Rebecca Hamlin, Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, and Razvan Sibii, senior lecturer of journalism, will participate in a panel discussion on how the Immigration Act of 1924 changed America on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum, located at the Forbes Library in Northampton.
The discussion, moderated by Bill Scher, vice president of the museum’s Standing Committee, is open to the public. The program will also be streamed on YouTube and recorded.
It has been a century since President Calvin Coolidge signed the legislation, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, which limited the number of immigrants allowed into the U.S. using a quota system based on national origin. It was arguably the most controversial and consequential bill of Coolidge’s administration.
The measure set a limit of 2% of the 1890 census population from each country of origin, favoring immigrants from Western and Northern Europe, while effectively barring immigration from Asia. It capped overall immigration at 150,000 per year. The quota system remained in place for over four decades until it was overhauled by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
Hamlin and Sibii will explore how the legislation shaped America over the past century, examine whether it worked as intended and chronicle how its legacy continues to influence U.S. immigration policy today.
Hamlin’s research focuses on law and immigration politics, and migrant categorization and the concept of a refugee. She is currently researching the intersection between immigration restrictionism and the expansion of Native American citizenship in 1924. She is author of the book “Crossing: How We Label and React to People on the Move” (Stanford University Press, May 2021).
Sibii researches and writes about issues of language, identity construction, immigration and incarceration. He authors a monthly column about immigration for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and is a regular contributor to several Romanian-language publications.
The panel discussion is part of the museum’s Coolidge Centennial series of events, assessing the legacy of the Coolidge presidency.