About the Author

Carol Nackenoff is the Richter Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College.

Julie Novkov is professor of political science and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Nackenoff and Novkov are the coeditors of Stating the Family: New Directions in the Study of American Politics and of Statebuilding from the Margins: Between Reconstruction and the New Deal.

Reviews

We have long needed a biography of Wong Kim Ark, and American by Birth delivers. It's the history of American citizenship, the tireless efforts of one man and his lawyers to challenge cruel and racist policies, and Wong Kim Ark's continuing legacy today. Nackenoff and Novkov's timely book is a must-read!" - Erika Lee, author of America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States, and director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota

"American by Birth tells the compelling story Wong Kim Ark-a Chinese American who was forced to defend his claim to US citizenship-and the landmark Supreme Court case that bares his name. Centering their study around his hard-won battle, Carol Nackenoff and Julie Novkov deftly trace the multiple origins of birthright citizenship and its sprawling consequences for American society." - Beth Lew-Williams, associate professor of history, Princeton University, and author of The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America