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Carly Goodman

Carly Goodman Profile Photo

I am a historian, editor, and the author of Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction (University of North Carolina Press, May 2023). My book is now available for preorder!

I am a Senior Editor at Made by History at the Washington Post, where I edit daily commentary and analysis from the nation’s leading historians. Made by History won the OAH’s 2022 Friend of History Award. I also lead trainings and workshops on op-ed writing. Pitch us at madebyhistory@washpost.com.

I am also the Communications Coordinator for Nationalities Service Center, a century-old immigration agency in the heart of Philadelphia.

From 2019-2021, I was a visiting assistant professor of history at La Salle University, where I taught courses on subjects like immigration and the 1990s, as well as courses in U.S., global, African American, and African history. Prior to teaching at La Salle, I was the Mellon/American Council of Learned Society Public Fellow and Communications Analyst at American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia. Before my Ph.D. I worked at Human Rights First in New York.

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May 15, 2023

The Diversity Visa Lottery

In the 1980s undocumented Irish immigrants convinced United States lawmakers to create a program that would provide a path to citizenship for individuals without family connections in the United States. That program eventually became the Diversity Visa Lottery, established as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. Despite the program’s roots in demand from Irish immigrants, the majority of the recipients of diversity visas have been awarded to immigrants from Africa, with more than 480,000 individ...
Guest: Carly Goodman