Support
For more information on ways to give, contact:
Peter Rozga
CLA Office of Institutional
Advancement
220 Johnston Hall
101 Pleasant Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
[email protected]
612-624-2848
You Make A Difference
The Immigration History Research Center is a world-renowned interdisciplinary research center. The IHRC sponsors research and programming that illuminates immigration history and connects the past to contemporary issues.
Your generous support for the IHRC is more critical than ever. It enables us to attract, retain, and support the very best scholars and students, even during challenging economic times.
Your tax-deductible gift helps us preserve our nation’s rich immigration history, lead path-breaking research, connect with communities, engage in public dialogue, make sense of current issues, and work with teachers and students.
Check out our Annual Report to get a sense of recent IHRC activities.
The Rudolph J. Vecoli Endowed Chair in Immigration Fund
The Rudolph J. Vecoli Endowed Chair in Immigration History Fund is named for long-time IHRC Director Rudolph J. Vecoli. This fund provides for research, curriculum support, and director-led special initiatives.
Serving as the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History and Director of the Immigration History Research Center was one of the greatest honors and privileges of my professional career. My predecessors, Rudi Vecoli and Donna Gabaccia, had done so much to transform the field of immigration history - building the IHRC Archives and promoting interdisciplinary scholarship. It was daunting to follow in their footsteps!
I aimed to expand the IHRC’s role in shaping public discourse around immigration and to use the digital humanities to preserve immigration histories in new and innovative ways. What I did not anticipate was how American political culture — especially around immigration — would become so divisive during my tenure. Throughout those years, the Vecoli Chair was instrumental in allowing the IHRC to be a leading voice in scholarship, education, and public conversations. We promoted immigration research through the #ImmigrationSyllabus. We partnered with communities on public programming and history preservation through our Immigrant Stories digital storytelling project and web platform and brought that learning to classrooms across the country. I’ll never forget the ways in which my own students became so invested in researching, writing, and telling the immigration histories within their own families and communities. Some interviewed grandparents. Others their immigrant coworkers. They often shared that this was the first time that they had heard these histories of displacement and resettlement. There are now over 400 Immigrant Stories representing over 70 countries of origin in our collection.
The need for this work to continue has only increased. We live at a time when immigration and immigrant communities are once again targets. We need more scholarship and dialogue. And I am heartened that with continued support from the Rudolph J. Vecoli. Chair, IHRC Director Llana Barber is ensuring that IHRC research and programming supports not only new immigration scholarship, but also seeks to support justice, safety, and respect for immigrant and refugee communities.Erika Lee, Regents Professor, Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair and Director 2012-2023
The IHRC is critical to the University, our local community, and the world. Your gift can help support the next generation of leaders and thinkers.