The United States of America has always been a nation of immigrants. With the exception of indigenous Inuits and Indians, everyone else has roots somewhere else on the globe. As our society has coalesced around the term "American", it can be helpful to our perspective to see how we became so. The contributions made in arts and sciences, literature, technology, etc., by immigrants to the USA are many and varied.
In the late 1930's, the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Education partnered with the Columbia Broadcasting System to present a series of 26 dramatic radio broadcast programs detailing the role of immigrants in the development of the USA. This small volume was printed as a supplement to the programs. It contains a great deal of the data concerning the contributions of immigrants to the country, often in condensed or tabular form, which were highlighted in the broadcasts. (Summary by Mark Smith)