peasants and political exiles fleeing a repressive regime and an outmoded state church that many have learned to hate. The focus then moves to Italian arrivals, detailing their remarkable thrift and substantial property ownership alongside the harsh exploitation they face as manual laborers under the summer heat. Exploring the Chinese community, the narrative details the devastating impact of war and famine that forced men across oceans, often entering clandestinely, and highlights the quiet devotion and spiritual responsiveness found within mission night schools. Subsequent chapters contrast helpful institutions, such as settlement houses and schools, with the darker realities of injurious employment, overcrowded tenements, and intense social ostracism faced by those who convert to Christianity. The book concludes with a look at the returning tide of immigrants who travel back to their homelands, arguing that if America treats these temporary and permanent neighbors with Christian love, those who return will carry hope, education, and faith back to reform worn-out civilizations across the globe.

How It Unfolds

• The prejudice of difference: The book begins by examining why people instinctively dislike foreigners, noting how unfamiliar languages, customs, and economic competition breed hostility on crowded city streets.
• The great migration: The narrative explores the powerful motives behind mass movement, comparing human migration to the flight of birds and detailing the lure of gold alongside the bitter disappointments of poverty and tuberculosis.
• The Jewish experience: Attention shifts to the heavy influx of Jewish immigrants, highlighting their passionate commitment to education, their heroic endurance during bitter labor strikes, and their fundamental debt to history.
• The Russian struggle: The text details the plight of Russian exiles fleeing state oppression and police spies, whose deep-seated bitterness toward the authoritarian church creates a formidable barrier to traditional religious outreach.
• The Italian laborer: The book examines Italian immigration through the lenses of frugality, real estate ownership, and the grueling physical toll exacted by heavy construction and digging work.
• The Chinese arrival: The narrative describes the flight from famine and rebellion that brought Chinese laborers to western shores, highlighting their resourcefulness, deep sense of gratitude, and responsiveness to night school teaching.
• The role of settlements: The account illustrates the daily work of settlement houses, kindergartens, and gymnasiums in guiding immigrant children who often feel caught between Old World parents and American customs.
• The returning tide: The book closes by tracing the human river that flows back to Europe and Asia, framing America as a vast mission field capable of sending renewed spiritual life back to Old World shores.

The People

• The Immigrant Worker: Driven from Europe or Asia by poverty, war, or tyranny, this figure seeks better wages and personal freedom in America, only to face grueling manual labor, inadequate housing, and pervasive social suspicion.
• The Jewish Striker: A dedicated laborer and family member who endures bitter cold, hunger, and lost wages not merely for money, but to fight for human dignity and principle against unfair taskmasters.
• The Russian Exile: A sharp-minded intellectual or revolutionary fleeing police spies and Siberia, whose deep resentment of a repressive state church makes them deeply skeptical of organized religion in America.
• The Italian Mother: A frugal and industrious figure striving to secure a better future for her children, sometimes navigating public institutions while guarding traditional family savings and customs.
• Guy and Wong Sing: Chinese students in the author's night school who transform from bitter opponents of Western ways into earnest seekers and preachers of the Christian gospel after encountering genuine kindness.
• Angelina: An immigrant child torn between the modern American world of her cooking class and the traditional heritage of her mother, until an understanding teacher reveals her mother's true craftsmanship and dignity.

In Its Own Voice

“The reasons for disliking the foreigner in early times were that no one traveled much and there were no newspapers, consequently neighboring tribes, or nations, did not get to know each other.”

This explanation traces the ancient historical roots of human suspicion toward strangers.

“In Italy I wanted to do but could not. In America I want to and can. I am sorry, but ‘Good-bye, Italy.’”

An immigrant summarizes the powerful economic pull and bittersweet sacrifice of leaving his homeland.

“My greatest enemy is God; through God and the church come all my troubles.”

An actor's line in a Russian play captures the profound alienation many exiles feel toward religious institutions due to past oppression.

What It's Really About

Underneath its descriptions of urban neighborhoods and immigrant customs, the book is an urgent moral appeal for empathetic human connection across cultural divides. It investigates the friction between traditional Old World ways and fast-paced American industrial life, questioning whether a nation founded on liberty can successfully absorb millions of newcomers without falling into native prejudice and economic exploitation. The core argument rests on the premise that legislation, economic opportunity, and schooling alone are insufficient; true assimilation requires transforming social hostility into active, loving neighborliness. By framing America as a global mission field where returning travelers carry ideas back to their native lands, the book connects local civic duty to international spiritual transformation.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in social history, urban studies, or the roots of American immigration debates will find this volume a fascinating primary document. Reading it feels like walking the crowded streets of early twentieth-century New York alongside a compassionate pastor who knows his parishioners by name and sees past broad generalizations to individual humanity. However, contemporary readers must navigate the period attitudes, occasional ethnic generalizations, and overt nineteenth-century missionary framework that shape the author's worldview. Despite these dated perspectives, what stays with the reader is the vivid documentation of immigrant resilience, the human cost of industrial labor, and the timeless challenge of welcoming strangers with dignity and grace rather than suspicion.