Dreams conferred on a distant land: The Indian immigrant experience in greater Chicago, 1965-1995

Hira Bhattacharyya, Purdue University

Abstract

This project, bridging a contemporary historical and sociological approach, creates an interpretive model about the lives of first-generation Indian immigrants in Greater Chicago between 1965 and 1995. My methods have been to join oral history with textual evidence, both scholarly and popular. The study begins with the Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, which changed the course of immigration patterns in the United States perhaps more forcefully than any other legislation in the twentieth century. The dissertation assesses the degree of assimilation of Indian immigrants to the socio-economic milieu of the U.S. after 1965 through such categories as citizenship, family, children, workplace, neighborhood and religion. The findings establish that first-generation immigrants came and prospered in Greater Chicago over thirty years. In this process, they constantly encountered the dual forces of tradition and adaptation, and it was their innate sense and conceptualization of ‘Indian-ness’ which dictated these encounters. Having found a fit in American society, they continued to maintain a strong sense of tradition and culture from home. That remained their standard and point of reference. When they had to, they improvised upon tradition and culture. But, being relentlessly confident about their place and future in American society, they were able to create a definite ethnic niche in Greater Chicago. In charting this community, the work considers the intersections between ethnicity and gender and socio-economic status. It also contributes a vital dimension to the history of migration by examining the evolution of the second-generation within the Indian immigrant community, as well as the role of ‘Indian-ness’ in their relationship with the first-generation. By employing materials from the immigrant press, the study also ties individual immigrant experiences to the wider community. While ethnicity thrived in their lives, the immigrants also maintained their commitment to civilian duties like taking part in the American political process. Thus, their identity remained fluid within a world where the local and the global connected intermittently. A rich array of anecdotes accompanied by relevant narrative form the crux of this work and contributes to understanding the creation of a dynamic ‘India’ in a distant land.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Smith, Purdue University.

Subject Area

American history|Ethnic studies

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