Doyers Street from Bowery, Chinatown

Doyers Street seen from Bowery Street, Chinatown, 1936. Second and Third Avenue Lines, Manhattan. Photograph by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), Federal Art Project (New York, N.Y.). Source: The New York Public Library.

Before the 1800s, immigration from Asia to the United States of America was minimal. During the 19th century, however, the U.S. experienced mass migrations from several Asian countries, particularly China. Multiple factors triggered this large-scale immigration and throughout the 1850s Chinese were recruited as a major source of labor for the mines.