Introduction
This site offers primary documents that can be used as a basis for Americans of different backgrounds to reflect on how they and their ancestors arrived here, and to explore how their experiences intersect with others. We hope that shared examination of historical texts and artifacts of our im/migrant pasts will help us engage critically with what is universal as well as what is unique about our experiences and contemporary debates about immigration. Everyone is welcome to use these primary sources to spur classroom and community discussions.
The symbol of this project is a painting of Ignatius of Loyola’s shoes by Cincinnati artist Holly Schapker suggesting the willingness of Ignatius of Loyola and the early Jesuits to travel to share and to learn. Blending the willingness of Ignatius of Loyola and the early Jesuits to travel to share and to learn and their commitment to the analytic rigor of the liberal arts, we will address our shared and differing pasts.
Supported by a fellowship from the Conway Institute for Jesuit Education at Xavier University.