Past Present

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the history of refugees, the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, and Instamoms.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: President Obama tied the Syrian refugee crisis to the story of the Pilgrims in a recent radio address to move Americans to support their entry to the US. The Washington Post’s image of a young refugee, Niki argued, was meant in part to elicit American sympathy, but throughout history Americans have seldom welcomed refugees into the nation. Natalia noted the lowest point of this history may have been when the US rejected the admission of European Jews in the years leading up to World War II. Neil pointed out that moment has been humanized by the account of Anne Frank’s family being denied entry as refugees.Princeton students have demanded the university remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from campus sites because of his racist acts as president. Natalia agreed with historian Na