Use the above window to search all fields. Otherwise, search individual fields below.
Please note: In many of the bibliographic records, MKI has not used umlauts (ä, ö, ü) or the letter ß. Try searching both for umlauts and for ae, oe, or ue, and ss.
| Format | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Creator | Metraux, Guy Serge |
| Title | Social and Cultural Aspects of Swiss Immigration into the United States in the Nineteenth Century |
| Dissertation Note (type -- academic institution) | Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- Yale University |
| Date | 1949 |
| Extent of Work | 358 pp. |
| Abstract | Swiss emigration in the nineteenth century was one of the consequences of the economic changes that took place in Switzerland as a result of industrial and agricultural crises. It was not provoked by political or religious persecutions. Swiss emigrants came to the United States in larger numbers than to other countries. Availability of land and opportunities for work in industry were the main attractions. It was, however, a relatively small immigration movement. Swiss immigrants were farmers, skilled workers, tradesmen and, in some cases, members of the liberal professions. Until the late 1870's it was largely a family immigration. The educational level of immigrants was relatively high. Improved lands were usually selected by Swiss farmers who settled primarily in the Middlewestern states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, while skilled workers settled in the Eastern states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The large Swiss immigration into California took place in the late nineteenth and during the first decades of the twentieth century. Until late in the century emigration was highly organized: emigration associations in Switzerland sponsored the foundation or "colonies" in different parts of the world. Immigrants joining such a colony had to subscribe to statutes and abide by certain rules of social organization. Features of Swiss communal organization were generally embodied in these statutes and constitutions. Vevay in Indiana (1802), New Glarus in Wisconsin (1845), Tell City in Indiana (1802), Bernstadt in Kentucky (1881) were originally colonies. The slow aggregation of Swiss people within one area as a consequence of the presence there of some one who would help them to establish themselves and whose letters and propaganda attracted people, led to the creation of "settlements." Features of Swiss social organization survived there although there was no charter to give a formal character. Association and cooperation which were in evidence in "colonies" and "settlements" played a role among individual immigrants in the form of associations for welfare (benevolence and mutual aid), for sports (gymnastics and marksmanship), and art (singing). Among farmers there were also agricultural societies. Swiss immigration was associative and cooperative to an unusual degree, and these tendencies were brought from Switzerland where natural and economic conditions made these traits essential for survival. |
| Notes | UMI, printed in 1988. Book, in MadCat. |
| Call Number | MKI JV8281 M47 1949a; shelved with MKI dissertations |
| MKI Terms | Switzerland/ Immigrants/ 19th century/ Settlements |