Ellis Island and New York are associated with large-scale European immigration while Angel Island and California are more often associated with Asian immigration. How does our understanding of Asian American history change when we shift our focus to Ellis Island and to New York? Why did Asian immigrants come to Ellis Island and New York? At the same time, how does our understanding of Ellis Island change when we view it from the perspectives of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans? Why were Japanese New Yorkers being interned on Ellis Island during World War II? If you have ever wondered about these questions, join us for an accessible exploration of Asian migration, exclusion, detention and deportation at Ellis Island.

Anna Pegler-Gordon is a Professor at Michigan State University, where she teaches in the Asian Pacific American Studies Program and in the James Madison College, an undergraduate residential college specializing in the interdisciplinary study of public policy and public affairs. Before coming to MSU, she worked in museums, including at the National Museum of American History. Her areas of expertise include Asian American history, immigration policy, and U.S. ethnic and immigration history. Her first book, In Sight of America: Photography and the Development of U.S. Immigration Policy (University of California Press, 2009), won the Immigration and Ethnic History Society 2009 Theodore Saloutos Book Award. Her second book, Closing the Golden Door: Asian Migration and the Hidden History of Exclusion at Ellis Island (University of North Carolina Press), received an honorable mention from the Association for Asian American Studies.

Pegler-Gordon received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s American Studies program, her M.A. from Brown University in American Civilization and Museum Studies, and her undergraduate degree from Cambridge University in English Literature. She has received fellowships for her teaching and research, including national awards from the Organization of American Historians, the Japanese Association for American Studies, and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society. At MSU, she received a Teacher-Scholar award, a Lilly Teaching Fellowship, and various research grants. She has also worked as a consultant for the state Library of Michigan and served as Michigan’s state scholar for the Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition, Journey Stories.