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The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multiethnic City
A lively, street-level history of turn-of-the-century urban life explores the Americanizing influence of the Irish on successive waves of migrants to the American city. In the newest volume in the award-winning Penguin History of American Life series, James R. Barrett chronicles how a new urban American identity was forged in the streets, saloons, churches, and workplaces of the American city. This process of “Americanization from the bottom up” was deeply shaped by the Irish. From Lower Manhattan to the South Side of Chicago to Boston’s North End, newer waves of immigrants and African Americans found it nearly impossible to avoid the Irish. While historians have emphasized the role of settlement houses and other mainstream institutions in Americanizing immigrants, Barrett makes the original case that the culture absorbed by newcomers upon reaching American shores had a distinctly Hibernian cast. By 1900, there were more people of Irish descent in New York City than in Dublin; more in the United States than in all of Ireland. But in the late nineteenth century, the sources of immigration began to shift, to southern and eastern Europe and beyond. Whether these newcomers wanted to save their souls, get a drink, find a job, or just take a stroll in the neighborhood, they had to deal with entrenched Irish Americans. Barrett reveals how the Irish vacillated between a progressive and idealistic impulse toward their fellow immigrants and a parochial defensiveness stemming from the hostility earlier generations had faced upon their own arrival in America. They imparted racist attitudes toward African Americans; they established ethnic “deadlines” across city neighborhoods; they drove other immigrants from docks, factories, and labor unions. Yet the social teachings of the Catholic Church, a sense of solidarity with the oppressed, and dark memories of poverty and violence in both Ireland and America ushered in a wave of progressive political activism that eventually embraced other immigrants. Drawing on contemporary sociological studies and diaries, newspaper accounts, and Irish American literature, The Irish Way illustrates how the interactions between the Irish and later immigrants on the streets, on the vaudeville stage, in Catholic churches, and in workplaces helped forge a multiethnic American identity that has a profound legacy in our cities today.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2012
25 people are currently reading
429 people want to read
About the author
James R. Barrett
24 books2 followersJames R. Barrett is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Illinois.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 8, 2021
The “Irish Way” by which emigrants from Ireland became American citizens seemed to work well in terms of helping Irish Americans gain a substantial degree of social and political power in major American cities during the 19th and early 20th centuries – even if that “Irish Way” sometimes had unintended consequences, both for Irish Americans and for the larger United States society of which they became a part. Such is the message conveyed by James Barrett’s The Irish Way.
Barrett, a professor of history at the University of Illinois, examines the Irish process of Becoming American in the Multiethnic City (the book’s subtitle) in terms of urban street life, Catholic religious identity, workplace challenges, popular culture, politics, and the multifaceted nature of Irish-American identity, with a particularly strong focus on the Irish-American communities of New York and Chicago. Throughout the book, Barrett emphasizes the positive aspects of the Irish-American experience – e.g., the way in which people of Irish heritage worked together and achieved success in the face of hostile forces – and the negatives, such as the way in which Irish-American solidarity often meant a banding together against immigrants and migrants from other backgrounds, particularly African Americans.
The process of becoming American was often a tough one, as when Barrett suggests that “The Irish American street gang was a kind of coercive Americanization” (p. 55). In spite of pervasive anti-Catholic prejudices held by some members of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment, Irish Americans benefited from their numbers and from their knowledge of English – so much so that later Catholic immigrants from non-English-speaking countries like Italy, Poland, and Lithuania “sometimes found their children in Irish-dominated parish schools that conveyed an implicit Irishness” (p. 99). Similarly, in the workplace “Irish Americans acted as gatekeepers for job sites and labor unions; they defined what the term labor meant in the diverse industrial city” (p. 155). In popular culture, the Irish-American influence on American life was multivalent -- from the broad stereotypes of vaudeville, to the gritty realist fiction of James T. Farrell, to systems of film censorship that were designed and administered largely by conservative Irish Catholics.
In politics, cities like New York and Chicago provided examples of the political “machines” through which Irish American politicians wielded control and provided patronage, including jobs, to their fellow Irish Americans. The power of those machines had its basis in the manner in which Irish Americans “set down firm roots in American cities and stayed there, developing elaborately networked social, political, and cultural institutions” (p. 201).
Particularly interesting was Barrett’s look at issues of nationalism in the World War I era. When the Easter Rising occurred in 1916, and the United States entered the First World War one year later as an ally of Great Britain, Irish Americans who wanted to be true both to their ancestral heritage and to their modern nation faced a difficult dilemma. While many Irish Americans “poured into the armed forces, sensing once again an opportunity to prove themselves good Catholics and good Americans” (p. 259), there were other Irish Americans who opposed the war; and “the federal government went after them” through means like “[t]he 1917 Espionage Act, passed with the Irish movement’s radical wing much in mind” (p. 260).
It seems appropriate that, after finding The Irish Way in an Eason bookstore in Galway, Ireland, I read it while on a flight from Shannon Airport to Chicago, following in the course of a single day the weeks-long, 4000-mile westward journey that took so many Irish people from their island birthplace to a new life in a new homeland. I also found the book compelling because of the ways in which it relates to my own family’s history. My surname is German, but most of my ancestry is Irish; forebears of mine came to this country from County Galway in the Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking west), County Cork in the south, and County Tyrone in present-day Northern Ireland. Reading various stories of Irish Americans as recounted by Barrett in The Irish Way, I found myself thinking about my grandfather – my mother’s father, Martin Aloysius Ignatius Cook. (Alert Irish-American readers will already have picked up on the Jesuit aspects of the confirmation name that my grandfather chose.)
Martin Cook’s father, my great-grandfather, emigrated from Ireland to the East Coast of the United States; but in contrast with the better-known Irish diaspora communities in cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, my great-grandfather settled in Washington, D.C., and opened a bar in Georgetown. This, mind you, was back when Georgetown was not the tony neighborhood of today, but rather a dirty-up-to-the elbows canal town. (For this reason, I particularly appreciated Barrett’s reflections on the important role that saloon-keepers played in maintaining important social centers for Irish-American communities across the U.S.A.) Building from the humble Irish-American beginnings that my great-grandfather provided, my grandfather attended Georgetown University, a Jesuit institution in Washington that provided an avenue toward upward mobility for many Irish Americans. After graduating from Georgetown with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1922, my grandfather achieved great success as a banker in Washington. He was dedicated to his religion, a daily communicant at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington. And he showed his pride in his heritage through his membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), both organizations that Barrett discusses in his book. My grandfather’s life embodied much of what is best about the “Irish way” that so many Irish Americans of his era followed. Reading this book gave me a strong sense of the cultural context within which my beloved grandfather grew up and built his life.
Published as part of Penguin Books’ Penguin History of American Life series, James Barrett’s The Irish Way provides an interesting look at an important part of the cultural fabric of modern American life. Irish-American readers may find it to be of particular interest, but any reader who is interested in American urban history, or in the immigrant experience, is likely to benefit from reading this book.
Barrett, a professor of history at the University of Illinois, examines the Irish process of Becoming American in the Multiethnic City (the book’s subtitle) in terms of urban street life, Catholic religious identity, workplace challenges, popular culture, politics, and the multifaceted nature of Irish-American identity, with a particularly strong focus on the Irish-American communities of New York and Chicago. Throughout the book, Barrett emphasizes the positive aspects of the Irish-American experience – e.g., the way in which people of Irish heritage worked together and achieved success in the face of hostile forces – and the negatives, such as the way in which Irish-American solidarity often meant a banding together against immigrants and migrants from other backgrounds, particularly African Americans.
The process of becoming American was often a tough one, as when Barrett suggests that “The Irish American street gang was a kind of coercive Americanization” (p. 55). In spite of pervasive anti-Catholic prejudices held by some members of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment, Irish Americans benefited from their numbers and from their knowledge of English – so much so that later Catholic immigrants from non-English-speaking countries like Italy, Poland, and Lithuania “sometimes found their children in Irish-dominated parish schools that conveyed an implicit Irishness” (p. 99). Similarly, in the workplace “Irish Americans acted as gatekeepers for job sites and labor unions; they defined what the term labor meant in the diverse industrial city” (p. 155). In popular culture, the Irish-American influence on American life was multivalent -- from the broad stereotypes of vaudeville, to the gritty realist fiction of James T. Farrell, to systems of film censorship that were designed and administered largely by conservative Irish Catholics.
In politics, cities like New York and Chicago provided examples of the political “machines” through which Irish American politicians wielded control and provided patronage, including jobs, to their fellow Irish Americans. The power of those machines had its basis in the manner in which Irish Americans “set down firm roots in American cities and stayed there, developing elaborately networked social, political, and cultural institutions” (p. 201).
Particularly interesting was Barrett’s look at issues of nationalism in the World War I era. When the Easter Rising occurred in 1916, and the United States entered the First World War one year later as an ally of Great Britain, Irish Americans who wanted to be true both to their ancestral heritage and to their modern nation faced a difficult dilemma. While many Irish Americans “poured into the armed forces, sensing once again an opportunity to prove themselves good Catholics and good Americans” (p. 259), there were other Irish Americans who opposed the war; and “the federal government went after them” through means like “[t]he 1917 Espionage Act, passed with the Irish movement’s radical wing much in mind” (p. 260).
It seems appropriate that, after finding The Irish Way in an Eason bookstore in Galway, Ireland, I read it while on a flight from Shannon Airport to Chicago, following in the course of a single day the weeks-long, 4000-mile westward journey that took so many Irish people from their island birthplace to a new life in a new homeland. I also found the book compelling because of the ways in which it relates to my own family’s history. My surname is German, but most of my ancestry is Irish; forebears of mine came to this country from County Galway in the Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking west), County Cork in the south, and County Tyrone in present-day Northern Ireland. Reading various stories of Irish Americans as recounted by Barrett in The Irish Way, I found myself thinking about my grandfather – my mother’s father, Martin Aloysius Ignatius Cook. (Alert Irish-American readers will already have picked up on the Jesuit aspects of the confirmation name that my grandfather chose.)
Martin Cook’s father, my great-grandfather, emigrated from Ireland to the East Coast of the United States; but in contrast with the better-known Irish diaspora communities in cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, my great-grandfather settled in Washington, D.C., and opened a bar in Georgetown. This, mind you, was back when Georgetown was not the tony neighborhood of today, but rather a dirty-up-to-the elbows canal town. (For this reason, I particularly appreciated Barrett’s reflections on the important role that saloon-keepers played in maintaining important social centers for Irish-American communities across the U.S.A.) Building from the humble Irish-American beginnings that my great-grandfather provided, my grandfather attended Georgetown University, a Jesuit institution in Washington that provided an avenue toward upward mobility for many Irish Americans. After graduating from Georgetown with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1922, my grandfather achieved great success as a banker in Washington. He was dedicated to his religion, a daily communicant at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington. And he showed his pride in his heritage through his membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), both organizations that Barrett discusses in his book. My grandfather’s life embodied much of what is best about the “Irish way” that so many Irish Americans of his era followed. Reading this book gave me a strong sense of the cultural context within which my beloved grandfather grew up and built his life.
Published as part of Penguin Books’ Penguin History of American Life series, James Barrett’s The Irish Way provides an interesting look at an important part of the cultural fabric of modern American life. Irish-American readers may find it to be of particular interest, but any reader who is interested in American urban history, or in the immigrant experience, is likely to benefit from reading this book.
September 6, 2020
The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multiethnic City by James Barrett is a wonderful social history with a broad reach. I learned much, particularly about the historical significance of being one of the early urban immigrant groups and how they remained in urban communities and mixed with newcomers when immigration picked up in the 1880s. There status as “outsiders” and oppressed people in their own country, is a constant as they are uncertain about status in the United States. They have a blend of Irish nationalism and Americanization, which does shape how other immigrant groups learn to be American. Barrett focuses on New York and Chicago, but mentions other cities where the Irish presence is important in employment, politics and cultural life.
The circumstances of the Irish change dramatically over time, arriving with limited employment on the docks and building canals, but they have advantages as industrial and the growing need for city employees increases. There are rough starts, with much racial tensions, as Irish initially excluded other groups from employment and limited their roles in politics. However, the Irish who did succeed learn to do so my incorporating other ethnic groups into their social networks. Irish politicians continue to represent wards and districts as they serve the Polish, Jewish and Italian constituents. Think about Al Smith and Robert Wagner pushing for safety in the work environment after the Triangle Fire and ending discrimination by religion.
In the early years, Barrett has a chapter that looks at the streets, especially the turf battles among gangs. People learn language here, and many Irish terms are incorporated into “English.” He explores the role of the parish, which is dominated by the Irish, with Catholics of other groups isolated in the basements. Yet, the parish is what keeps the Irish within communities, so they remain in the neighborhoods with many newcomers. The book helped me understand tensions within the Catholic communities, that I was unaware of even growing up in New York City.
Employment is complex, as English speakers, the Irish quickly become citizens and plan role in politics, and urban politics is filled with patronage jobs, including as city workers. It is understandable how Irish dominant the police force, fire fighters, and other jobs—over-represented as managers. Yet, they were a strong union force. The outsider status stays with them and enables many to understand the circumstances of others who faced oppression. They are central to union organizing, and some of the enlighten ones moved into inclusive unions rather than exclusionary ones.
Looking at culture is a major contribution of this work. The stage—or the many stages as entertainment is an urban commodity and the Irish play many roles in developing vaudeville, early plays that explore ethnic differences, as well as the films. Because of many of the Irish women emigrated as single women, they married outside their group more than other immigrant women, who tended to come with families. These cross “ethnic and even religious” relationships were explored in plays, which lets people imagine possibilities. In plays and particularly new films, the Irish men display masculinity, which is copied by others. Barrett also explore immigrant and second-generation writers, who explored social class differences as well as the shanty Irish are different from the lace curtain Irish, who have been upwardly mobile.
Coming of age in New York, in an age beyond Tammany Hall, but it was part of the legacy. It was nice to see the origins of the machine politics and how they operated differently in cities. Some women were suffragists, like Black women they were pushed to the sides, but important on the streets and Irish women worked in education, nursing and other young professions giving them the roles of raising others. Yet, it is interesting to see how the machine does become mixed along ethnic lines, but I think the paths for cities varied.
Identifying as a race, many Irish Americans understood and stood with other oppressed people, especially in light of the Easter Rising and efforts for freedom by their siblings in the homeland. They do not speak with one voice, as initially some supported immigrant restrictions, but once they were targeted for exclusion, they join forces to organize against the 1924 Johnson-Reed National Origins Act. Defending the immigrant is important. They are also fighting the KKK, since they were again targeted. Many were hesitant to aid the English in World War I, but the need to prove that they were Americans took over. Yet, we see differences in the abilities to identify with African American, Cubans and other groups fighting injustice.
The Irish of different generations are a complex and carry many contradictions, but Barrett provides a background for understand the way that they became Americans in multiethnic cities. They used their networks for not only their own survival but to build more inclusive institutions.
The circumstances of the Irish change dramatically over time, arriving with limited employment on the docks and building canals, but they have advantages as industrial and the growing need for city employees increases. There are rough starts, with much racial tensions, as Irish initially excluded other groups from employment and limited their roles in politics. However, the Irish who did succeed learn to do so my incorporating other ethnic groups into their social networks. Irish politicians continue to represent wards and districts as they serve the Polish, Jewish and Italian constituents. Think about Al Smith and Robert Wagner pushing for safety in the work environment after the Triangle Fire and ending discrimination by religion.
In the early years, Barrett has a chapter that looks at the streets, especially the turf battles among gangs. People learn language here, and many Irish terms are incorporated into “English.” He explores the role of the parish, which is dominated by the Irish, with Catholics of other groups isolated in the basements. Yet, the parish is what keeps the Irish within communities, so they remain in the neighborhoods with many newcomers. The book helped me understand tensions within the Catholic communities, that I was unaware of even growing up in New York City.
Employment is complex, as English speakers, the Irish quickly become citizens and plan role in politics, and urban politics is filled with patronage jobs, including as city workers. It is understandable how Irish dominant the police force, fire fighters, and other jobs—over-represented as managers. Yet, they were a strong union force. The outsider status stays with them and enables many to understand the circumstances of others who faced oppression. They are central to union organizing, and some of the enlighten ones moved into inclusive unions rather than exclusionary ones.
Looking at culture is a major contribution of this work. The stage—or the many stages as entertainment is an urban commodity and the Irish play many roles in developing vaudeville, early plays that explore ethnic differences, as well as the films. Because of many of the Irish women emigrated as single women, they married outside their group more than other immigrant women, who tended to come with families. These cross “ethnic and even religious” relationships were explored in plays, which lets people imagine possibilities. In plays and particularly new films, the Irish men display masculinity, which is copied by others. Barrett also explore immigrant and second-generation writers, who explored social class differences as well as the shanty Irish are different from the lace curtain Irish, who have been upwardly mobile.
Coming of age in New York, in an age beyond Tammany Hall, but it was part of the legacy. It was nice to see the origins of the machine politics and how they operated differently in cities. Some women were suffragists, like Black women they were pushed to the sides, but important on the streets and Irish women worked in education, nursing and other young professions giving them the roles of raising others. Yet, it is interesting to see how the machine does become mixed along ethnic lines, but I think the paths for cities varied.
Identifying as a race, many Irish Americans understood and stood with other oppressed people, especially in light of the Easter Rising and efforts for freedom by their siblings in the homeland. They do not speak with one voice, as initially some supported immigrant restrictions, but once they were targeted for exclusion, they join forces to organize against the 1924 Johnson-Reed National Origins Act. Defending the immigrant is important. They are also fighting the KKK, since they were again targeted. Many were hesitant to aid the English in World War I, but the need to prove that they were Americans took over. Yet, we see differences in the abilities to identify with African American, Cubans and other groups fighting injustice.
The Irish of different generations are a complex and carry many contradictions, but Barrett provides a background for understand the way that they became Americans in multiethnic cities. They used their networks for not only their own survival but to build more inclusive institutions.
April 15, 2025
This study is often entertaining and full of interesting insights. The sociological ideas underpinning Mr. Barrett's model were not as convincing as the political and religious ones, but his theory as a whole is quite compelling. That said, his model fits some nationalities well, but not others. It works well for the 'second wave' groups like the Poles, Hungarians, Italians and Russians, but doesn't work as well for earlier groups like the Dutch, Germans, Norwegians and Swedes who had well-established communities before the Irish arrived in large numbers. Generally, this is a thought provoking book and one well worth reading. The chronicle of challenges faced by the Irish and other European immigrants over a century ago is especially enlightening today when the descendants of all 'white' Americans are lumped together as a monolithic group. This is a cautionary tale. It is ironic that the Irish were once considered a distinctly inferior 'Hibernian race,' and today everything they fought so hard to get and achieved generations before the New Deal: acceptance as 'real' Americans, upward mobility, political influence, and religious tolerance are now considered utterly unobtainable without Government largesse. Sadly, the dream of freedom that the Irish believed in has been replaced by a 'Great Society' that continues to fail those it claims to serve while enriching the promoters of a failed system.
June 3, 2022
I really enjoyed this look at how life was back in that time period. Having Irish ancestry, I was interested in seeing what prompted many to come to America and try to get a feel for how my family found New York City when they got here. This book shows various parts of life for the Irish, including their conflicts with the Italians! I hadn't realized it was so brutal. Makes me really appreciate my life a bit more -if my parents hadn't gotten over that, I wouldn't be here! Dad's Irish, Mom's Italian. In addition to the NYC Irish, the book also looks at other areas of the US, including Chicago. If you're looking for a no-nonsense account of things with no sugarcoating - this book shows our faults as well as our talents - this is a good book to poke your nose into.
November 12, 2024
Made it halfway through the book. There may be lots of factual information in this book but I could not finish it because of the Communistic view I believe it has. Also, the adulation for the racist eugenics advocate, Margaret Sanger. And for other commies like Mother Jones. And my belief that anything he could write that was derogatory to the Catholic Church.
Just not my cup of tea. Take my review with a grain of salt, if you will. Commies destroy and that is what I believe was the intention of this book.
Just not my cup of tea. Take my review with a grain of salt, if you will. Commies destroy and that is what I believe was the intention of this book.
March 21, 2022
A Wall Street Journal review says, "Richly detailed, often fascinating ... a very absorbing work of social history." It was richly detailed, occasionally fascinating... but repetitious and long. I am glad I finished it, and will not read it again.
June 18, 2024
DNF. Reads and is organized like a textbook
July 22, 2014
This book is not only a detailed history of the Irish in America but an in-depth sociological study of the Irish interaction with other races and ethnic groups. The book is well researched and well documented with many notes citing academic sources. I have a much greater understanding of the Irish Way in influencing what has become American life. The famine in Ireland brought an influx of Irish immigrants to America in the 1840s, 50s, and 60s and beyond. With them they brought strength and resolution for an independent and self sufficient life. The Irish Way is a story of struggle for a better life in becoming Americanized. But, it is also the story of being good citizens and a dedication to family.
James R. Barrett, the author and college history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has made a significant achievement in writing and researching the book. He paints the picture of the Irish immigrants adaptation to the American cities and the interaction with immigrants from many other ethnic groups. From the Irish street gangs, to practitioners of Catholicism, and leaders of labor movements, the Irish have made major contributions to what is American today. The strength of the Irish in many ways has become synonymous with the Nations strength. The political machines of multiethnic cities have found great leaders in Fair men who were Irish with great empathy for other immigrant groups with differing race and ethnic backgrounds.
This book should be read as an academic endeavor. I recommend this book to both American History students and those interested in a deep look at the Irish influence on America from a cultural and sociological view point.
James R. Barrett, the author and college history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has made a significant achievement in writing and researching the book. He paints the picture of the Irish immigrants adaptation to the American cities and the interaction with immigrants from many other ethnic groups. From the Irish street gangs, to practitioners of Catholicism, and leaders of labor movements, the Irish have made major contributions to what is American today. The strength of the Irish in many ways has become synonymous with the Nations strength. The political machines of multiethnic cities have found great leaders in Fair men who were Irish with great empathy for other immigrant groups with differing race and ethnic backgrounds.
This book should be read as an academic endeavor. I recommend this book to both American History students and those interested in a deep look at the Irish influence on America from a cultural and sociological view point.
March 15, 2012
Reading anything about the Irish is a passion for me so anytime I am offered a book about Ireland and its people I jump at the chance. The Irish were the first ethnic group in America and no matter how long the Irish have been here they always feel that Ireland is 'home' but also proud to be American. With their lives deeply rooted in their origins, be it religion, culture etc. they are always passionate.The Irish Way delves into the Irish in America in a way that is easy to understand and very entertaining. I am of Irish descent and I can still remember the slight brogue that my father had and the stories he would tell. In telling this story of the Irish in America, James R. Barrett uses his immense knowledge to instill in his readers a sense of what it was like to be Irish in America. The struggle in the streets of New York and Chicago, their deep Catholic faith, the racism even among their own such as the difference between the "lace curtain Irish" to the "shanty Irish". The Irish have had a huge presence on stage and in movies over the years and have been a force to be reckoned with in the labor movement for men and women. I really enjoyed this book and it will have a place with my many other books about Ireland.
April 3, 2016
I picked this book up in a clearance sale and wasn't expecting anything more than the typical story of the Irish in America. I was pleasantly surprised though at the depth of the scholarship. It shows how the Irish set the pattern for the immigrant experience in America, through religion, politics, employment and the arts. While showing the discrimination the Irish faced, the book is also honest about the way the Irish interacted with other ethnic groups, detailing both positive and negative encounters. By arranging the book by theme Barrett is better able to explore the Irish American experience in all it's complications.
April 7, 2012
The Irish Way is serious social history for the serious reader. It examines the process of becoming American through the Irish experience in America from the 1830's until, roughly, the end of the Great Depression. Read my full review here: http://tinyurl.com/7j3j5ar
An interesting fictional companion piece would be Dennis LeHane's "The Given Day," a fine novel (his best yet) set in Boston during the 1919 police strike and influenza epidemic. You can read my review of this novel here: http://tinyurl.com/79noy5l
An interesting fictional companion piece would be Dennis LeHane's "The Given Day," a fine novel (his best yet) set in Boston during the 1919 police strike and influenza epidemic. You can read my review of this novel here: http://tinyurl.com/79noy5l
April 7, 2012
Well researched book on Irish immigrants assimilating into American culture in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Stories of their interactions with immigrants from other countries provides ancillary information about assimilation of those groups as well. I enjoyed the section on the remarkable upward mobility achieved by Irish American women in the early 1900s, and the section on politics. Other than that it was a little dry for me; I just prefer greater focus on individual stories than the big picture.
September 26, 2012
Interesting book that centers on the story of Irish American influence over later immigrants. The author argues convincingly that the Irish often defined what it meant to “be American” for later immigrant groups.
Please read my interview with James Barrett here: http://www.washingtonindependentrevie...
Please read my interview with James Barrett here: http://www.washingtonindependentrevie...
March 17, 2014
Interesting look at the impact Irish Americans had on entertainment, popular culture, labor, politics, and other facets of society, as well as the pivotal role played in the overall immigrant experience of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
October 13, 2012
I wanted to love this book. It was filled with fascinating details and theories, and had direct relevance to my own family's history. However, it was very dry reading and a trial to plow through it.
August 9, 2012
An excellent book about the Irish American experience in the. U.S. and particularly focused on the immigrant experience and how it shaped the. Urban landscape.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews