Asturian-American Migration Forum

I still want to know, and struggle with the question, where did all the Asturians vanish to and why? What happened and became of my Asturian cousins who were born in Clarksburg, and why did they travel back to Spain with their parents? Did they renounce their rights to American citizenship when they became adults? Many dreams and hopes of establishing a new and better life in the new world was dashed for many immigrants. Their individual stories of the struggle to hold on against adversity can not be told in just facts and figures gleamed from the Census reports. Finding the vanishing Asturians can only be found in their letters, diaries, journals, photographs, telegrams, travel documents, employment history, family interviews and anecdotes. Without these unpublished. original resource materials and information, I am afraid that the story will never be completely told about the plight of the Asturian families who vanished from American history without a trace or so it seems.
How much reverse migration was caused by Eugenics and the Great Depression?

Is there evidence that a large number of Asturian-Americans born in the US returned to their homeland? I've not heard of large numbers. Maybe Suronda can comment on that.

I have heard that some kids went to Asturias for summers or perhaps several years. I think the current or recent mayor of Denora spent a significant amount of time in Asturias (Piedras Blancas?). He talked about that in the documentary, AsturianUS. And there were single men who returned to Asturias, some with the intent to return, but the immigration laws in the US changed and they were no longer welcome to return. My own great aunt Lola was living in Anmoore with one or two children while her husband worked as a mariner on the Atlantic. Anmoore was quite distant from sea ports, so that strikes me as an odd choice of place to live. At some point, she got fed up with her husband, separated, and returned to Asturias for good with her kid(s).

Yes, I heard of a few not many, but as I remember it was only the man who returned. I don’t remember if the wife had died or was left behind, I’m think the wife had died I don’t remember any talk about anyone left behind. You know how Spanish people talk I think I would heard talk about a wife who was left behind . I was the mouse in the room on a lot of conversation

The Great Depression affected many nations. The Second Republic formed in Spain following Primo Rivers's forced resignation (1930), but did not manage to achieve land reform, desired by the poor, but which would have caused a banking crisis. In 1931, the Guardia Civil shot and killed several workers who opposed monarchy. Eventually, civil war ensued. Some Asturians may have returned to Spain to join the republican forces.

I am unaware that eugenics played any role in migration.

One of three brothers in my grandfather's family returned to Spain to fight in the Civil War. I believe he was married, but I don't know if he was married before leaving the US. He was killed as a result of a train bombing during the war. His wife and children fled to France and we lost contact with them.

Here is a statistic that is very interesting. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, there were approximately 13,604 Spanish people living in Connecticut, and by the 1940 Census, the number dwindled down to 722. That is a dramatic loss of Spanish immigrant population that bears scrutiny. Further, comparing the 1930 to 1940, Census figures indicate that the U.S. lost a total of 17,499 Spanish people listed as born in Spain, and that figure probably does not include the number of their children born here and those who died like my Uncle Angel. Unfortunately, the Census does not indicate which area in Spain that these immigrants came from; although, there is an excellent chance that some were from the Principality of Asturias because of the great Asturian migration between the years of 1905 to 1920.
I had five of my family who by the 1930 Census were no longer being recorded because they had returned.
Evidently, the Depression had much to do with the losses; however, Eugenic sentiments would have prevented foreign nationals from finding employment. Congress passed some work acts like the National Recovery Act and Industrial Act along with the WPA and TVA Public Work Acts; however, they did not help the Spanish Immigrants and minorities.

Hi, Manny,

I agree: Children born in the US would not be included in that number.

Still, those who were counted by the census in 1930 and then died before the 1940 census would certainly not be counted in the 1940 census. Their being "missing" would account for a good number of the loses. My grandmother would one of those missing people along with your uncle.

I don't know the history of eugenics in the US, but my assumption would be that a bigger source of the losses would be the isolationist and anti-immigrant mood that crept up in the US. The Immigration Act of 1924 really slowed immigration from Spain. Wikipedia states, it "was primarily aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans, especially Italians and Eastern European Jews. In addition, it severely restricted the immigration of Africans and banned the immigration of Arabs and Asians."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924

Is there something in the WPA and TVA acts that barred Spaniards from benefiting from those acts?