Response

NANCY FONER

THE VALUABLE AND THOUGHTFUL comments on my book, From Ellis Island to JFK, make clear that the time has come for systematic comparisons of immigration past and present. I am delighted that the book has struck a responsive chord among scholars in a variety of disciplines and raised a number of important questions for further study. I welcome the opportunity to address some of the issues raised by Caroline Bretell, Carmel Chiswick, Brian Gratton, and Leo Lucassen, although before tackling them, I want to say a few words about why I conducted a comparison of New York immigrants in two historical eras and why I think comparisons of this kind are so important.