Sending, Saving, and Surveilling Immigrants' Money in the Progressive-Era United States

This paper traces the role of money in cementing family and national loyalties by examining the experiences of immigrants in the Progressive era United States. It begins by examining the establishment in the post-Civil War years of "immigrant banks," small unregulated institutions that facilitated immigrants' sending of remittances to their home countries to maintain interpersonal ties and facilitate family goals. Following the Panic of 1907, these institutions came under scrutiny for potentially undermining the U.S.'s financial health by draining the country of gold. Government investigation of the immigrant banks helped justify the creation of the U.S. Postal Savings system in 1911 to provide an alternative institution for immigrants to deposit their savings.

When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, authorities in Washington used the new kind of financial surveillance the postal savings system made possible to learn if immigrants from hostile nations were withdrawing money from the system in order to benefit the U.S.'s enemies. Responding to Washington's request for information, postmasters provided rich descriptions of how and why immigrants in their communities were using the postal savings system and making financial decisions. Based on correspondence, newspapers, and government reports, the paper's review of these episodes reveals the consistent mismatch between government officials' imaginings of money as a symbol of national loyalty and workers' view of money as a tool for maintaining family bonds.