Scholar John Bieter Traces 250 Years of U.S. Immigration History in a Data-Driven Perspective on the American Dream
Largely based on the big data analyses presented in Streets of Gold, Bieter will describe the waves of immigration that have occurred since the nation’s founding and depict immigrants’ experience with assimilation, wealth generation, their impact on the economy, U.S. policy lessons, and the attainment of the American Dream.

This talk is presented in partnership with The Senior Connection, Idaho Solutions, the Wood River Jewish Community, Idaho Leaders United, MWEG, Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Wood River Valley, and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO – On Tuesday, September 15 at 5:30 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 201 Sun Valley Road E.
HAILEY, IDAHO – On Wednesday, September 16 at 5:30 p.m., The Senior Connection, 721 3rd Ave. S.

Dr. Bieter’s presentation will accurately focus on the immigrant history our country has experienced tracing the four major waves of immigration beginning with the Northern/Western Europeans in the late 1700s through to the diverse global wave post-1965. Based on research provided by the economists Ran Abramitsky (Stanford) and Leah Boustan (Princeton) in their book Streets of Gold published in 2022, Bieter will explain how immigrants to the U.S. have fared across generations, debunking immigration myths with unprecedented empirical evidence spanning 150 years.

Dr. Bieter will also address the Rags to Riches fallacy explaining how most immigrants, both historically and contemporary, remained relatively poor in their lifetimes. The American Dream was intergenerational – the children of immigrants, not their parents, achieved significant upward mobility. This pattern held true from the 1880s to modern Mexican immigrants.

Extrapolating from the book’s data, John will also review the assimilation and economic impact of immigrants on their own prosperity as well as on the prosperity of native-born workers. He will decipher how U.S. immigration policies have often hindered rather than
protected native-born workers with periods of higher immigration historically experiencing greater innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth.
Through the integration of personal narratives and empirical evidence, The Streets of Gold demonstrates that immigration challenges, opportunities, and outcomes have remained remarkably stable throughout U.S. history. Dr. Bieter will proffer that current debates would benefit from this historical perspective grounded in facts rather than mythology, showing that the fundamental dynamics of American immigration – gradual but substantial intergenerational success – transcend specific time periods or ethnic groups.

Dr. John Bieter is a professor of history at Boise State University. Dr. Bieter earned his Ph.D. in History from Boston College with concentration in Nineteenth Century United States History, Immigration, The American West, and American Catholicism. He earned his M.S. in History at Boise State University where his thesis was “Basque-Americans, American-Basques: Three Generations in Boise, Idaho.
Dr. Bieter’s presentations will be followed by audience questions and discussion. Registration is recommended to save a seat.

September 15 registration: stthomassv.org/immigration-discussion, September 16 registration: www.seniorconnectionidaho.org or call (208)788.3468