Primary Source Set: Immigrants in Newark
This guide links to a small number of items from our collections to get you started on research. To see many more items view the digital collection. You can also e-mail us or view our website for more information on non-digitized collections. Content note: some of the primary sources quoted include offensive racist language.
From the start of our city immigrants played a large role. Immigration the city gained traction in the 19th century with Germans, Irish and Italians coming to the City in droves (Documents A, B and O), followed by with many other European ethnic groups (documents C through F) and large populations of Eastern European Jews (Documents F and I). By the 1920s Newark had a Chinatown (Documents G and J) and Spanish and Portuguese immigrants had begun to arrive, a trend that would increase through the next several decades (Documents H, L, and R). Cubans and Puerto Ricans came to Newark starting in the 1950s and 1960s (Documents K, M, N and Q), with a large Hispanic community by the 1970s (Documents P and Q). Starting in the 1990s, more Latin Americans began coming to Newark, and there has also been a recent increase in African immigrants (Documents S an T)
 A. Bicentennial of the First Landing of Germans in America, Newark N.J., 1883View Online | Download |
 B. “The Italian Quarters Defying the Board of Health” Newark News, July 21, 1884View Online |
 C. US Census Report of the Foreign Born Population of Newark, 1870-2019View Online | Download |
 D.”A map of Newark with areas where different nationalities predominate”, 1911View Online | Download |
 E. The Ironbound District, 1912View Online | Download |
 F. “Food and Housing Defects are the Subsoil from Which Third Ward Problems Draw Their Substance” Newark News, Feb 2, 1916View Online |
 G. Newark Chinatown Classroom, 1922View Online | Download |
 H. Pilar Fernando Lavin, family, Independence Park, c. 1940sView Online | Download |
 I. Our Life In Our Times (Jewish Community Council), 1948View Online | Download |
 J. Contribution of the Chinese Community to the United States and Newark NJ, 1961View Online | Download |
 K. School Nationalities, 1961-1966View Online | Download |
 L. Presentation Spanish Folk Clinton Place Junior High School, 1962View Online | Download |
 M. Cuban Refugees, 1963 |
 N. The Puerto Ricans in Newark, New Jersey, 1963 |
 O. 40th Anniversary St. Patricks Day Parade, 1975 |
 P. Conditions in the Hispanic Community, 1976 |
 Q. Puerto Rican Recognition Week, 1979 |
 R. 9th Annual Portugal Day, 1986 |
 S. Brazilian Mayors and Municipal Leaders, 2003 |
