Translation Services in the 1800’s
Immigrant populations have always been an important factor in the histories and cultures of the cities of Chicago, Boston and Baltimore.Of course, the immigrants imported their native languages, which helped shape the identity of these cities.
But by the late 19th century, Baltimore was considered by many to be one of the single most important gateway cities in the United States. Not unlike other cities in the United States, it was a cosmopolitan city. There were almost as many native speakers of German as there were English in Baltimore. Chinese, French and Italian became increasingly popular, and by the time of the Civil War, the Chinese were one of the largest immigrant groups in the United States. Baltimore, along with nearly every other city of any size, had a Chinatown due to the large numbers of Chinese immigrants who were recruited to build rail lines. Chinese businesses began to spring up all over the country. At this time, Baltimore Translation became increasingly in demand. Baltimore was a unique city in that it did not experience an anti-immigrant movement like most other American cities. Therefore, Baltimore became a major center for Baltimore translators of all languages. Similarly, Boston has also long been considered a gateway city to the rest of the United States. Boston, another East Coast city similar in size to Baltimore, is also known as an immigrant-friendly city.
But unlike Baltimore, Boston has attracted immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia because of its similarities to European cities and its location. The United States Census Bureau reports that Russians are among the largest ethnic groups in Boston. The number of translation jobs with Boston Translation has exploded along with the Russian and East European immigration explosion. The suburbs of Chelsea and Brookline are home to a large number of translation services, each specializing in its own class of languages.
Chicago is different because of its location, but it is similar to Boston and Baltimore in other ways. As a gateway city, Chicago was first settled by speakers of the French language. During the 1840s and 1850s there was a flood of German immigrants into Chicago. This was Chicago?s period of most rapid growth, which coincided with Europe’s mass exodus to the United States. The need for Chicago translators increased tremendously because more than half the population of the city was foreign-born during the mid-1800s. By the end of the 19th century, most of the residents of Chicago had come over from Europe. German translators, Polish translators and Italian translators were most in demand, but Korean language translations and Japanese language translation agencies were also sprouting up all over the city. Throughout the 20th century, the ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago grew and became more prosperous. This led to an even more pronounced need. Beginning in 1945, there was also a huge wave of Japanese immigrants to Chicago. These were typically former prisoners in internment camps in California. The demand for Chicago Translator companies grew rapidly in parallel with the growth of the Japanese population in the city.
We worked hard to bring you this interesting account of the start of translation service companies in Baltimore, Chicago and Boston and hope that you have found it interesting. Our next article in this series will focus on the growth of translation companies in Atlanta, Dallas, and Las Vegas.