Keith Shields

NHPR presents a one-hour special that takes a look at immigration in New Hampshire.  This program is the culmination of NHPR’s year-long editorial initiative that has explored immigration in New Hampshire from a variety of different perspectives, from legal and legislative issues to real-world experience from a refugee family adjusting to their new life in the U.S.  This program will give us a glimpse into New Hampshire’s immigrant history with stories of our past that will provide context and depth for the issues and stories that are changing the face of New Hampshire today. 

 World War One was great for New Hampshire’s immigrant workforce, the mills were booming and jobs were plentiful.  But as thousands of American returned home from war, there was a growing distrust of the immigrant in general and of Russians in particular.

unemployment is high In 1919, there was something like 3600 strikes in America. So we’re looking for a scapegoat. 

New Hampshire Historian, Stu Wallace

By the early 1900's, the Amoskeag mill was earning its reputation as the textile capital of the world. There may have been other cities that produced more cloth, but none had a mill that compared to Manchester’s.

No other single textile factory in the world had 17,000 workers, and it had around 30 buildings at one time and it was turning out cloth 50 miles per hour.

Robert Perrault is a Manchester based historian and author of the book "Vivre la Difference: Franco-American Life and Culture in Manchester, New Hampshire”

As part of our yearlong series, New Hampshire’s Immigration Story, NHPR’s Keith Shields attended a performance of “Dreaming Again’ and brings you this report.

D. S. Cole Growers in Loudon, New Hampshire bills itself as a ‘wholesale greenhouse facility’. That means, they grow a lot of the potted plants that are then shipped to garden centers and landscapers across New England.  Looking across the facility you see greenhouses filled up with row upon rows of annuals, while flower baskets hang in long lines above your head

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A few years back, we started this little ole series called the Socrates Exchange - originally the idea was six shows that had a really neat angle and could possibly be great radio for our listeners.  Over time the project's direction grew, and we decided to reach out to younger people, got schools discussing the topics in the classroom, and invited high schools to come and participate in live shows.

It’s a Friday night at the Darjee home. After a long work week, Ram, his wife Saraswarti, their daughter Angel and Ram’s mother are preparing for a fun evening with relatives.

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Sitting with the Darjees, it’s hard to imagine that just 9 months ago they were living in squalor in a refugee camp in Nepal.  Their apartment now has comfortable furnishings, colorful decorations lining the walls, a computer and lots of cooking equipment to prepare a nice meal.

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Today it's our New Hampshire Newsmakers of the Year show, the 2011 edition. From the economy to the primary, from battles over the budget to extreme weather, we'll look at some of the top stories of the year, see what's happened to those stories since the headlines have died and see how they may play out in the coming year.

Topics and Guests

Next week on the Exchange – We begin with University of New Hampshire President Mark Huddleston, reflecting on a tough year for UNH, and looking ahead toward the New Year.  Then our Issue Tuesday series continues, with where the Republican Presidential candidates stand on health care and a favorite, annual tradition on “The Exchange",  our Holiday Book show, with the best books of twenty-eleven.  

The Bhutanese are by far the largest group of refugees in New Hampshire. Since 2008 the US has resettled almost 800 men, women and children in Concord, Manchester, and Laconia

Before then, many Bhutanese lived for nearly two decades in camps in Nepal. 

As part of our series on immigration, we will follow one Bhutanese family as they spend their first year in the Granite State.

Keith Shields has our first installment.

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Language its one of the largest barriers of assimilation for the newest immigrants and refugees coming to New Hampshire. It can make them feel isolated and keep them from getting jobs and a drivers license.  Groups in the state are helping to break those barriers by volunteering to teach English.  Exchange Executive Producer, Keith Shields visited one such place, the Holy Cross Family Learning Center in Manchester