Humanities desk
< March 6	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 8 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 7[edit]

Immigration to California[edit]

What was the reason, that the state of California promoted people to immigrate there? There were already millions at the time of the campaign (1876) which is pictured. Maybe they wanted more tax payers? --80.187.82.237 (talk) 12:26, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

They want more people. For a long time, that was seen as a good in itself. Be fruitful and multiply. More people means more workers, more soldiers (if needed), more economic activity. As long as production is not limited by land and resources, more people means more surpluses that can be used for things like schools and universities, but also theatres, libraries, and the opera. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:33, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Because California was located at the south-eastern extreme of the US, with borders to Mexico (who retained territorial ambitions towards this region) and a long coastline facing the Pacific. Without a sizeable civilian population, economically and socially linked to the rest of the US, California would have been up for grabs for competing powers. --Soman (talk) 12:55, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

South-western, actually. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:36, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

What taxes do you imagine for 1876? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:36, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Note that this sort of promotional campaign was not particular to California at the time; you can find similar posters promoting immigration to western Canada and to various other "newer" parts of the United States. Sometimes, railway companies assisted in the campaigns, as the transportation of immigrants and their belongings were big sources of revenue for them at a time when other reasons for travel (business, tourism, etc) were not as common. Xuxl (talk) 14:24, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

80.187.82.237 -- "Boosterism" was quite common in the United States at that time, and for many decades afterwards. For a time when California was not so welcoming, search for the "Bum Blockade" of 1936... AnonMoos (talk) 15:53, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Sara Harris[edit]

Hello, does anyone happen to have some more information on the biography of Sara Harris (author of The Incredible Father Divine and His Movement)? --Gelöbnix (talk) 22:30, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

She has authored or coauthored quite a few more books based on sociological field studies and aimed at a mass market (The Wayward Ones, House of the 10,000 Pleasures, Cast the First Stone, Skid Row, U.S.A., Hellhole, The Puritan Jungle, The Sisters, The Quiet Revolution), but I did not find more information about the person than that she is or was a white sociologist and writer, that Father Divine put a curse on her, and one mention of her age. No interviews, no mention of her Alma Mater, no nothing. --Lambiam 10:10, 8 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, so far. Has anyone here subscribed to Ancestry? (U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 - Ancestry) --Gelöbnix (talk) 19:53, 8 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It may then help to know that her full name is Sara Drucker Harris.^[1] (This is the copyright page of Skid Row, U.S.A.) As a given name, Drucker is somewhat unusual, so it may be her maiden name. And here she is called "a former social worker". As a curiosity, here you can see her handwriting. --Lambiam 22:29, 8 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Here, under "Sara Harris - Writer", I find the birth date 29 March 1926. The alias "Sara Cohen Harris" does not fit, so the birth date may be that of a different Sara Harris, but most of the listed publications are of "our" Sara Harris. It is a bit mysterious that it is so hard to find more info on such a prolific writer. --Lambiam 23:27, 8 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

But here (Monday, Nov. 30, 1953) the age of "Sociologist Sara Harris" was given as "34". --Gelöbnix (talk) 11:54, 9 March 2023 (UTC) PS: see also: Local Woman Writes Novel - The Montclair Times, Montclair, New Jersey, 23 Oct 1952, Thu, Page 8.[reply]

So then indeed the radaris.com entry I linked to above mixed up several individuals. From this one clipping we learn a lot about her: her residential address in 1952, the name and function of her husband, her degrees (BA in sociology from NYU, probably obtained in 1939; Master's in social work from Chicago University), her first job, graduate work at Columbia University, and other job titles, also connecting her to Chicago. --Lambiam 15:08, 9 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

But we're still looking for her life dates ... --Gelöbnix (talk) 15:49, 9 March 2023 (UTC) PS: Her last book seems to be from 1978.[reply]

In that book she thanks Arnold Harris, named as her husband in the newspaper article from 1952, for his help in clarifying aspects of the program carried out by the Human Resources Institute. Both are mentioned in this newspaper article on page 32 of the 4 July 1975 issue of The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, which contains, according to Google Search, the sentence "Harris and his wife author Sara Harris will settle in Philadelphia." Apparently, the article goes on to write the couple has two children, David of Newark and Judith Ann of Alexandria. Unfortunately, these are all rather common names, which makes searching hard. It remains strange that it is so difficult to find more online. --Lambiam 21:47, 10 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

"But we're still looking for her life dates ..." --Gelöbnix (talk) 21:58, 10 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]