Elgin’s ‘Brown Bag’ series to offer ‘A Brief History of Immigration to the United States’

The Elgin Area Historical Society’s “Brown Bag Lunch Series” continues at noon Thursday, Sept. 12, with “A Brief History of Immigration to the United States” with Edward Bates.

It includes a review of the laws and trends regarding immigration to the U.S. from the time of the Founding Fathers to the late 20th century. Special emphasis will be placed on the presenter’s dissertation topic: immigration from Northern Mexico to South Texas during World War I and slightly beyond.

It will be noon to 1 p.m. at the museum, 360 Park St., Elgin. Sign up via elginhistory.org.

Edward Bates was awarded a Ph.D. in History from Northern Illinois University for his dissertation entitled Disposable Labor: Urban and Rural Agricultural Migrants from the Monterrey Center through the Nuevo Leon Corridor to San Antonio, 1915 to 1925. He is also the author of A History of Herman H. Brey and His Building: 106-110 North Second Street, West Dundee, Illinois, published in 2024. He has been a history instructor at the College of DuPage since 2004 and is currently working on a history of the Elgin Valley Fox Trot, which has been in existence since 1978.