About
Paper Lives: Stories from the A-files is a project of the Migrants and the State: Unlocking the Potential of A-Files for the Histories of U.S. Immigration initiative.
The Migrants and the State initiative is a collaborative, interdisciplinary digital project that aims to provide curated access to the hundreds of thousands of migrant records held by the U.S. National Archives. These records, known as A-files, open a rare window on migrant experiences and the operations of the administrative state and have exceptional potential for humanities research as well as for explorations in personal, family, and community history.
The Paper Lives collection and exhibit showcases the experiences of individual immigrants to the U.S. by bringing together rich primary sources, a combination of materials drawn directly from A-files as well as other materials that fill out people's stories and reflect their work, family, and community ties. Paper Lives illuminates how immigrants navigated the state's legal and administrative apparatus and built lives in the U.S. This phase of the project is designed to demonstrate to scholars and others interested in excavating more nuanced understandings of immigrants' experiences how they might engage with A-files. There are many more immigrant stories in the A-files still waiting to be told.
Paper Lives Team: Nancy Beiles, Daniella Occhineri, Aviv Van Etten, Brandi Williams-Munford