Alice Winifred O'Connor Immigration Thesis, 1914

Alice O'Connor (1886-1968) was an immigration worker in Boston, Massachusetts. Between 1918 and 1962 she worked as the executive secretary, social worker, executive official, and finally board member for the Massachusetts Department of Education's Division of Immigration and Americanization. She sought to ensure that all immigrants to Massachusetts were treated without prejudice and were given the opportunity to gain an education, earn a living, and become citizens of the United States. Living her entire life in Lawrence, Massachusetts, she was a very religious woman for whom family and friends were very important. Her diaries and thesis document both her personal and professional lives.