Historical Race and Ethnography Series Part I: “The Substance of Modern Civilization”

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African, American Indian, Anthropology, Aryan, Caucasian, ChinesePeople, Cultural Anthropology, Ethiopian, Ethnic group, Ethnicity, Ethnography, Malay, Mongolian, Native Americans, Pacific Islander, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Race and Racism, Semitic

English: Ethnic map of Europe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Historical Race and Ethnography Series Part I: “The Substance of Modern Civilization”

In 1911 the United States Immigration Commission published its fifth volume, a report titled “Dictionary of Races or Peoples.” The committee included United States congressmen and senators who were charged with the task of facilitating a better understanding of the immigrant population. They relied on the foremost racial, anthropological, demographic, geographic, and ethnographic studies of the time. In one classification scheme immigrants to the United States, representing numerous peoples of the world, were listed in comparative charts. The first chart recognized: race, stock, group, and people. With the wealth of scholarship and increasing human diversity in America, the government presented the following:

Race: Caucasian
Stock: Aryan, Semitic, Caucasic, and Euskaric,
Group: 11 distinct groups from Teutonic to Chaldaic
People: 38 peoples from Scandinavian to Basque

Race: Mongolian
Stock: Sibiric and Sinitic,
Group: 5 distinct groups from Finnic to Chinese
People: 9 peoples from Finnish to East Indian

Race: Malay
Stock: None Listed
Group: None Listed
People: 2 peoples, Pacific Islander and East Indian

Race: Ethiopian
Stock: None Listed
Group: None Listed
People: Negro

Race: American (Indian)
Stock: None Listed
Group: None Listed
People: American Indian

SOURCE: (Excerpt) “Comparative Classification of Immigrant Races or Peoples,” Reports of the Immigration Commission, Dictionary of Races or Peoples, 61^st Congress, 3d Session, Senate Document No. 662, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1911, p.5.