We The People

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 centre 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.

Accompanies We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth, at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture from March 14, 2026 through January 3, 2027.

Author biographies

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 12 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.

Table of Contents

• 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