Centuries before Donald Trump espoused building a border wall as one of the cornerstone promises of his presidential candidacy, anti-immigration sentiment had already made waves in New York City, according to an ongoing exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.
The "Activist New York Exhibit," which is updated periodically as the city's social movements shift, was first introduced in 2012. Visitors are encouraged to submit stories of activism via Twitter under the hashtag #ActivistNY. Discussion surrounding immigration has increased participation in recent months, according to Sarah Seidman, the exhibit's curator.
While the exhibit chronicles the city's history of activism for economic rights, environmental advocacy, gender equality, religious freedom and political and civil rights, immigration and the city's economy are prominent throughout.
"One thing [the exhibit] does well is show that activism doesn't have to be on one end of the partisan or political spectrum," said Seidman.
The nativist section of the exhibit showcases the rise of the anti-foreigner and anti-Catholic "nativist" movement, which feared foreign influence and competition over American jobs. The movement took off from the 1820s through the 1850s after a large flow of immigrants came into the country, especially in the 1840s when many Irish sought to escape life-threatening famine in their country.
"Prominent men in positions of power were in many ways looking to hold on to the position of power," said Seidman. "You see activists in the highest echelons of the city rather than just some fringe movement."
Case in point: famed inventor Samuel F. B. Morse, creator of the Morse Code and a key supporter of the nativist movement. In 1835 Morse wrote that foreigners were “filthy and ragged in body, ignorant in mind… they fill your streets with squalid beggary, and your highways with crime.” He ran unsuccessfully for New York City mayor under the nativist banner in 1836 and again five years later.
Discussion surrounding immigration is core to the museum's mission, said Seidman. In February the museum opened Muslim in New York highlighting its photography collection of New York's immigrant and American-born Muslim community since the 1940s. The exhibit runs through August 13.
On June 14 the museum will open Salsa in New York, illustrating migration and immigration into New York from the Caribbean and how Salsa developed as a social movement.
The Museum of the City of New York's focus on immigration runs deep in its roots. The museum opened in 1923 by an immigrant: Scottish-born Henry Collins Brown. Brown came to New York at age 13 and went on to become a journalist and historian for the city. He originally opened the museum at Gracie Mansion, now the Mayoral residence. Today the museum resides on Museum Row at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue.
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