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We The People
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21 July 2026

Since its founding and up to the present day, Virginia has been at the center of so many crucial debates, including those over immigration. As this book’s richly drawn essays show us, successive waves of immigration have diversified and enriched Virginia in countless ways. On a grand scale, they have forced Virginia to reckon with its racial history, its politics, and its view of itself and the world.
With a combination of historical essays, examinations of immigrant communities, and personal stories, this volume explores the many people who, over centuries, have made Virginia the unique place it is in the United States and in the world.
Julie Maio Kemper is exhibits curator at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Raynaldo Capucao earned his PhD at the Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry in the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia.
Maria Carrillo has more than 25 years of experience as a journalist in Virginia.
Michael Hemphill has an M.A. in Creative Writing and twelve years of newspaper writing experience.
Saltanat Liebert is associate professor of government and public affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Daniel Morales is assistant professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Kim O’Connell is a scholar of Vietnamese immigration to Virginia, and a lecturer of science writing at Johns Hopkins University.
Katrina Powell is founding director of the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies.
Grant E. Rissler is assistant professor of organizational studies at the University of Richmond.
Noah Tinsley is assistant exhibits curator at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Settlers and Immigrants in Virginia, 1776–2000, by Daniel Morales
A Cosmopolitan Mart In the Mountains: Labor Recruitment, Immigration, and Coal Mining in Pocahontas by Noah Tinsley
Blue Ridge Literacy and Ahoo Salem by Michael Hemphill
Rome Daniel’s Accordion, 1901
Finding Community Far from Havana by Maria Carrillo
Salt in a Wound, Threads of Hope: The World of Barcroft Apartments by David Bearinger
Language and its Importance in Building Community by Sushmita Mazumdar
Jacob Stirewalt’s Lutheran Postil, 1837
Displacement and Refuge: The Complex History of Refugees in Virginia by Katrina Powell
The Work of Lita Aarafu: That We Might Know One Another by David Bearinger
The Voice of Sughra Hussainy by Julie Maio Kemper
Khizr Khan’s Pocket Constitution, 2016
One of Us: Virginia Immigrants and the Changing Markers of American Identity by Noah Tinsley
Natural Rights, Canonical Wrongs: Norfolk Catholicism in the New Republic, 1791–1820, by Noah Tinsley
Jolly Capucao: From a Dream to a Condition of Survival by Raynaldo Capucao
Ghazala Hashmi’s Bracelet, 2020
The Commonwealth Enriched: Immigrant Paths to Progress by Saltanat Liebert and Grant E. Rissler
Harrisonburg: “The Friendly City” by Julie Maio Kemper
“Bringing the whole Nixon”: How Dr. Nixon Araúz Draws on His Life Experience to Improve Public Health by Noah Tinsley
Planters Peanut Bag, early 1900s