Ohio
Ohio’s current immigrant population much more diverse, still well below national level
The proportion of immigrants in the United States is at its highest level in over a century, but that’s not the case in Ohio.
Around 15% of the national population is comprised of immigrants, compared to around 5% in Ohio, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The proportion of Ohio’s population that is foreign-born today is far lower than in 1870, when around 14% of Ohioans were immigrants, census data shows.
However, Ohio’s immigrant communities today are far more diverse — representing a larger swath of the globe — than at any previous point in history since the federal government began collecting birthplace data in 1850, the data shows.
As immigration once again shapes up to be a major election issue in 2024, Ohio historians told The Dispatch that current political debates around immigration mirror those from the past.
“I worry as a historian because the rhetoric around (immigration) is often so divisive, and it lacks the larger historical awareness of how we’ve had these conversations before — and the country hasn’t fallen apart,” said Kevin Adams, history department chair at Kent State University.
Ohio’s immigration history
Some of Ohio’s early “immigrants” were members of Native American tribes who were displaced into the area from the east by warfare and European diseases, according to Becky Odom, a curator at The Ohio History Connection. These included tribes like the Lenape (Delaware), who were later uprooted again as white settlers moved into Ohio.
Following Ohio’s statehood in 1803, immigrants from Germany, Great Britain and Ireland made up the bulk of foreign-born Ohioans, according to Ben Baughman, another curator for the Ohio History Connection. Germans and Irish people played important roles in the construction of Ohio’s extensive canals, which served as thoroughfares for commerce long before the coming of interstate highways.
By 1860, nearly half of all immigrants living in Ohio were German, with the rest mostly coming from elsewhere in northwestern Europe, according to census data.
But in the late 19th century, immigration to the U.S. underwent a dramatic shift, with more southern and eastern Europeans arriving.
“The new immigration was really important in places like Cleveland, especially as various European ethnic groups showed up … (building) communities rooted around … factories … their own churches, their own parishes — we get increasing numbers of Jews and Eastern Orthodox Christians,” said Adams.
By 1910, nearly 15% of Americans and almost 13% of Ohioans were foreign-born, a figure that does not include children of immigrants born locally.
But the U.S. began to restrict immigration in the 1910s, culminating in country-specific quotas that were set in 1924, according to Adams. The quotas, which were influenced by eugenics and “scientific racism,” severely restricted immigration from much of the world besides northwestern Europe and — unintentionally — overland immigration from Latin America, he said.
The quota system was finally dismantled by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which allowed a much broader range of people to immigrate.
Since 1970, the U.S. has experienced a dramatic rebound in immigration, but the rebound has been slower and smaller in Ohio, according to census data. The proportion of immigrants in the state grew from 2.4% in 1990 to 4.9% in 2022, according to the census’ American Community Survey.
Nationally, around half of foreign-born U.S. residents today come from Latin America, followed by Asia (around 31%), Europe (approximately 11%) and Africa (around 5%).
Most of Ohio’s foreign-born residents come from Asia, with India the top country of origin. African and Latin American immigrants together make up over one-third of Ohio’s immigrants.
Persecution, opportunity and anti-immigrant sentiment
The factors that draw immigrants to Ohio — such as economic opportunity, freedom from persecution and war abroad — have remained fairly constant over the centuries, according to Odom, the Ohio History Connection curator.
“For us as students of history, history is very cyclical. … There are always going to be people in the world who see this state and this country as a place of opportunity,” she said.
Baughman, her colleague, said that anti-immigration sentiment is as old as immigration itself.
Baughman pointed to examples of anti-German riots led by the “Know-Nothing Party” in Cincinnati in 1855, followed by rising anti-Irish and anti-Chinese sentiment in the late 1800s.
Amidst the Great Migration following World War I, Black migrants from the American South to northern states like Ohio encountered opposition similar to immigrants from abroad, said Odom.
Adams said that labor groups were historically more critical of immigration than they are today, because they sometimes saw immigrants as competitors with American workers.
“In the early 1970s … folks on the left — union folks and African American civil rights groups — were interested in discussing immigration restriction, whereas those on the right, who were interested in capitalist market development and anti-union politics, were in favor of immigration,” he said.
Brian Hayashi, who is a professor of American history at Kent State, said he sees common intellectual roots between current opposition to immigration and the anti-immigrant fervor of the early 20th century.
“There is a desire to understand the United States as a nation of northern and western European people and values … But the problem is the United States isn’t that country anymore, and arguably, it hasn’t been since about 1880,” Hayashi said.
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
By Emily Nogay, VMD, MS, Ohio State University
We made it! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and the Ohio temperatures are climbing. If you’re anything like me, then your skin loves the sun and the warmth it brings. Unfortunately, that also brings out those creepy eight-legged crawlies called ticks. These blood-sucking little monsters have already started to come out of the brush and become pests for humans, dogs, cats, wildlife, and our livestock species.
Ticks are ectoparasites (a parasite that lives on the skin) which have four different life stages – egg, larva, nymph, and the adult. Once hatched from the egg, the tick needs a bloodmeal in order to move to the next stage. Different tick species have different host preferences, but each life stage can also have different host preferences. With these bloodmeals, ticks can pick up an infectious agent in that blood and harbor it within their bodies to then later infect a new host when the tick feeds again, making the tick a vector for the disease. There are many different species of ticks out there, and each species is known for being a vector for different diseases (such as Lyme disease) to humans, animals, or both. However, keep in mind that just because a tick can harbor and transmit a disease does not mean every tick will, and it is not always possible to know if that tick does carry the disease, even with laboratory testing.
Over the past several years, we have seen a steady rise in temperatures, more humidity, and shorter winters. This climate change has created a more favorable environment for tick survival and transmission of the diseases they carry. Common ticks found in Ohio include the blacklegged (deer) tick, the American dog tick, and the lone star tick. These can potentially transmit diseases to humans and animals, such as Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Alpha-Gal syndrome (red meat allergy).
The Asian longhorned tick has been getting more attention recently as it is an emerging tick species. This species was first identified in the United States in 2017, originally native to East Asia, and is quickly spreading. This tick is special because it can clone itself. The females can lay eggs without needing to find a male to mate with, which is allowing this species to establish fast-growing populations. This is especially alarming for the cattle industry, as this tick is known to transmit theileriosis (Theileria orientalis). Theileriosis is a blood-borne parasite of cattle that is very similar to anaplasmosis, causing anemia, weakness, jaundice, and death. Some animals can become asymptomatic carriers,, meaning they show no symptoms but can act as a way for the disease to spread through possible blood transfers (needles, ticks, etc.). Unfortunately, there is currently no approved treatment in the U.S. for theileriosis, which means prevention is necessary.
Prevention of ticks and tick-borne diseases such as theileriosis requires integrated approaches of routine inspection, insecticide treatments and environmental management. Inspection of cattle for ticks can be difficult, but, if possible, pay special attention around the eyes, ears, neck, brisket, tail head, udder, and the inside of the legs. The most common insecticide treatments are products containing pyrethroids, which help kill ticks and prevent new ticks from attaching. Whole-animal sprays, pour-on products, ear tags, and oilers or backrubbers can be useful for protecting against flies and pinkeye as well. Pasture management, including keeping grass along wooded edges short, burning fields, limiting cattle access to wooded areas, and rotating pastures (great for endoparasites, too!) can help decrease tick populations on your herd. Producers should discuss with their veterinarian which methods are best for their operation, but keep in mind that one solution is not enough. Reducing the tick population requires an integrated management approach.
Ticks are nasty little pests that can really ruin our summer fun for humans, companion animals, and livestock. It is important to remember that ticks are everywhere, even if you cannot see them, and they can carry some nasty diseases along with them. Be sure to discuss prevention and treatment strategies for all your animals with your veterinarian and keep yourself and your family safe this summer. If you are spending time outside, be sure to consider an approved repellent and wear permethrin-treated, light-colored long sleeves and pants tucked into socks. Be sure to shower and do a tick check immediately after high-risk activities, and remove ticks promptly and appropriately if found. For more information, visit the Ohio State Bite Site at kx.osu.edu/bite.
How did Cincinnati become Porkopolis? The not-so-pretty tale
Cincinnati has long been called the Queen City. For a time, though, it was known by a less flattering nickname – Porkopolis.
Before Ohio was a state, the vast, largely uncharted expanse between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, up to the Great Lakes, was known as the Northwest Territory.
Many parties, including the British, French, Spanish, Native American tribes and Eastern states, had previous claims to portions of the territory.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 settled the matter by organizing it as the Northwest Territory and laying the groundwork for the expansion of the United States.
The ordinance was among the most significant legislation created by the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, which governed the U.S. from 1781 to 1789, before the federal government was established by the U.S. Constitution.
Jefferson’s plan for westward expansion
Prior to the American Revolution, to strengthen British and Native American relations, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which forbade expansion of the colonies west of the Appalachian Mountains – an area considered an “Indian reserve.”
The British ceded that land in the 1783 Treaty of Paris following the Revolutionary War, and the new nation was ready to expand west.
The Confederation Congress pressured other states to relinquish their claims on the territory, such as Virginia’s declared boundaries extending “from Sea to Sea.”
Thomas Jefferson proposed the lands west of the Appalachians be divided into 10 states that would be equal to the original 13 colonies.
He suggested interesting names: Sylvania, Michigania, Cherronesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia and Pelisipia. What is now Ohio would have been part of Metropotamia, Washington and Saratoga.
Although a slave owner himself, Jefferson also proposed there be no slavery in the states after 1800.
Congress cut out the state boundaries, exotic names and slavery clause before passing the Land Ordinance of 1784.
Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery in the territory
That ordinance was superseded by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which created incorporated territories led by a governor, a secretary and three judges chosen by Congress.
The Northwest Territory was designed to be carved into “not less than three nor more than five States.” Article 5 outlined a three-stage process for a state to be admitted to the Union. Once a district acquired 60,000 inhabitants, it could apply for statehood.
Slavery was not permitted in the territory. Article 6 states: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
The 13th Amendment used a similar phrase in abolishing slavery in the U.S. in 1865.
The Northwest Ordinance did have a clear fugitive slave clause, though, which allowed enslaved people who had escaped to be taken back to slavery.
Article 6 effectively made the Ohio River the dividing line between territories that prohibited or permitted slavery.
Setting the path to statehood
Under the Land Ordinance of 1785 (a different ordinance than Jefferson’s plan), the land in the Northwest Territory was subdivided into a rectangular grid system of 6-mile townships. The surveyed tracts were sold to individuals and speculative land companies.
John Cleves Symmes bought 311,682 acres between the Great Miami and Little Miami rivers, an area known as the Symmes Purchase, and resold tracts to settlers, such as the pioneers who founded Columbia, Losantiville (Cincinnati) and North Bend.
Most Native American tribes refused to acknowledge treaties signed after the Revolutionary War regarding lands north of the Ohio River that the tribes inhabited. This led to great conflict between the indigenous people and the settlers.
Military expeditions launched from Fort Washington in Cincinnati engaged forces led by Shawnee chief Blue Jacket and Miami chief Little Turtle all across Ohio until Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne won a decisive victory in the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
The peace treaty between the U.S. and Native American tribes really opened up the Northwest Territory for more settlers.
Rather than following the European colonial model, the Northwest Ordinance set a clear path to statehood and equality within the federal government.
Ohio in 1803 became the first new state from the territory, followed by Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), Michigan (1837) and Wisconsin (1848).
Writing of the Northwest Ordinance in “The Law in Southwestern Ohio,” Frank G. Davis said, “By leading the Territory step-by-step to statehood, or rather statehoods, it set the pattern for the political and legal development of the entire continental U.S.”
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOIO) – Gov. Mike DeWine is encouraging Ohioans to take advantage of this year’s sales tax holiday in August.
According to the governor’s office, the holiday will take place from midnight Friday, August 7 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 9.
The following items qualify for the sales tax exemption during the three-day holiday:
- Clothing priced at $75 or less per item
- School supplies priced at $20 or less per item
- School instructional materials priced at $20 or less per item
“Ohio’s Sales Tax Holiday comes at a time of year when families are getting ready for back-to-school,” said Governor DeWine. “The sales tax break is designed to provide meaningful savings for families as they purchase new school essentials for the upcoming year.”
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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