One Nation

by Wallace Stegner, Harlan Logan (editor)

A text-&-picture study of eight of the most colorful of our minorities which together make the majority of our people.
Foreword
The Unaccepted
1 Pacific races
Legally undesirable heroes: the Filipino in America
77,000 innocent bystanders: The uprooted Japanese-Americans
From yellow peril to citizenship: The Americanization of Chinatown
2 Mexicans
Okies in sombreros: migrant Mexican crop-workers
Lost generation: the Pachucos of Los Angeles
3 Oldest Americans
Least-known Americans: rebirth of the American Indian
Forgotten villagers: The Hispanos of New Mexico
4 Negroes
Faces of Jim Crow: pariahs of the American caste system
Black wave: the Negro migration northward
Trapdoor in the ceiling: A record of Negro achievement
5 Culture & creed
Crucifix & fiery cross: the Catholic Church in the United States
Eternal scapegoat: When does a Jew become an American?
Spiral of social change

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist. Some call him "The Dean of Western Writers." He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977.

Reviews

[David Doty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book at a rare and used bookstore in Boston, and it was an incredible find, because I'm pretty sure this book is now out of print. Published in 1945, this book is a unique collaboration between Stegner and the editors of Look magazine, described as a "text and picture study of eight of the most colorful of our minorities which together make the majority of our people." Each chapter begins with a 3-4 page narrative by Stegner describing the history and current social/economic conditions of the various minorities, followed by several pages of fascinating black-and-white photographs of the people being discussed. There are chapters dedicated to a variety of immigrant and ethnic groups--Filipinos, Japanese-Americans, Chinese, Mexican crop workers, Pachucos (U.S.-born children of Mexican immigrants), as well as the "oldest Americans" (Native Americans and Hispanos of New Mexico), blacks, and religious minorities (Jews and Catholics).

Not only is this a terrific resource on American history, particularly about the Jim Crow era, it is also a prescient view of the pressing issues that still trouble our country. On the last page, Stegner notes: "In almost every city in America average and everyday people are becoming aware that they need to do something about bridging the gap between racial and religious groups, because it becomes increasingly clear that racial and religious tensions are the gravest threat to the future that we face."

If Stegner only knew how right he was.

[Madalene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is interesting as a time capsule of liberal thinking about ethnic discrimination circa 1945. Full of photos and a pleading that racist Americans just try living in integrated neighborhoods, it is an interesting world to see, pre-civil rights activity of the 1950s and 1960s.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting peek into a certain mindset from 1945.