Black Diamond NOW

Immigrants Building the West

As the U.S. Government aggressively pursued settling of the West beginning with Congressional action to pass the landmark Homestead and Railroad Acts of 1862, recruiting of immigrants from Europe and elsewhere to come to the U.S. became a significant business.  Brochures were distributed and agents dispatched.  To speed building of the trancontinental railways, the railroads recruited Chinese laborers to come to the U.S. - hard workers willing to do work that others would not.  Xenophobia and bigotry eventually halted this source of immigrant labor in the 1930s but the contribution made by Chinese immigrants during the late 1800's and early 1900's should not be understated.

The timber industry also relied heavily on immigrant labor in the woods and mills - typically doing the least desirable and most dangerous of jobs.  The following photo taken in 1929 tells the story.  This shows a No Smoking sign posted at the Long Bell Lumber Company mill in Longview (later owned by Weyerhaeuser Co.)

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, AEP-WAS24, Charles Chamberlane photographer, circa 1929

Immigrants from all over the world built the Pacific Northwest and continue to provide the back-breaking labor required by our state's ag industry even today.  Same need as history - different languages.

Land Grant Institutions - A Brief History

1862 represents a time of perhaps the most Activist Government our country has seen as Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Congress passed landmark legislation that "shaped" the West.  This includes the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act of 1862.  The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 were further pieces to the puzzle, creating the establishment of Land Grant Colleges.

What is a Land Grant College?  Quoting from WSU:

"A land-grant college or university is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. The original mission of these institutions, as set forth in the first Morrill Act, was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so that members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. Over the years, land-grant status has implied several types of federal support. The first Morrill Act provided grants in the form of federal lands to each state for the establishment of a public institution to fulfill the act's provisions. At different times money was appropriated through legislation such as the second Morrill Act and the Bankhead-Jones Act, although the funding provisions of these acts are no longer in effect.

Today, the Nelson Amendment to the Morrill Act provides a permanent annual appropriation of $50,000 per state and territory. A key component of the land-grant system is the agricultural experiment station program created by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Hatch Act authorized direct payment of federal grant funds to each state to establish an agricultural experiment station in connection with the land-grant institution there. The amount of this appropriation varies from year to year and is determined for each state through a formula based on the number of small farmers there. A major portion of the federal funds must be matched by the state."

Since Washington State University represents our state's sole Land Grant institution, how could I resist posting this?  This birds eye view of the Washington State College campus circa 1940 brings back lots of memories.

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, CUR1635, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1940

The campus had certainly grown by the time Judy and I made it to Pullman, but there is so much of this history and this campus that remains today.  Love it.  Still traces of my blood left on the turf at Martin Stadium and in Bohler Gym.  Go Cougs!