In 'The Guarded Gate', Daniel Okrent unveils the fascinating and turbulent history of American immigration during the early 20th century. The narrative delves into the societal fears and prejudices that led to the implementation of restrictive immigration policies. Okrent intricately weaves personal stories with political machinations, highlighting the human cost of exclusion. As he reveals the interplay between eugenics and national identity, readers are left questioning the very notion of belonging. This gripping exploration of a pivotal era will challenge your understanding of America's immigrant legacy.
By Daniel Okrent
Published: 2019
"In a society where fear and prejudice loom large, the true measure of humanity lies in our willingness to embrace the unknown, forging connections where walls once stood."
NAMED ONE OF THE “100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE YEAR” BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “An extraordinary book, I can’t recommend it highly enough.” –Whoopi Goldberg, The View By the widely celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Last Call—the powerful, definitive, and timely account of how the rise of eugenics helped America close the immigration door to “inferiors” in the 1920s. A forgotten, dark chapter of American history with implications for the current day, The Guarded Gate tells the story of the scientists who argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, providing the intellectual justification for the harshest immigration law in American history. Brandished by the upper class Bostonians and New Yorkers—many of them progressives—who led the anti-immigration movement, the eugenic arguments helped keep hundreds of thousands of Jews, Italians, and other unwanted groups out of the US for more than 40 years. Over five years in the writing, The Guarded Gate tells the complete story from its beginning in 1895, when Henry Cabot Lodge and other Boston Brahmins launched their anti-immigrant campaign. In 1921, Vice President Calvin Coolidge declared that “biological laws” had proven the inferiority of southern and eastern Europeans; the restrictive law was enacted three years later. In his characteristic style, both lively and authoritative, Okrent brings to life the rich cast of characters from this time, including Lodge’s closest friend, Theodore Roosevelt; Charles Darwin’s first cousin, Francis Galton, the idiosyncratic polymath who gave life to eugenics; the fabulously wealthy and profoundly bigoted Madison Grant, founder of the Bronx Zoo, and his best friend, H. Fairfield Osborn, director of the American Museum of Natural History; Margaret Sanger, who saw eugenics as a sensible adjunct to her birth control campaign; and Maxwell Perkins, the celebrated editor of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. A work of history relevant for today, The Guarded Gate is an important, insightful tale that painstakingly connects the American eugenicists to the rise of Nazism, and shows how their beliefs found fertile soil in the minds of citizens and leaders both here and abroad.
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“In a society where fear and prejudice loom large, the true measure of humanity lies in our willingness to embrace the unknown, forging connections where walls once stood.”
The Guarded Gate
By Daniel Okrent
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Daniel Okrent is an esteemed American author, editor, and historian, known for his engaging narrative style and insightful presentations of historical events. Okrent has authored notable works, including 'Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition,' which explores the complexities of the Prohibition era, and 'The Guarded Gate,' a critical examination of immigration policies in early 20th-century America. His writing often blends meticulous research with a narrative-driven approach, making complex subjects accessible and compelling to a broad audience. In addition to his literary contributions, Okrent has also served as the public editor for The New York Times and has made significant contributions to the field of journalism.
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