Nativism in Virginia in the 1890's

In light of the extreme xenophobia which existed after 1915 in the South, still a region without the benefit of a large immigrant population, it is not unnatural to search for roots in the southern past. The 1890's, a decade which witnessed the arrival of record numbers of immigrants on American shores and the eruption of rabid anti-foreign and anti-Catholic sentiments in some sections of the country, is the obvious period to examine. And Virginia, a representative southern state yet located in the northeastern corner of the region, is an attractive area on which to focus.