THE NATIONALITY BACKGROUND CF DETROIT AREA RESIDENTS*

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1 #1203 THE NATIONALITY BACKGROUND CF DETROIT AREA RESIDENTS* by Harry Sharp, Director, and David Strota, Research Assistant Detroit Area Study Survey Research Center University of Michigan *This paper is based on the following sources: (1) material published in the United States Census; (2) Albert Mayer, Ethnic Groups in Detroit: 1951 (Detroit: Wayne University Department of Sociology, 1951, mimeographed); and (3) Some Social and Economic Characteristics of the Detroit Area Population; 1952 (Ann Arbor: The Detroit Area Study mimeographed).

2 THE NATIONALITY BACKQROtfND CF DETROIT AREA RESIDENTS Few cities are able to claim a more varied nationality background for their residents than can greater Detroit. Over fifty different ethnic groups live in this community and contribute to its economic and. cultural life. While some of these groups are quite small, others are equal in themselves to.* the population of major cities. Among those nationalities with more than 10,000 Detroit area representatives are the Armenians, Belgians, British, Bulgarian-Macedonians, Canadians, Croatians, Caechoslovakians, FinniBh, French, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Irish, Italians, Lithuanians, Mexicans, Norwegians, Polish, Roumanians, Russians, Ruthenians, Scottish, Serbians, Slovaks, Swedish, Syrian-Lebanese, and Ukrainians* European migration to Detroit has occurred in several waves. The French, in the early l600*s, were the first settlers. Approximately one hundred years later, "they were followed.py the British. At least one Italian colonist was also in the community by Austrian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Polish migrants had arrived i n Detroit by the middle of the nineteenth century. Almost all of the remaining nationalities now found in this community had at least some representatives here by The peak movement to the city for a given ethnic group often bears very little relationship to the arrival in Detroit of the group's first representative! In general, Germans and Austrians reached their highest level of migration before the turn of the twentieth century, Detroit immigrants from southern and eastern European areas usually came here in greatest numbers between 1900 and The peak immigration period for most of the remaining groups did not take place until after It Is interesting to note, therefore, that not only were the French and the British among the earliest migrants to Detroit, but they also were among the most recent.

3 -2 Throughout the history of the Detroit area a major segment of its population has been foreign-born. Since 1920, however, Detroit residents i not born in the United States have been forming an increasingly smaller proportion of the total population of the city. This is due both to the virtual stoppage of European migration, and to the growth of -the city, through natural 1 increase and through migration from other.united States areas; - In 1920 approximately 30 per cent of the persons then living in Detroit were not native born. Today the comparable figure has declined by one-half to about 15 per cent. Nonetheless, the 276,470 foreign-born Detroiters enumerated in the 1950 Census continue to represent sizeable proportions of several major ethnic groups* More than 10,000 persons now residing iri.detroit were born in each of the following nations: 'Bolahd, Canada, England.and Scotland^, italy^ Russia> and Germany I As European migrants established homes and families, their children and grandchildren have become vital factors in the continuing growth of greater Detroit. Almost half a million residents of the city are of foreign or mixed parentage. In fact, at the present time four out of every ten Detroiters were either born outside the United States or have a parent who is not native bom. The 3^0,000 persons of Polish extraction in Detroit are equivalent to the size of the third largest city in Poland today; the 190,000 Detroiters of German background could represent a city one and one-half times larger than Bonn, the capitol of West Germany; and, approximately as many persons of Italian descent now live in the community as reside in Verona, Italy. These few illustrations can leave little doubt that the overall contribution of the foreignborn, their children, and grandchildren to the total population of the Detroit area is very great.

4 The large number of foreign-born and first generation residents emphasizes the fact that in Detroit, as in every metropolis, the movement of population into' the area is substantial. Only about one out of every three greater Detroit adults was born here. In this connection, i t is interesting to note that adult Detroiters of Polish background are considerably more likely to have been born in the community than are the adults of other extractions. In a real sense, therefore, the Detroit area "natives" are generally found among the Polish, a group which came here primarily between 1901 and With the varied old-country experiences, languages, and traditions of the foreign-born, and their distinctive periods of migration, i t is understandable that the major ethnic groups of Detroit differ from each other in additional respects. For example, when the members of a new nationality group first came to Detroit they often settled quite close to each other in certain sections of the community. This clustering was a natural result of the attraction of common traditions and the fact that individuals with similar economic resources are found in about the same types of homes and locations. Most of the ethnic organizations, churches, and restaurants discussed below are situated in the center of those areas in which the different nationality groups first settled. Thirty years ago the residential clustering of persons of similar extraction was considerably more pronounced than i t is today. While", some degree of clustering exists at the present time, quite often i t is the older, foreign-bom persons who s t i l l live where their group first settled; the second and third generations have frequently moved into new areas which may be some distance from the parental home.

5 4* There is an indication, however, that not ail nationality groups are attracted to the suburbs to the same degree. That is, persons of northwestern European descent are markedly more likely to live in the suburbs, rather than the City of Detroit itself, than are the members of other ethnic extractions. Nonetheless, in the contemporary Detroit area representatives of almost every nationality may be found throughout all sections of the community, The wide range of nationalities represented in Detroit also has had an important, though diminishing, influence on the social and religious life of the community. More than l^too different clubs, chapters, and associations based on common ethnic traditions may be found here; many restaurants are located throughout the city which specialize in the food of particular countries; some local radio stations broadcast foreign language programs every day; and approximately 200 Detroit area churches and synagogues are attended primarily by persons of a given nationality background. Just as the proportion of foreign-born in Detroit is decreasing, so too is the magnitude of the social and economic distinctions between the different nationality groups. For example, among those Detroiters who are under thirty-five years of age there is now little difference between ethnic groups with regard to educational level. Although the importance of nationality background probably will decline further as a a factor in the life of the residents of greater Detroit, we may expect that much of the vitality and strength of this community will continue to be a product of the cultural heterogeneity of its people.

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