(The national perspective is excerpted from Out of Many, One - A History of the Immigration and Refugee Services of America * Network, 1998, IRSA, by Margi Dunlap and Nicholas Montalto)


In the first two decades of the last century, 15 million people immigrated to the United States, the highest level of immigration since the birth of the republic. The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) recognized the need for specialized services for the foreign-born, creating a department of Immigrant and Foreign Communities to oversee field office projects called International Institutes. Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago, a predecessor of the affiliated agency there today, created a model for meeting immigrant needs: it was located in an immigrant neighborhood, provided social and humanitarian services, taught English, and created opportunities for cultural expression and civic growth.

Edith Terry Bremer, learning from this model, started the first International Institute in New York City in 1911. By 1925, there were 55 International Institutes in the United States, primarily in the industrial northeast, Midwest, and in California, which already led the nation in immigrant population, with 52 percent of Californians being immigrants and their children.

Today, these pioneers are joined by immigrant-serving projects in Travelers and Immigrants Aid Societies, YMCAs, Nationalities Service Centers, and others to form the US Committee for Refugees & Immigrants (USCRI) partnership of organizations.

In the early years of the International Institute movement, three themes coalesced to become its guiding principles. They endure today.

* IRSA changes its name to US Committee for Refugees & Immigrants (USCRI) in 2004

Promoting Ethnic Identity & Leadership