“An acrid odor of the 1920s is again in the air”: The Strange Career of American Nativism and the Ongoing Relevance of John Higham's Strangers in the Land

Abstract

The influence of John Higham and Strangers in the Land on the fields of immigration, ethnic, social, and intellectual history remains unquestionable. Nativism is as relevant to the study of American history in the twenty-first century as it was in 1955, when the book first appeared. Strangers in the Land has endured as an inspiring work of scholarship not only for its substance, but also for the author's commitment “to join historical scholarship with contemporary social concern.” Although he became interested in and wrote about many other subjects after the publication of Strangers in the Land, Higham continued to be concerned about the ebb and flow of nativism in the United States throughout his life. As Michael Kammen pointed out, Higham “remained exceedingly serious about the state of the nation and American society, sometimes verging upon gloom if not despair.” This sense of urgency about the pervasiveness of history in the present emerged in his prologue to the 2002 edition of his book, when he wrote that he feared there was “an acrid odor of the 1920s.” Fifty-five years after its publication, Strangers in the Land still conveyed the importance of its subject and inspired readers to seek an answer to Higham's fear of a resurgence of nativism.