Memories of Carolinian Immigrants

Book excerpt: This is a book about identity and remembrance. This anthology presents personal narratives and historical photographs that illuminate the diversity of immigrant experiences in North and South Carolina since 1700. The broad focus of the book encompasses all walks of life and documents three centuries of social, political, artistic, and cultural history. The chapters follow historical timelines starting with colonial experiences leading up to the American Revolution, followed by immigrant accounts before and during the Civil War, experiences in the New South, and memories of twentieth century immigrants and the most recent arrivals. The common denominators of the autobiographies, diaries, and letters hinge on the confluence of American patriotism and immigrant pride, coupled with old world loyalties and new world ambitions that reflect the demographic shift from European to Asian and Hispanic immigrants in the American Southeast.