Three-quarters of New York City’s population was either an immigrant or a first generation American. Edith Terry Bremer, a young social worker, opened the first International Institute in New York City, providing social and legal services to immigrant girls and women. The International Institute of New York was succeeded by the Foreign Language Information Service (FLIS). The FLIS began distributing publications on immigration developments to the press and updated the legal community on immigration laws. FLIS became the Common Council for American Unity (CCAU) and launched a new publication. Common Ground was a quarterly journal publishing fiction and non-fiction works stressing cultural pluralism and ethnic harmony. Langston Hughes, a celebrated American writer who wrote about the African American community, published his poetry, essays, song lyrics and sketches. The CCAU merged with the American Federation of International Institutes to form the American Council for Nationalities Services (ACNS). ACNS continued the work of its predecessor organizations, including maintaining the Interpreter Releases and How to Become a Citizen of the United States. ACNS joined with the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) to publish the World Refugee Survey. It was a uniquely comprehensive and in-depth review of global trends in refugees with feature articles on national and global issues, specific countries, global aggregate and country statistics, analyses of root causes and potential solutions ACNS became the Immigration and Refugee Services of America. Our campaign to end refugee warehousing was awarded “The Best Small Idea” by Foreign Policy. ACNS changed its name to U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Our gala to celebrate 100 years of service. Today USCRI serves people from around the world who have immigrated to the U.S. seeking those same American values—freedom and opportunity.100 Years of USCRI
New York, 1910
New York City, 1911
Foreign Language Information Service, 1920s
Common Council for American Unity, 1934
American Council for Nationalities Services, 1959
ACNS Joined with the U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1979
Immigration and Refugee Services of America, 1994
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2004
Centennial, 2011
Today
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