September 17 - November 30, 2001

The Immigration and Caricature exhibition explores the role of caricature and stereotype in forming American attitudes about the multicultural development of the United States. It utilizes a collection of immigrant and ethnic caricatures from popular graphics dating primarily from the Civil War to World War I, a period of large migration to the United States.

Many of the pieces were taken from publications such as the late 19th century American comic paper Puck that presented social and political issues through the use of cartoons and short persuasive comments. Joseph Keppler, the owner and editor of Puck realized early on the influence his political cartoons had on American perception and Puck soon became a platform from which he could promote his traditional views. To modern Americans, the contents are sometimes humorous, sometimes very disturbing. Nevertheless, the collection offers great insight into American cultural attitudes and is a remarkable resource for the study of American cultural history.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Immigration and Caricature is the mixture of culturally different people living together. Between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I, nearly 30 million immigrants came to the United States. They created the most ethnically heterogeneous nation in the world.

Not only was this a period of unprecedented immigration, it was also a period of profound changes in the sources and nature of that immigration. Up until a few decades before the 20th century, American immigrants had come primarily from northern Europe-Great Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia. Thereafter, as the disruptive effects of the industrial revolution spread, Italy and the multi-ethnic empires of Eastern Europe became the primary sources of immigrants.

This was also a period of changing attitudes regarding the place of ethnic groups in America. Earlier, the attitude had been predominantly one of Anglo-conformity-rapid and complete assimilation to the English-speaking core who had achieved cultural and political hegemony. Toward the end of this period, more progressive thinkers responded with the model of the Melting-Pot that each group of immigrants contributed to the creation of a unique American culture.

Visual caricatures of immigrants evolved into a symbolic language of standardized images used by mass media and advertising to communicate a message in shorthand fashion to the public. Cartoonists of the period created exaggerated images of specific ethnic groups based on shared, popular stereotypes.

The imposition of a quota system and the resulting decrease in immigration did not mean an end to negative stereotypes and caricatures; however, there were other, more positive themes that began to assert themselves. With the growing dominance of the Melting Pot idea over the earlier insistence on Anglo-conformity, both editorials and ethnic imagery came to focus on the positive contributions made by immigrants. As these groups, and their descendants, became more integrated and as they moved up the social and economic ladder, this became a common theme of ethnic caricature. America as the land of opportunity came to prevail over the earlier view of America as a land of refuge. Some portrayals of different ethnic groups in America came to focus on what these disparate groups had in common, rather than how they differed from the Anglo norm. Some cartoons even presaged the multicultural model of America that would in time replace the Melting Pot concept.

Advertising became a common medium for the perpetuation of ethnic stereotypes and caricature, first in trade cards, later as advertisements in periodicals and on signs. However, in later years growing sensitivities to ethnic slurs eliminated much of this in the public sector. Although many of the ethnic images and caricatures in this exhibition may appear archaic or out-dated to Americans in the 21st century, several parallels can be drawn to modern satires such as the popular sitcoms All in the family and The Simpsons or the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. This exhibition reminds us that Americans must reject modern-day stereotypes as exaggerations that underestimate the complexity and capabilities of people.

"Immigration and Caricature: Ethnic Images from the Appel Collection," is a traveling exhibit organized by Michigan State University Museum.