The 21-Year-Old Norwegian Immigrant Who Started Life Over by Homesteading Alone on America’s Prairie

In 1903, Mina Westbye Moved to North Dakota to Live a Life ‘So Quiet You Almost Feel Afraid’

In the photograph a young woman sits all alone on the prairie. The sky is big, the horizon low. She is in front of a modest building: a tiny shack of planked wood, covered with tar paper. A flat, seemingly endless landscape of grassland recedes in the background. The house is small and humble, but the young woman presents herself and her world with deliberate dignity. Her name is Mina Westbye, she was born in 1879 in Trysil, Norway, and she emigrated to North Dakota in 1902.

In many ways, …

‘When the Baby Has Colic I Talk With the Grandmother’ | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

‘When the Baby Has Colic I Talk With the Grandmother’

As a Mexico-Trained Doctor in San Diego, Brenda Green Gets the Whole Family Involved

I practice family medicine at a clinic just a few miles away from the Tijuana medical school where I earned my medical degree. But the journey from medical school to …

A Eulogy for a Delano Farmworker

For 50 Years, Esteban Nuño Took Great Pride in Helping to Harvest the Food That Fed Our Nation

When they lowered the coffin into the ground, it wasn’t yet 11 a.m., but already the hot sun had forced many mourners to seek refuge. Some stood in the shade …

First Comes Immigration Reform, Then Comes … What?

Assessing the Challenges Facing a Half-Million Chicagoans

Congress’ passage of a comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill would mark the end of a contentious political battle. But for undocumented immigrants all over the country—as well as their families, …