This talk draws on Catherine Bueker’s new book, Beyond White Picket Fences: Evolution of an American Town, to trace how Wellesley, Massachusetts transformed from a predominantly White Protestant suburb into a more demographically diverse community over the twentieth and twenty‑first centuries. Using interviews, archival materials, and participant observation, Bueker examines how Italian, Jewish, and Chinese newcomers both adapted to and reshaped local institutions, neighborhoods, and everyday life in Wellesley. The talk highlights how racism, assimilation, xenophobia, and mutual accommodation intersect in suburban settings, offering broader insights into the promises and limits of diversity in contemporary American communities.

Catherine Bueker is a professor of sociology at Emmanuel College in Boston, where her research focuses on immigration, civic engagement, and the ways newcomers transform American communities. She is the author of Beyond White Picket Fences: Evolution of an American Town as well as prior work on immigrant political incorporation and local civic life.