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Hussein, the narrator of My Name Was Hussein, lives in Bulgaria. His Muslim family takes great pride in their religion and traditions. But soldiers soon arrive in their village and force all of the Muslims to adopt Christian names, thereby inhibiting their freedom and identities.

Margaret Batchelder writes to President Theodore Roosevelt to tell him how women inspectors welcome immigrants—with smiles and encouragement. Although not allowed to question the immigrants, the women make a difference in the immigrants' first experiences on shore.

Jordan's poem takes on an sarcastic tone as she describes the duties, punishments, emotions and false promises endured by African Americans since slavery in response to Bill Clinton's description of affirmative action as "a psychologically difficult time for the so-called angry White man."

Septima Clark was an African-American educator and civil rights activist. The following excerpt is from a 1976 interview with Clark for the Southern Oral History Program Collection.

After her father's death, Esperanza and her mother are left with few options and forced to flee to America. The immigration officers are only the first obstacle they must face. Beyond them, the Great Depression and an uncertain future awaits.

This 2010 news segment considers the cause and impact of the rising poverty level in the United States.

Linda Schubert recounts the fear that consumed her Jewish family living in Nazi-Germany in the late 1930s. Each family member endured individual stress and anxiety, but each also contributed to the family's greater good of the family.

This short story—acclaimed as one of the earliest examples of American realism—paints a bleak picture of industrial workers' lives in the mid-1800s.

This short story—an important piece in early American feminist literature—sheds light on 19th century attitudes toward women with physical and mental illness. In this excerpt, the speaker details her bedroom, a place where her husband and doctors come to encourage her to health. Her ailment is vague; the emphasis is on what others—all men—think and say.