Girindra Mukerji

Girindra Mukerji was an Indian anti-British activist, organizer, and agriculturist. His article "The Hindu in America"[1] has been widely cited as a document describing early Indian immigration to the United States.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Girindra Mukerji
Born
British India
Alma materCalcutta University
University of California, Berkeley
EmployerBengal National College

Mukerji was born in India, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the son of a "Judge of one of the higher courts."[8]

In 1901, he received an AB degree from Calcutta University. He moved to the United States in 1904,[9] becoming a student at Oregon Agricultural College.[10] While in Oregon, according to Gopal Stavig, Mukerji represented the Vedanta Society at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland in summer 1905.[11]

Mukerji then went on become a student at the University of California, Berkeley circa 1905.[12] His time at UC Berkeley was widely covered by American press.

Mukerji was the President of the Association of Oriental Students at UC Berkeley during at least 1907-1908.[8][13] In November 1907, he published a booklet on American colleges focused on an Indian audience; the release was covered in the San Francisco Chronicle.[8] A subsequent article, "The Hindu in America," was published in the Overland Monthly in April 1908,[7] and he was interviewed on "The Condition of Hindu Students in America" in The Modern Review in 1909.[14][15] While studying, he worked as a United States immigration officer from March 1907 to March 1908, interviewing immigrants from India, and learning about their labor conditions.[1][12][16]

In December 1907, Mukerji gave a scathing lecture on the British empire in India to UC Berkeley's Economics Club, which was covered in the San Francisco Chronicle, in an article titled "Hindu Arraigns Britons for the Ruin of India: Calcutta Graduate Scores England for Overtaxing of His People."[17]

In January 1908 he led a student protest against J. Lovell Murray, a Christian evangelist who was in Berkeley to give a talk titled "Awakening the Orient" organized by the local Y.M.C.A. Just before Murray was about to enter Stiles Hall to give his lecture, 16 of the 17 Indian students at UC Berkeley, including Mukerji, requested Murray to remove from his talk any references to the immorality of Hindu priests, and its use in the justification of the occupation of India by the British. Murray refused. Once Murray was finished speaking, Mukerji was invited to respond to the speaker. He spoke against the British occupation, followed by six other students from the group, until the organizers decided to shut down the event.[18]

Mukerji was a student of Professor Eugene W. Hilgard, an expert on agricultural chemistry.[19] In 1907-1908, he received a Master of Science from the College of Agriculture at UC Berkeley; his thesis was entitled "A Comparative Study of Soil Columns in the San Joaquin Valley."[20][21][22] University President Wheeler, who was present at his farewell, spoke highly of his work and cited him as a role model for other Indians.[19] He hoped to be able to apply his learnings, including Utah dry farming techniques, in India.[23][24]

In 1907, the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported that Mukerji was to "return to his home to take the chair of agriculture at the Calcuttat (sic) University."[25] Mukerji left for New York City in March 1908,[19][26] where he was associated with the Society for the Advancement of India, supporting Indian students.[23] By 1909, was living in Massachusetts, developing ideas to create a new library in India.[27]

In a 1911 article, Sarangadhar Das wrote that after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1908, Mukerji "worked as the Superindending (sic) Chemist in a sugar factory in Porto Rico, Cuba, and now is employed in the Bengal National College,"[12] while in 1914, the Hindusthanee Student reported that he was "prospecting in the Central Provinces."[28]

Published works

References
  1. Mukerji, Girindra (April 1908). "The Hindu in America". Overland Monthly. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  2. Jane Singh (1988). South Asians in North America: An Annotated and Selected Bibliography. Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-944613-03-0.
  3. Howard Brett Melendy (1977). Asians in America: Filipinos, Koreans, and East Indians. Twayne Publishers. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8057-8414-5.
  4. Sripati Chandrasekhar (1 April 1982). From India to America: a brief history of immigration, problems of discrimination, admission, and assimilation. Population Review Publications. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-9609080-0-4.
  5. Iftikhar Haider Malik (1988). US-South Asia relations, 1784-1940: a historical perspective. Area Study Centre for Africa, North & South America, Quaid-i-Azam University. p. 371. ISBN 978-969-8013-02-8.
  6. Mahin Gosine (1994). The East Indian odyssey: dilemmas of a migrant people. Windsor Press. p. 195.
  7. McDannell, Colleen, ed. (2001). Religions of the United States in practice. Volume two. Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-691-18813-3.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. "HE WANTS MORE HINDOO STUDENTS TO COME HERE: President of Association of Oriental Students Writes Booklet on American Colleges". San Francisco Chronicle. 28 November 1907. p. 11. ProQuest 251664657.
  9. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, CA, 1893-1953 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1410, roll 10, line number 11, record id 004893284_00334_10).
  10. "List of Students". Annual catalogue of the Agricultural College of the State of Oregon and Announcements for 1905-1906. Oregon Agricultural College. 1905. p. 139.
  11. Stavig, Gopal (2 October 2010). Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples. Advaita Ashrama. p. 751. ISBN 9788175053342.
  12. Das, Sarangadhar (July 1911). "Why Must We Emigrate to the United States of America?". Modern Review: 72. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  13. Chatterjee, Ramananda (March 1908). "Information about American Universities for Oriental Students". The Modern Review. 3: 269–270. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  14. Singh, Saint Nihal (January 1909). "The Condition of Hindu Students in America". The Modern Review. 5: 53–55 – via Hathitrust.
  15. Gould, Harold A. (3 October 2006). Sikhs, Swamis, Students and Spies: The India Lobby in the United States, 1900-1946. SAGE Publishing India. p. 81. ISBN 978-93-5280-346-0.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. Singh, Saint Nihal (January 1909). "The History of Indian Immigration on the Pacific Coast of America". The Modern Review. 5: 55–57 – via Hathitrust.
  17. "Hindu Arraigns Britons for the Ruin of India: Calcutta Graduate Scores England for Overtaxing of His People". San Francisco Chronicle. 5 December 1907. p. 13. ProQuest 251642649.
  18. "Hindu Students Flay Missionary". San Francisco Call. 18 January 1908. p. 4. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  19. "Bid Farewell to Calcutta Student". San Francisco Call. 16 March 1908. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  20. Mukerji, Girindra (1907). Comparison of Soils in Arid and Humid Climates. University of California.
  21. Directory of graduates of the University of California, 1864-1916. Berkeley, California: University of California. 1916. p. 245. hdl:2027/uc1.b3239863.
  22. Bulletin: University of California (1868-1952). University of California. 1892. p. 17. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  23. "Young Hindus to Study Here: Society for the Advancement of India Aiding Them". The Sun. 3 June 1908. p. 12. ISSN 1940-7831. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  24. Singh, Saint Nihal (January 1909). "Dry Farming for Parts of India". The Modern Review. 5: 52–53 – via Hathitrust.
  25. "Successful Students Rewarded". Berkeley Daily Gazette. 23 December 1907. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  26. Manhattan and Bronx, 1909. Trow Directory. 1909. p. 1032. Mukerji Girindra lawyer 1142 Park Av
  27. Mukerji, Girindra (9 March 1909). "May I take the liberty…". Letter to Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Newburyport, Massachusetts: Schlesinger Library.
  28. "News Notes: Activities of Some Hindusthanee Students Who Have Returned Home". The Hindusthanee Student. Chicago, Illinois: Hindusthan Association of America: 53. April 1914 – via South Asian American Digital Archive. Girindranath Mukerji, prospecting in the Central Provinces.
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