ABSTRACT
The quotation in the title is inspired by a photograph in Alan Kraut’s (1982: 112) monograph The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in American Society, 1880-1921. Dated circa 1900, the photograph depicts a scene in the departure hall of a German steamship company. Written in German and painted on the wall in bold Latin typeface for all to see, emigrants were offered this thought to reflect upon as they queued to secure passage on a Hamburg-Amerika steamer. In many respects, it encapsulates the themes and issues addressed by this book as well as the situation confronting the future émigré just prior to departure: the world of opportunities for travel and migration; the widespread reach and development of communications systems; spatially-extended communities linked by complex social networks articulated through major global nodes; for better or worse, new migrants’ experiences along the way and wherever they may finally settle; the possibility of return; and, finally, the unfolding impact of each of these (and other) aspects on the migrants’ identities as their journeys are recalled, appraised and acted upon.
