Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication 11-20-2008 Contagion from Abroad: U.S. Press Framing of Immigrants and Epidemics, 1891 to 1893 Harriet Moore Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Moore, Harriet, "Contagion from Abroad: U.S. Press Framing of Immigrants and Epidemics, 1891 to 1893." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2008. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/42 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. CONTAGION FROM ABROAD: U.S. PRESS FRAMING OF IMMIGRANTS AND EPIDEMICS, 1891 TO 1893 by HARRIET MOORE Under the Direction of Dr. Leonard Ray Teel ABSTRACT This thesis examines press framing of immigrant issues and epidemics in newspapers and periodicals, 1891 to 1893. During these years, immigration policies tightened because of the Immigration Act of 1891, the opening of Ellis Island in 1892, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892, the New York City epidemics of 1892, the National Quarantine Act of 1893, and the nativist movement. The research questions are: 1) How did articles in newspapers and periodicals frame immigrants and immigration issues in the context of epidemics from 1891 and 1893?; 2) How did the press framing of immigrants and immigration issues in the context of epidemics from 1891 to 1893 reflect themes of nativism? This thesis contributes to the discourse of immigration because Americans historically have learned about immigration from the press.