The despicable ICE raids that have occurred in the Oneonta area — despicable is too weak a term — should not pass without serving as an opportunity to learn from the struggles of immigrants who were very much a part of Oneonta’s past. Oneonta, as we have come to know it, was indelibly shaped by a few hundred immigrants who made their way here in the early 20th century. Who built Oneonta? These men and women are an integral part of the answer.
As the 20th century dawned, there was simply not enough local labor to tend the factories, lay the rails, or build the roads and trolley lines around which Oneonta grew. It was Italian immigrants who cracked the Catskills and brought the Ulster & Delaware Railroad to town. It was Russian, Polish, Swedish, Italian and Lebanese laborers who were vital to building the Delaware & Hudson Railroad shops and roundhouse that largely defined Oneonta.
It was immigrants, as well, who built miles of state and local roads and constructed waterworks in nearby villages. Immigrants, then as now, performed the demanding and dangerous work that few others were available or willing to do. Some arrived only to find themselves living in shacks, shanties and box cars alongside the rails and roads they built. Many, including the dozens of Italian men who brought the U. & D. here, were discharged as soon a project was completed.
Immigrant men often endured years of separation from those who remained in the “old country.” As they formed families, their wives and daughters worked in the glove or clothing factories or in the silk mill. Many performed piece work in their cramped or crowded homes. When seasons allowed, they cultivated and picked fruits and vegetables on nearby farms. In short, the industries and infrastructure that drew enterprises and institutions here could hardly have thrived without immigrant labor.
Over time, the importance of these immigrants and their children only grew. Never more than a small share of the local population, Oneonta’s immigrants had a lasting and outsized impact. They started iconic businesses and eateries, opened countless professional practices, entered public service, funded philanthropic institutions, and created recreational and civic institutions that remain today. Their legacy endures. Yet one hundred years ago they were often viewed differently.
Immigrants here lived almost entirely among one another on a just few blocks in the First and Sixth wards. Local newspapers variously referred to these streets as the Italian colony, the Syrian colony, box car avenue, or the crowded district. One article simply directed attention to a “load of foreigners” in the “lower deck” and called for additional police presence.
These new arrivals were considered so distinctive that the 1905 Census defined “Syrians” and Italians as being of a different color or race than the 95% of Oneonta’s population that was “white” and US born.
Even as immigrants performed work that others would not do, they were criticized for sending remittances to their families rather than spending their wages locally. In 1910, a member of Oneonta’s Common Council complained that Italian road workers, known to drink in Neawha Park on Sundays, were making some locals uncomfortable. Another council member shared that concern, but asked how Chestnut Street could ever be paved without them.
As the children of immigrants entered local schools in the 1920s, Oneonta’s school superintendent expressed concern that Russian and Italian immigrants were likely to “form communities utterly remote from anything America.” Later in the 1920s, the U.S. would tightly restrict immigration and the Ku Klux Klan would attempt to march on River Street and attend local churches.
Does any of this sound familiar? Even when history does not exactly repeat, it can rhyme. The contemporary bashing, blaming and banishing of immigrants are the sad 21st century expressions of the biases and bigotries of a hundred years ago.
In fact, today’s policies and practices are perhaps even worse than those of the 1920s. The federal government is now profiling and detaining men and women who are citizens or have work permits, but who look like Hispanic immigrants. Mean-spirited government practices are designed to instill fear in them and among those who are viewed as “different.”
America’s current policy is terribly short-sighted. It will make America weaker by driving out or deterring motivated men and women who have long been vital to America’s success. The raids by ICE and other agencies are examples of America at its worst. At its best, America respects those who traveled far, faced uncertainty, and overcame adversity to work and seek a better life. Now, as then, immigrants are not so different after all.