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We The People

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We the People tells the compelling stories of immigrants to Virginia since 1776.Over the last two and a half centuries, millions of people have emigrated from other countries and made Virginia thei...
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  • 21 July 2026
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We the People tells the compelling stories of immigrants to Virginia since 1776.

Over the last two and a half centuries, millions of people have emigrated from other countries and made Virginia their home. Today, more than 1.6 million people living in the Commonwealth of Virginia are foreign born.

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.

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Price: $29.95
Pages: 176
Publisher: D Giles Limited
Imprint: GILES
Publication Date: 21 July 2026
Trim Size: 10.00 X 8.25 in
ISBN: 9781913875978
Format: Paperback
BISACs: HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV), History of the Americas, HISTORY / North America, HISTORY / Social History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies, Historical cross-cultural or intercultural interactions / encounters
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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.

  • Foreword by Kim O’Connell
  • Acknowledgments by Jamie Bosket
  • A Complex History: Virginia Immigrants by Julie Maio Kemper
  • 1 Building Community
    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
  • 2 Shared Experiences
    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
  • 3 Unique Journeys
    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
  • 4 Reshaping Identity
    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
  • 5 Enriching the Commonwealth
    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
  • Works Cited
  • Contributors
  • Index