CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – The Kellerman Foundation continued its speaker series on Sunday with a lecture on the history of immigration in Missouri.
Historian Dr. Luke Ritter explained how 19th-century Missourians “invented” an immigration crisis surrounding German and Irish communities.
Dr. Ritter explained how some Missourians, at the time, used social anxieties surrounding immigration to benefit themselves, socially and often politically.
Ritter says immigration is essential to America’s history, “Immigration is definitely something that has built our country. And it has continued to be a topic that we all live with and how we all learn to live together in this melting pot. So it was just a really relevant topic to show how we get from here to there.”
The Kellerman Foundation will continue the lecture series as part of its contribution to America’s 250th celebration.
To learn about future speaker events, visit the foundation’s website.
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