From: Alexander Peach
Subject: RE: Ir-D Black Irish

There is a category of identity called "black British" that is being touted
as a way of assimilating British subjects of colour into the national
liberal imagination. It seems that many black Britons are using the term
as a way of empowering themselves and claiming authenticity within a still
institutionally and demotically racist state. For instance, yesterday,
William Hague the leader of the Conservative Party opposition in Britain
attacked the liberal consensus on race in this country as being detrimental
to crime, i.e. (the now somewhat curbed ) heavy policing and undeniable
harassment of black Britons results in lowering crime - nonsense of course
unless you are only interested in arresting young people for minor cannabis
possession. This has resonances with the way Irish communities were policed
in nineteenth century Britain where - as Roger Swift has shown - the Irish
population in certain key areas (the inner city "slums" or lower classes
in other words) were under heavy surveillance and subsequently featured
prominently in the crime statistics in minor offences such as drunkenness
and brawling. This of course contributes to the historical memory of
immigrant groups as inherently "criminal" reinforced by prejudicially
restricting their access to legitimate economic engagement. Also the
invention of new crimes such as distilling and retailing of alcoholic
spirit also criminalised aspects of ethnicity/ethnic-entrepreneurship,
resonating with the modern criminalisation of cannabis amongst African and
West Indian groups in this part of the world.

As for the "Black Irish" this could possibly a reference to travelling
peoples of Europe who's Far Eastern origin is still detectable in their
language, music and in some their phenotypical appearance. My own cousins
in Ireland look very Indian! That is they are very dark skinned with black
hair and brown eyes. This said I do not want to suggest this appearance
means anything other than what we wish to impose upon it. For a racist it
would be an easy way to separate the Aryan sheep from the Asiatic goats;
indeed the need to impose irrational hierarchies of authenticity/belonging
seems to me to be fundamental tenet of modern societies - hence the need to
sub categorise the Irish as black? This assassination of societal worth in
turn has an instrumental effect of legitimising discourses that
de-legitimise certain groups firstly by restricting access to residence
within the state and thereafter - for those who make it through -
instigate restriction of access to public (welfare, education, health) and
private (work, promotion) goods. As the idea of the "bogus" migrant enters
the realm of "common sense" this unites the disparate communities that make
up a state against a common problematised "Other". Class and gender are
also parts of this modern process of hierarchical construction. Thereby,
the dominant groups in society impose their hegemony of belonging and
authenticity upon the national communities inevitably reserving the fruits
of society for themselves and their own.

Until there is a labour shortage that is and down come the immigration
controls and a flood of money to explain how society is more
tolerant.......

Polemically yours,

Dr. Alex Peach.





- -----Original Message-----
From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk [SMTP:irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk]
Sent: 15 December 2000 07:10
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Subject: Ir-D Black Irish




From: Marion Casey
Subject: Black Irish

Hello Paddy,

It seems to me that we have to consider the possibility that "Black
Irish" as coded in the U.S. Census does not reflect mixed African
American and Irish ancestry, but that old expression signifying those
Irish with black hair and darker skin than the "typical" Irish look (the
so-called descendants of the Spanish Armada -- but let's not get into
the validity of that!). It seems very odd that Black Irish is coded
among the other Irish categories but not among the African American. Is
there an equivalent code for Black English or Black French? I'd be
willing to bet there isn't. "Black Irish" may be an answer akin to
"Scotch Irish" and therefore not something that should be deconstructed
literally. In other words, perhaps it's a colloquial marker that has
been handed down through the generations -- in which case it raises some
interesting questions about perceived differences among the Irish in
America that are broader than we have been inclined to consider. Just
some thoughts!

Marion Casey
Department of History
New York University

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

I think I should point out that this 'Black Irish' theme is one of those
perenniels of the Web and the Internet, surfacing again and again in
genealogical, ethnic and Irish discussions. And I am not sure that I can
see much point in repeating every whimsical detail of those earlier
discussions here on the Irish-Diaspora list.

(He said through gritted teeth...)

But the good thing about the Internet is that those earlier discussions
leave their traces behind...

Some examples below...

P.O'S.

1.
http://www.darkfiber.com/blackirish/

the myth of
the Black Irish:
Spanish syntagonism
and prethetical salvation
by tpkunesh

Qui Angliam vincere vellet
ab Ybernia incipere debet.
Who would England win
In Ireland must begin.

'The idea of this study struck me six years ago after the first mention of
the Black Irish as told to me in variant four of the myth. The question of
its origin, meaning, and purpose has haunted me ever since, primarily due to
my own Irish heritage (my mother's family name is Kelly) and extended
residence in Spain. [My grandfather, Theodore Primeau Kelly, registered
Standing Rock Sioux (Lakota) Indian (mixed-blood), also used the term to
describe himself, but that was his disguise to pass himself off as white in
White society.]
It should be kept in mind that this is a myth whose background is the
twentieth century, to date. Due to the lack of variants prior to the XXth
century I feel some trepidation in asserting belief in any one cause of
origin.

This lack of literature and fieldwork regarding the hispanic Black Irish
actually leaves us with more questions than I can attempt to answer. This,
then, is only one attempt at an explanation of the myth, a simple stab in
the dark. Hopefully the introduction of this topic will result in a more
fruitful discussion and study of the myth.

tpkunesh[at]darkfiber.com 12 march 1984
St. Paul, Minnesota

2.
Comments and discussion on the above
http://www.darkfiber.com/blackirish/bicomments.html

3.
http://rosecity.net/cherokee/blackdutch.html

"So you were told you were Black Dutch or Black Irish"

by Pitter Seabaugh

'I got a call last week from my cousin Mike Ladd. We are both researching
the name Ladd. He asked me if I had ever heard that the Ladds were of Black
Dutch ancestry. I told him no but that I had heard they were Black Irish.
I got to thinking about it and thought it might be of interest as to how the
terms were borrowed, by Native Americans, to avoid persecution.
The following is a quotation displayed on the Museum wall of "The Oakville
Mounds Park & Museum" in Moulton, Alabama. Before the Indian Removal Act in
1830, many of Lawrence County's Cherokee people were already mixed with
white settlers and stayed in the country of the Warrior Mountains. They
denied their ancestry and basically lived much of their lives in fear of
being sent West. Full bloods claimed to be Black Irish or Black Dutch, thus
denying their rightful Indian blood. After being fully assimilated into the
general population years later, these Irish Cherokee mixed blood
descendants, began reclaiming their Indian heritage in the land of the
Warrior Mountains, Lawrence County, Alabama. During the 1900 U.S. Census
only 78 people claimed their Indian heritage. In 1990, more than 2000
individuals claimed Indian descent. Today more than 4000 citizens are proud
to claim their Indian heritage and are members of the Echota Cherokee's
tribe.'

4.
http://152.1.96.5/jouvert/v4i1/onkey.htm

"A Melee and a Curtain":
Black-Irish Relations in Ned Harrigan's
The Mulligan Guard Ball
by
Lauren Onkey
Ball State University, Indiana

'I suggest that a study of such syncretic moments in the literature of the
diaspora--especially in those works considered to have improved the image of
Irish Americans--reveals that blacks have played an important imaginative
and symbolic role in the definition of Irish-American identity. The work of
playwright Ned Harrigan (1844-1911) is one such example. Harrigan featured
black and Irish characters interacting in his work, and he is also credited
with creating more positive images of the Irish on stage than had been seen
previously. Jon Finson argues, for example, that "The sympathy for the Irish
generated by the Harrigan-Braham musicals served a real social need" (xxix).
I want to examine what role black characters play in "the social need" of
improving the image of the Irish in Harrigan's The Mulligan Guard Ball
(1879). To the Irish characters in the play, blacks are simultaneously
"other" and the same, antagonists and doubles. Harrigan imagines a community
on the lower east side where blacks and Irish can live together peacefully;
however, we will see that such peace depends on the containment of African
Americans. In other words, Harrigan's work reveals Irish-black relations of
the 1860s-70s in all their complexity; the play depicts serious hostilities,
syncretic close ties, and the ultimate--but not complete--triumph of the
Irish.'

5.
http://www.springhillfarm.com/broomhall/lists.html

Black-Dutch-America-L[at]rootsweb

'This is a list for any that claim Black Dutch ancestry. We have found that
most who claim it, have Native American or African American ancestry. It
also appears to have been a cover for their heritage, at a time when alot of
Native Americans and African American slaves were hiding from persecution.
Some chose not to walk the "Trail of Tears", and hid in the mountains. Many
different cultures claim this title, and probably are. The only thing that
we dispute, with other Black Dutch list is, that it did not originate in
Germany.'

Black-Irish-L[at]rootsweb

'The Black-Irish list is somewhat a cousin to Black-Dutch. Only difference
is that it was mainly African Americans who hid behind these words. Keeping
in mind that, Native Indians and African Americans were both held in
slavery, they both share this title as well. Again, most who claim it, have
mixed heritage. [Please note this means Negro not the "Black Irish" who are
white with black hair.]'

Do note that all the above are quotations from the original Web sources, and
are not my words.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Jim Doan
Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish 3

One reason for this is that "fear dubh" (black man) in Irish usually
connotes
the devil. "Fear gorm" (blue man) would be a useful variant to avoid
confusion.

Jim Doan

irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk wrote:

> From: Hilary Robinson
> Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish
>
> A colleague here at Univ. Ulster, Bill Hart, has done some research on
> black (african) presence in 18th C Ireland, and was telling me that those
> who were 'black' were called 'blue', and that this was how the
nomenclature
> was distinct from the 'black Irish'. He also said that there is evidence
> this has persisted - there was in recent times a black (african) man who
> had a street stall in Dublin, who was nicknamed 'the blue man'.
>
> hilary
>
> >From: Marion Casey
> >Subject: Black Irish
> >
> >Hello Paddy,
> >
> >It seems to me that we have to consider the possibility that "Black
> >Irish" as coded in the U.S. Census does not reflect mixed African
> >American and Irish ancestry, but that old expression signifying those
> >Irish with black hair and darker skin than the "typical" Irish look (the
> >so-called descendants of the Spanish Armada -- but let's not get into
> >the validity of that!). It seems very odd that Black Irish is coded
> >among the other Irish categories but not among the African American. Is
> >there an equivalent code for Black English or Black French? I'd be
> >willing to bet there isn't. "Black Irish" may be an answer akin to
> >"Scotch Irish" and therefore not something that should be deconstructed
> >literally. In other words, perhaps it's a colloquial marker that has
> >been handed down through the generations -- in which case it raises some
> >interesting questions about perceived differences among the Irish in
> >America that are broader than we have been inclined to consider. Just
> >some thoughts!
> >
> >Marion Casey
> >Department of History
> >New York University
>
> _______________________________
>
> Dr. Hilary Robinson
> School of Art and Design
> University of Ulster at Belfast
> York Street
> Belfast BT15 1ED
> Northern Ireland
> UK
>
>
> direct phone/fax: (+44) (0) 28 9026.7291)

From: "Willie Jenkins"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish 3

'The blue man' comes from the Irish language, as far as I remember from
school.

If you are to directly translate 'the black man' to Irish, viz. an fear
dubh, it means 'the devil.'
thus, 'an fear gorm' (the blue man) is the (politically-correct??) way
around this!

Nollaig Shona daoibh,

Willie Jenkins
Dept. of Geography
University of Toronto


>From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>Reply-To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>Subject: Ir-D Black Irish 3
>Date: Fri 15 Dec 2000 18:11:00 +0000
>
>From: Hilary Robinson
>Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish
>
>A colleague here at Univ. Ulster, Bill Hart, has done some research on
>black (african) presence in 18th C Ireland, and was telling me that those
>who were 'black' were called 'blue', and that this was how the nomenclature
>was distinct from the 'black Irish'. He also said that there is evidence
>this has persisted - there was in recent times a black (african) man who
>had a street stall in Dublin, who was nicknamed 'the blue man'.
>
>hilary
>
> >From: Marion Casey
> >Subject: Black Irish
> >
> >Hello Paddy,
> >
> >It seems to me that we have to consider the possibility that "Black
> >Irish" as coded in the U.S. Census does not reflect mixed African
> >American and Irish ancestry, but that old expression signifying those
> >Irish with black hair and darker skin than the "typical" Irish look (the
> >so-called descendants of the Spanish Armada -- but let's not get into
> >the validity of that!). It seems very odd that Black Irish is coded
> >among the other Irish categories but not among the African American. Is
> >there an equivalent code for Black English or Black French? I'd be
> >willing to bet there isn't. "Black Irish" may be an answer akin to
> >"Scotch Irish" and therefore not something that should be deconstructed
> >literally. In other words, perhaps it's a colloquial marker that has
> >been handed down through the generations -- in which case it raises some
> >interesting questions about perceived differences among the Irish in
> >America that are broader than we have been inclined to consider. Just
> >some thoughts!
> >
> >Marion Casey
> >Department of History
> >New York University
>
>
>_______________________________
>
>Dr. Hilary Robinson
>School of Art and Design
>University of Ulster at Belfast
>York Street
>Belfast BT15 1ED
>Northern Ireland
>UK
>
>
>direct phone/fax: (+44) (0) 28 9026.7291)
>

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

From: KP Corrigan
Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish 3

This is most likely because the original Irish term for black (African) is
"duine gorm" - which literally means 'person' + 'blue'.

Karen.


>From: Hilary Robinson
>Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish
>
>A colleague here at Univ. Ulster, Bill Hart, has done some research on
>black (african) presence in 18th C Ireland, and was telling me that those
>who were 'black' were called 'blue', and that this was how the nomenclature
>was distinct from the 'black Irish'. He also said that there is evidence
>this has persisted - there was in recent times a black (african) man who
>had a street stall in Dublin, who was nicknamed 'the blue man'.
>
>hilary
>
>>From: Marion Casey
>>Subject: Black Irish
>>
>>Hello Paddy,
>>
>>It seems to me that we have to consider the possibility that "Black
>>Irish" as coded in the U.S. Census does not reflect mixed African
>>American and Irish ancestry, but that old expression signifying those
>>Irish with black hair and darker skin than the "typical" Irish look (the
>>so-called descendants of the Spanish Armada -- but let's not get into
>>the validity of that!). It seems very odd that Black Irish is coded
>>among the other Irish categories but not among the African American. Is
>>there an equivalent code for Black English or Black French? I'd be
>>willing to bet there isn't. "Black Irish" may be an answer akin to
>>"Scotch Irish" and therefore not something that should be deconstructed
>>literally. In other words, perhaps it's a colloquial marker that has
>>been handed down through the generations -- in which case it raises some
>>interesting questions about perceived differences among the Irish in
>>America that are broader than we have been inclined to consider. Just
>>some thoughts!
>>
>>Marion Casey
>>Department of History
>>New York University
>
>
>_______________________________
>
>Dr. Hilary Robinson
>School of Art and Design
>University of Ulster at Belfast
>York Street
>Belfast BT15 1ED
>Northern Ireland
>UK
>
>
>direct phone/fax: (+44) (0) 28 9026.7291)


****************************************************************************
**
Dr. Karen P. Corrigan,
Deputy Director, Centre for Research in Linguistics,
Department of English Literary and Linguistic Studies,
Percy Building,
University of Newcastle,
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,
NE1 7RU
Telephone: 0191 222 7757
Fax: 0191 222 8708
E-mail: k.p.corrigan[at]ncl.ac.uk
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/crl/

Forwarded on behalf of...

"Simon J. Bronner"
Subject: CFP: REMEMBERING THE 20TH CENTURY, DEADLINE 1/8/01

>LAST CALL FOR PAPERS: MIDDLE ATLANTIC AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION (MASA)
>ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 30-31, 2001, JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
>
>DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS OF PROPOSALS: JANUARY 8, 2001
>
>SEND ABSTRACT AND BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT TO (by post, fax, or e-mail):
>
>Professor Simon Bronner
>American Studies
>Penn State Harrisburg
>777 West Harrisburg Pike
>Middletown, PA 17057-4898
>717-948-6724 (fax)
>sjb2[at]psu.edu
>
>The theme for the conference is "Remembering the Twentieth Century," and
>presentations will be held at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
>conference center. Proposals may include individual presentations, panels,
>workshops, and forums. The program committee is interested in proposals
>that consider interpretations, and re-interpretations of events,
>expressions, trends, themes, and eras within the twentieth century. The
>organizers are particularly interested in proposals that address the
>construction of memory and identity--in mass media and commercial
>enterprise, academic disciplines, museums, archives, historical agencies,
>and community organizations. From the vantage of the recently entered
>twenty-first century, how has, how should, how can, the past century be
>remembered--in public, commercial, and academic settings, in the United
>States and abroad? The conference coincides with the opening (and special
>viewing and reception Friday, March 30, for conference participants) of a
>major exhibition on "immigration to America" at the Johnstown Heritage
Center.
>
>For more information, contact Professor Simon Bronner, Penn State
>Harrisburg (717-948-6039, 717-948-6724 [fax], or sjb2[at]psu.edu).

From: "Brian McGinn"
Subject: Irish in Argentina

Congratulations to The Southern Cross for 125 years of continuous service to
the Irish community in Argentina, and to Managing Editor Jorge Pablo Mackey
and his staff on the publication of TSC's special 125th Anniversary Edition,
dated November 2000.

Among the contributors to this glossy, magazine-style issue (114 pp., c.
9-by-12 in.) are Ir-D member Guillermo MacLoughlin Breard on 'Irish
Immigration into Argentina' and 'The Irish as Farmers'; Michael John
Geraghty on 'Irish Power in Argentina'; Patsy Farrell on "Irish Culture in
the Classrooms'; Silvia Kenny on "Women of Character' and Susan Shanahan on
'The Celtic Revival' (Irish music in Argentina). In addition to de rigueur
tributes to Admiral William Brown of Foxford, revered founder of the
Argentine Navy, there is also the unsigned article, 'The Killing of the
Pallotines', a poignant reminder that the Irish Argentine community was not
immune to the horrors of the civil war that convulsed their nation,
1976-1982.

Most major articles, including all mentioned above, are presented in English
as well as Spanish, courtesy of a grant from the Irish Embassy, Buenos Aires
under the stewardship of Amb. Paula Slattery. For further information, see
the '125 Anniversario' link on the TSC web site www.thesoutherncross.com.ar
Prices here appear to be in local currency, but an email to
editor[at]thesoutherncross.com.ar should bring details on overseas shipping
costs.


Brian McGinn
Alexandria, Virginia
bmcginn[at]clark.net

Forwarded, with permission, 4 items from...

THE IRISH EMIGRANT
December 18, 2000, Issue No.724

1.
ANOTHER MEMORABLE VISIT

President Clinton arrived back in Ireland on Tuesday morning,
accompanied by his wife Hillary and their daughter Chelsea, to complete
what was often referred to as a lap of honour in the closing days of
his Presidency. The cynics say that the only foreign policy
achievement of his eight years in office is his involvement in the
Northern peace process and that, outside of Ireland, this has hardly
been noticed. The majority view here, however, seems to be that he
developed a huge interest in this country and became involved, as he
says, "because it was the right thing to do".

Air Force One was about 30 minutes late in arriving at Dublin Airport
and it seemed that every engagement after that was delayed even
further. The Taoiseach and leading politicians were at the airport to
greet the visitors, in what was a relaxed affair as this was an
official visit rather than a State visit. Helicopters took the
Clintons and their entourage to the Phoenix Park where, after a visit
to the US Ambassador's residence, they called on President McAleese at
Aras an Uachtarain. From there Mr Clinton travelled to Government
Buildings while Mrs Clinton addressed women parliamentarians. The
President's next stop was the new visitor centre at the Guinness
complex, the Storehouse. Here about 2,000 of the great, the good and
the not-so-good had assembled by invitation. It seemed, however, that
he was only introduced to TDs and Senators. After speeches and lunch
it was off again to what appear to have been two unscheduled visits,
first to the Blarney Woollen Mills shop in Nassau Street and then to
the Taoiseach's "local", Fagan's pub in Drumcondra.

The day's big event was in Dundalk. There, up to 30,000 people waited
patiently for hours to give President Clinton and his family a
rapturous welcome. Some commentators thought that his speech was
rather lightweight, but making profound statements to a crowd in
carnival mood wasn't going to enhance the peace process. Instead he
had some simple and timely messages, the most important being that "You
cannot win by making your neighbour lose". From there it was on to
Belfast where, by now, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was waiting to
welcome him.

Wednesday morning was spent at Stormont where President Clinton met
Members of the Legislative Assembly, prior to joining Tony Blair for
meetings with the various political groupings in an effort to put the
peace process back on track again. As no meeting was arranged with the
DUP, which is opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, its MLAs accosted
the President in the Great Hall of Stormont to tell him what they
thought of developments to date. Mr Clinton listened intently and was
seen to make notes. DUP leader Rev. Ian Paisley was nowhere to be seen
as European Parliament business was considered to be more important.
While the President was at Stormont, Hillary Clinton was addressing
representatives of women's group at the Grand Opera House. There the
Senator-elect gave more details of her plan, unveiled a day earlier, to
convene a meeting of women parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland.

In the afternoon more than 8,000 people were in the Odyssey Centre to
greet the President. His speech there also suited the mood of the
audience although he managed to call for the implementation of the
Patten Report, continued progress in demilitarisation and putting
paramilitary arms beyond use. One intense young man tried to heckle
but I am not sure that anyone was aware which view he represented.
That evening the Presidential party flew out to London with the genuine
thanks of the vast majority ringing in his ears. Most people accept
that it was his intervention, at crucial times, which created the
climate in which ceasefires could be called and the Good Friday
Agreement signed, leading to the current environment of relative peace.


2.
- - Dr Ruth Dudley Edwards received an apology and compensation of Stg25k
from the publishers of Tim Pat Coogan's latest book, "Wherever Green
is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora". In the book Mr Coogan had
been fairly scathing of the historian, saying that she "grovelled to
and hypocritically ingratiated herself with the English
establishment" in order to further her career. She was also accused
of causing the collapse of the British Association for Irish Studies
because she insisted on bringing her political views to bear in what
was meant to be a non-political organisation.

3.
- - Tanaiste Mary Harney announced that an additional IR1m for Irish
emigrant welfare services in Britain was provided for in Budget 2001.
This doubles the amount allocated to the Dion ("Shelter") fund, which
is aimed at assisting vulnerable and socially excluded members of the
Irish community.

4.
- - It was discovered during the week that police officers in the
Humberside region of England had been told by their superiors to
treat all Irish people and people of Irish descent as terrorist
suspects. Irish Ambassador to Britain Edward Barrington lodged a
protest with the British minister with responsibility for race
relations, whose name happens to be Mike O'Brien. Almost immediately
the Chief Constable of Humberside Police issued a statement saying
that the policy had been withdrawn "with immediate effect".

for subscription
information contact:
The Irish Emigrant Ltd, | Liam Ferrie
Cathedral Building, Middle Street, | Tel: 353-91-569158
Galway, | Fax: 353-91-569178
Ireland | Email: ferrie[at]emigrant.ie

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

1.
Regular Ir-D members will have noticed that Oliver Marshall is back from
field work in Missouri and the Corn Islands. I know roughly where Missouri
is - but I had to ask about the Corn Islands. Here is Oliver's reply...

'Corn Islands: two small English-speaking islands 70 kms off the Caribbean
coast of Nicaragua. Incredibly beautiful in a swaying-coconut-palm kind of
a way, very beautiful and socially extremely interesting. I was there not
for anything Irish-related, but to research the Caymanian diaspora and
chase turtles. But I did stumble across the inevitable Irish links. Several
people told me of their Irish great-great grandfathers, owners of cotton
plantations in the days of slavery: "We was white, but we came down
black", one old man said to me while telling me of his ancestor.'

Thanks to Oliver for sharing that with us.

{The Corn Islands are mentioned in English-Speaking Communities in Latin
America, edited by Oliver Marshall, published by Palgrave and the Institute
of Latin American Studies, 2000. And there is a really interesting chapter
about the Bay Islands of Honduras - the Honduran government was willing to
acknowledge an obligation to indigenous languages, but not so willing to
acknowledge English as one of those languages...)

2.
This is from Robert G. Lowery, review of Glazier, ed., The Encylopaedia of
the Irish in America, in Irish Literary Supplement, Fall, 2000, p. 17.

EXTRACT BEGINS...
'Lastly, the Dictionary [sic] does not address those nonwhites who are as
Irish as most whites who claim to be Irish. Ward Connerly, a prominent
African-American, related an incident in which the issue of lineage arose.
"On St. Patrick's Day three years ago," he wrote, "I addressed a group of
predominantly white supporters. I told them that Californoia Gov. Pete
Wilson had wished me a 'Happy St. Patrick's Day, as one Irishman to
another'. There was a burst of laughter. I had anticipated that reaction,
and my response was immediate: "Why did you laugh?" I sensed that my
question caused some discomfort, so I quickly took them out of their misery
by telling them, "You laughed because it seems odd that a brown-skinned man
acknowledges his Irish ancestry. Although we say that America is a
melting-pot, we still conduct ourselves according to the 'one-drop rule.'
One drop of black blood and you are 'black. Everything else is blotted from
your ancestry."
EXTRACT ENDS...

In fact, the occasional 'black Irish' person has entered Michael Glazier's
Encylopaedia. Bishop James Augustine Healy is there - but maybe as an
example that the Encylopaedia is strong on Catholicism.

3.
I should maybe also report on conversations with my friend and neighbour
here, Suzanne O'Neill - with Suzanne's permission. Born in London, a black
African father, an Irish mother (who seem to have been silly young people),
a desperately unhappy childhood in foster homes, no contact whatsoever with
Africa, and - when she contacted her mother's family - treated as an
embarassment in Ireland. When we first met, and Suzanne learnt that I study
the Irish Diaspora, she asked if she was allowed to be part of it...

Maybe Ignatiev's book should be re-titled, How the white Irish became
white...

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan

When you work with people you tend to go and look at their previous work...

Round Tower buffs will find much to enjoy in Brian Lalor's book...

Brian Lalor
The Irish Round Tower
Origins and Architecture Explored

The Collins Press, Cork, 1999
ISBN 1 898256 64 0

The Round Towers are the most extraordinary, elegant and distinctive
features of the Irish landscape - 'the only form of architecture which is
unique to Ireland'. The most perfect surviving example is most probably at
Devenish, in Fermanagh - heart-stoppingly beautiful on its island site.

Brian Lalor's book is yet another example of the efficacy of 'walking the
ground'. He has visited every Round Tower and Round Tower site in Ireland,
and every site is analysed in detail, often illustrated with his own
photographs and drawings.

Irish Diaspora content...?

Well, the towers themselves are evidence of contact, stream and
counterstream. In fact they are examples of what the archaeologists used to
call 'Atlantic bounce' - an architectural or cultural practice travels
westward across Europe, meets the Atlantic, and bounces eastward, modifying
all the time.

As Brian Lalor sees it, returning Irish monks 'unpacked' the 'westwork' of
Continental church architecture, especially that of the Rhineland, into
separate elements, Round Tower, High Cross and western doorway.

There are some Irish Round Towers outside Ireland, or at least some
contenders. The tower at Brechin, in Angus, Scotland, would not look out of
place in Ireland. Other possibles can be found in Abernethy, Perthshire, at
Peel on the Isle of Man, and at Egilsay, in Orkney - evidence of the
influence of Irish monks, and their masons.

The other Irish Diaspora connection is with the symbolic Round Tower,
solemnly built as part of 'Irish villages' at C19th and early C20th
international trade fairs. Lalor mentions 'the nadir in this progress' -
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. This tradition
continues, with the Round Tower at the Island of Ireland Peace Park at
Messines, opened Queen Elizabeth II, President McAleese, and HM King Albert
II of Belgium, 11th November 1998.

See http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/constructionservice/achieve2.htm

About which Lalor is scathing - 'poverty of the imagination...' And rather
stubby.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

Forwarded for information...

English Historical Review

Schottenskloster: Irische Benediktinerkonvente im Hochmittelalterlichen
Deutschland. / (book reviews)
Author/s: Jane Sayers
Issue: April, 1998

From the seventh century onwards Irish monks had left Ireland to go as
missionaries to the Continent. By the middle of the eleventh century their
main activities were in Germany and the first house Weih-(from
vicus)Sankt-Peter was founded in Regensburg in 1075-6, to be followed c.
1110 by the larger monastery of St James (of which Weih-Sankt-Peter later
became a dependency). In Schottenkloster. Irische Benediktinerkonvente
imbochmittelalterlichen Deutschland (Paderborn/Munich: Ferdinand Schoningh,
1995; pp. 402. N.p.), Helmut Flachenecker considers the history of the
Schottenkloster from c. 1000 to c 1300. By 1185 there were seven Irish
foundations in Germany, the major settlements being at Regensburg, at
Wurzburg, where there was a long Irish tradition going back to Kilian, the
apostle to Franconia, martyred in c. 689, and at Vienna. After sketching in
the background to the Irish presence in Western Europe, Dr Flachenecker
considers all aspects of the lives of the communities. The houses had
different influences on them -- royal, episcopal, princely -- according to
their foundations, and somewhat different patterns of development, but the
monks were apparently all Irish, and it was not until the fifteenth century
that German monks were introduced to compensate for the decrease in the
number of those coming from Ireland. Gaelic traditions and links were also
strengthened by the development of a federation under the abbot of St James,
Regensburg. Abbots of the other houses were to visit Regensburg annually,
where something like a general chapter was held, and the abbot of St James
was the visitor of the other Schottenkltster, including the priories in
Ireland and at Kiev. All variety of interesting questions have been raised
about these Irish settlements by Dr Flachenecker. If, as has been suggested,
the first General Chapter was held in 1211, then it preceded the provision
in the Fourth Lateran Council and is extremely interesting. The trouble is
that the sources are poor, and many are late copies or transcripts. Dr
Flachenecker has clearly been assiduously through the records of the
separate archives and made what use he could of them. They are fragmentary
for all but the three major houses, and, even for these, they might be
described as sadly deficient. Surviving papal privileges number only fifteen
before 1215, and there appear to be no economic records at all. The Irish
continued their colonizing efforts from the Continent. Monks from Vienna
went to Kiev, and there were dependent priories in Ireland at Cashel and at
Ross Carbery. It is strange to think of these wanderers returning to their
native shores, to raise money for building on at least one occasion and,
perhaps, to recruit more monks. The author provides useful lists of those
affiliated to the three main convents, clearly Germans, and of the abbots
and priors of the houses, the Irishmen. This is a sensitive and intelligent
work, only restricted by the tantalizingly inadequate sources.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Addison Wesley Longman Higher Education

From: "noel gilzean"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Black Irish 5 to 100

It is the nature of the net to constantly recycle material but always there
are some for who all this is new. However, the value of the net is shown by
you being able to refer inquirers to those previous discussions. I think
there was quite a long discussion of some aspects of the Black Irish
previously on the Irish Diaspora discussion list. It is interesting that, as
Bronwen Walter pointed out at the BAIS conference, the category Irish in the
2001 census is included under the White category.

Noel

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done
is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is
there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been
already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former
things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come
with those that shall come after.

From: oliver[at]doyle-marshall.demon.co.uk
Subject: Re: Ir-D Irish in Argentina

Thank you, Brian, for letting us know about The Southern Cross's special
125th Anniversary Edition - I'll certainly try and obtain a copy.

Brian mentioned that there's an article on the killing of the Pallotines,
the murder of three Pallotine priests and two seminarists in St Patrick's
Church, in one of the plush northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. Some put the
massacre down to a mistake - that the real targets were Passionists who
were known for their work with the poor.

I wonder whether this is the only reference to how the military
dictatorship impacted on the Irish community, whether the community, part
of an Austrian-style act of collective amnesia, re-writing its role as that
of victim? For the most part, the Irish communiy was highly supportive the
dictatorship, taking its lead from the extremely reactionary Argentine
church hierarchy and Irish-Argentine business leaders. If the massacre of
the Pallotines is the only mention of the dictatorship, it's a great pity,
not least because TSC went against general community opinion and dared
speak out against the military., losing many subscribers in the process.

Why TSC and its editor, Father Federico Richards, were left alone by the
military is a bit of a mystery. As a small ,community newsheet, perhaps it
wasn't considered worth bothering with - possible, but the military was
extremely paranoid, seeking out communists and guerillas in the most
unlikely places. Perhaps the US Embassy or the Church were perceived as
offering some protection. On the other hand, the US-owed Buenos Aires
Herald, a daily newspaper that initially supported the miltary's seizure of
power but which became a fierce critic of the "excesses" of the regime,
was attacked - its offices raided, editors forced into exile. Although the
Herald's circulation was never large, it was respected outside of the
closed circles of the Anglo-American communities and was clearly seen as a
threat for this reason.

Oliver Marshall



>From: "Brian McGinn"
>Subject: Irish in Argentina
>
>Congratulations to The Southern Cross for 125 years of continuous service
to
>the Irish community in Argentina, and to Managing Editor Jorge Pablo Mackey
>and his staff on the publication of TSC's special 125th Anniversary
Edition,
>dated November 2000.
>
>Among the contributors to this glossy, magazine-style issue (114 pp., c.
>9-by-12 in.) are Ir-D member Guillermo MacLoughlin Breard on 'Irish
>Immigration into Argentina' and 'The Irish as Farmers'; Michael John
>Geraghty on 'Irish Power in Argentina'; Patsy Farrell on "Irish Culture in
>the Classrooms'; Silvia Kenny on "Women of Character' and Susan Shanahan on
>'The Celtic Revival' (Irish music in Argentina). In addition to de rigueur
>tributes to Admiral William Brown of Foxford, revered founder of the
>Argentine Navy, there is also the unsigned article, 'The Killing of the
>Pallotines', a poignant reminder that the Irish Argentine community was not
>immune to the horrors of the civil war that convulsed their nation,
>1976-1982.
>
>Most major articles, including all mentioned above, are presented in
English
>as well as Spanish, courtesy of a grant from the Irish Embassy, Buenos
Aires
>under the stewardship of Amb. Paula Slattery. For further information, see
>the '125 Anniversario' link on the TSC web site www.thesoutherncross.com.ar
>Prices here appear to be in local currency, but an email to
>editor[at]thesoutherncross.com.ar should bring details on overseas shipping
>costs.
>
>
>Brian McGinn
>Alexandria, Virginia
>bmcginn[at]clark.net

From: "Edmundo Murray"
Subject: Re: Ir-D The Southern Cross

Other reason why the B.A. Herald was attacked by the military leaders was
its outspoken style to point the finger at kidnappings, murders and other
crimes multiplied by thousands (when speaking of human lives, "excesses" is
not a little euphemistic). Other newspapers were manipulated by the "de
facto" government to create a need in the public for annihilating the
guerrilla. The Southern Cross was (it still is, judging from their website)
the expression of a part of the Irish community in Argentina that was
against the leftist guerrillas and against any type of social change.
However, I believe that not all of the Irish-Argentines were in the same
side.

Edmundo Murray
Université de Genève
Switzerland



>From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>Reply-To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
>Subject: Ir-D The Southern Cross
>Date: Mon 18 Dec 2000 13:20:00 +0000
>
>From: oliver[at]doyle-marshall.demon.co.uk
>Subject: Re: Ir-D Irish in Argentina
>
>Thank you, Brian, for letting us know about The Southern Cross's special
>125th Anniversary Edition - I'll certainly try and obtain a copy.
>
>Brian mentioned that there's an article on the killing of the Pallotines,
>the murder of three Pallotine priests and two seminarists in St Patrick's
>Church, in one of the plush northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. Some put the
>massacre down to a mistake - that the real targets were Passionists who
>were known for their work with the poor.
>
>I wonder whether this is the only reference to how the military
>dictatorship impacted on the Irish community, whether the community, part
>of an Austrian-style act of collective amnesia, re-writing its role as that
>of victim? For the most part, the Irish communiy was highly supportive the
>dictatorship, taking its lead from the extremely reactionary Argentine
>church hierarchy and Irish-Argentine business leaders. If the massacre of
>the Pallotines is the only mention of the dictatorship, it's a great pity,
>not least because TSC went against general community opinion and dared
>speak out against the military., losing many subscribers in the process.
>
>Why TSC and its editor, Father Federico Richards, were left alone by the
>military is a bit of a mystery. As a small ,community newsheet, perhaps it
>wasn't considered worth bothering with - possible, but the military was
>extremely paranoid, seeking out communists and guerillas in the most
>unlikely places. Perhaps the US Embassy or the Church were perceived as
>offering some protection. On the other hand, the US-owed Buenos Aires
>Herald, a daily newspaper that initially supported the miltary's seizure of
>power but which became a fierce critic of the "excesses" of the regime,
>was attacked - its offices raided, editors forced into exile. Although the
>Herald's circulation was never large, it was respected outside of the
>closed circles of the Anglo-American communities and was clearly seen as a
>threat for this reason.
>
>Oliver Marshall
>
>
>
> >From: "Brian McGinn"
> >Subject: Irish in Argentina
> >
> >Congratulations to The Southern Cross for 125 years of continuous service
>to
> >the Irish community in Argentina, and to Managing Editor Jorge Pablo
>Mackey
> >and his staff on the publication of TSC's special 125th Anniversary
>Edition,
> >dated November 2000.
> >
> >Among the contributors to this glossy, magazine-style issue (114 pp., c.
> >9-by-12 in.) are Ir-D member Guillermo MacLoughlin Breard on 'Irish
> >Immigration into Argentina' and 'The Irish as Farmers'; Michael John
> >Geraghty on 'Irish Power in Argentina'; Patsy Farrell on "Irish Culture
>in
> >the Classrooms'; Silvia Kenny on "Women of Character' and Susan Shanahan
>on
> >'The Celtic Revival' (Irish music in Argentina). In addition to de
>rigueur
> >tributes to Admiral William Brown of Foxford, revered founder of the
> >Argentine Navy, there is also the unsigned article, 'The Killing of the
> >Pallotines', a poignant reminder that the Irish Argentine community was
>not
> >immune to the horrors of the civil war that convulsed their nation,
> >1976-1982.
> >
> >Most major articles, including all mentioned above, are presented in
>English
> >as well as Spanish, courtesy of a grant from the Irish Embassy, Buenos
>Aires
> >under the stewardship of Amb. Paula Slattery. For further information,
>see
> >the '125 Anniversario' link on the TSC web site
>www.thesoutherncross.com.ar
> >Prices here appear to be in local currency, but an email to
> >editor[at]thesoutherncross.com.ar should bring details on overseas shipping
> >costs.
> >
> >
> >Brian McGinn
> >Alexandria, Virginia
> >bmcginn[at]clark.net
>

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

From: "Brian McGinn"
Subject: The Southern Cross

For the convenience of those who wish to read the Pallotine article, I copy
the Anniversary Number's text (not accessible on
web) below:

**********************
THE SOUTHERN CROSS
Numero Aniversario 1875-2000
Noviembre de 2000

The killing of the Pallotines

The 4th of July 1976 will be a date forever in the memory of the
Irish-Argentine community. In the early hours of that dismal day 3 Pallotine
Fathers and 2 seminarians were murdered in the parish Church of St.
Patrick's in Belgrano. The assassins were probably a special operations
group under the direction of the last military dictatorship which ruled the
country from 1976 to 1982. On the 9th of July The Southern Cross published
this sad news under the following title:

"CONSTERNATION AND HORROR DUE TO MASSACRE OF PRIESTS
Thousands of faithful pay homage

In these uncertain times in which Argentina is living, a bloody chapter
was written this
week, an event unprecedented in the history of this country: the ruthless
massacre of a
whole religious community."

The murder of F. Alfredo Leaden, Alfredo Kelly and Pedro Duffau and the
seminarists Salvador Barbeito and Jose Emilio Barletti was executed around 3
o'clock on Sunday morning, and the bodies were found by the parishioners
gathering to attend the first Mass at 8 o'clock. The Southern Cross pointed
out that "Over the doorway into one of the bedrooms was a message which read
'In memory of our brother policemen, killed by a dynamite explosion' and the
words 'to those who pervert the minds of our young men' were written on the
red carpet." Our newspaper also reported that "the horrible news spread
rapidly through the city and a multitude assembled at the Parish of St.
Patrick's, eager to share the pain and sorrow of the Pallotine Fathers and
to express their repudiation and to pray for the martyrs."

The chronicles of this murder and its consequences were published on the
front page for three consecutive weeks, which goes to show the disquiet felt
within the Irish-Argentine community at that moment and expressed the
indignation of public opinion in general. On the 16th of July of 1976, under
the headline "Remembering the martirized Pallotine Fathers" The Southern
Cross published the sermon delivered by Monsignor Guillermo Leaden,
auxiliary Bishop and Vicar of Belgrano and brother of the slain F. Alfredo.
On the 23rd of July of the same year, The Southern Cross informed our
community of the repercussions this crime had in Ireland, stating that the
events of the 4th of July appeared on the front page of "The Irish Press".

In 1999, in the month of May, The Southern Cross interviewed the journalist
Eduardo Kimel, author of the book "The Massacre of St. Patrick's."
Ironically, the only person ever to be prosecuted for this crime turned out
to be the journalist who investigated it, as the ex-judge Rivarola accused
him of calumny and slander. Kimel told this newspaper that the reason for
this was that "in my book I show that all the judged during the military
dictatorship did not carry out thoroughly the proper investigations of the
crimes committed by the armed forces. Justice was not parcial, it became an
accomplice."

Ever since then, in its issue of the month of August, The Southern Cross
published several messages and articles paying homage to those religious
priests murdered in cold blood, martyrs of their faith. In 1996, 20 years
after the killing, the editorial by Father Kevin O'Neill enumerated the
different commemorative celebrations that were carried out. Also, on its
front page The Southern Cross published an article describing the homage
that took place in the Parish of St. Patrick's on the 4th of July 1996, when
Monsignor Guillermo Leaden said: "They, who preached justice and peace, who
were in constant search for the truth, had to offer their lives. Because of
this the Pallotine and parish community must give thanks to God with joy and
comfort in our Lord." END
************************


Brian McGinn
Alexandria, Virginia
bmcginn[at]clark.net

International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures...

Forwarded on behalf of
Christina Hunt Mahony
Associate Director, The Center for Irish Studies
The Catholic University of America
Tel. (202) 319-5488 Fax:(202) 319-4188


The following serves as a reminder that plans for IASIL 2001 (30 July -
3 August) are progressing nicely in the competent hands of our
organisers Barbara Freitag and Pat Burke. The website for the
conference is http://www.dcu.ie/humanities/iasil2001 and the email
address is iasil2001[at]dcu.ie The conference theme is "Odysseys" (more
details provided on website), and proposals of 500 words must be
submitted by 15th January. A newsletter (paper) will be sent to the
membership in January. Wishing you all the best of the season.

Tina Mahony (Secretary IASIL)

Christina Hunt Mahony
Associate Director, The Center for Irish Studies
The Catholic University of America
Tel. (202) 319-5488 Fax:(202) 319-4188

This item appeared on the H-Urban list a little while ago.

I think it will be of interest to the Ir-D list, in the light of past
discussion of the 'Chicago School', here and at the Bochum Conference...

P.O'S.


Subject: Re: What is the Chicago School?


Posted by Wendy Plotkin

In her posting last week, Janet Forbes cited an article by geographer
David Sibley at the University of Hull entitled ""Women's Research on
Chicago in the Early 20th Century," published in WOMEN AND
ENVIRONMENTS, (Spring, 1995), V. 14, 2. Professor Sibley informs me
that for those interested in pursuing this topic, there is a more
comprehensive discussion in his book GEOGRAPHIES OF EXCLUSION: SOCIETY
AND DIFFERENCE IN THE WEST (London, New York: Routledge, 1995).

WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENTS, a journal published in association with the
Institute for Women's Studies and Gender Studies at the University of
Toronto (www.web.net/~weed) since 1976, holds the copyright on the
article and has agreed to allow us to post the entire essay on
H-Urban. Interestingly, in light of H-Urban's recent discussions, the
journal is an outgrowth of the 1976 U.N. Habitat Conference on Human
Settlements, held in Vancouver. We appreciate their allowing us to do
so.

"Women's research on Chicago in the early 20th century"
David Sibley

Virtually all texts in urban geography and urban sociology that are
used in the English-speaking world present the same history of the
subject. In this conventional account, urban studies began in Chicago
in the School of Sociology about 1910. This was the Chicago School
which was, according to Ceri Peach, "the fountainhead from which all
else flowed."(1) Robert Park, who joined the school in 1913, and
Ernest Burgess are featured in these histories as the principal
authorities. "The Burgess Model" still features prominently in
accounts of the spatial structure of cities and British school
children continue to assiduously search for concentric rings of urban
growth as if it were no more problematic than identifying growth rings
in a branch of a tree. In fact, there were other authors, who did
not become authorities, analyzing urban problems at the same time and
in the same place as Park and Burgess and their colleagues in the
Chicago School of Sociology. These largely forgotten authors were
nearly all women.

THE RESEARCH CONTEXT

The contribution of women to an understanding of social relations and
the relationship between people and the built environment in Chicago is
bound up with the work of the Hull House settlement. Established in an
immigrant reception area of the city in the late 19th century, the
settlement house movement was concerned with practical issues, like
providing literacy classes for newly arrived immigrants and creches for
working mothers. Yet the Hull House settlement was also a centre of
intellectual activity. Jane Addams, who is the most celebrated member
of Hull House, was involved in the international women's movement and
pacifist campaigns during the First World War, as well as more local
issues, like housing and poverty in Chicago.

Visitors to Hull House included Peter Kropotkin, the Russian anarchist
and geographer, and the Scottish planner, Patrick Geddes. Addams
herself visited Tolstoy in Russia and, as a member of the International
Suffrage Alliance, participated in women's conferences in Budapest and
Honolulu. Thus, Hull House was concerned with both global and local
issues. Politically, the residents were mostly socialist and feminist.

It was from this background that urban research by women developed.
Edith Abbott and Sophonisba Breckinridge, who became professors in the
School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago,
were both formerly residents in Hull House. It was the School of Social
Service Administration, with Abbott as dean, which presented an
alternative perspective on the city to that offered by men in the
School of Sociology. There was one male professor, Charles Henderson,
who taught in Social Service Administration but all the published work
on the city was written by women. Apart from Abbott and Breckinridge,
these included Helen Rankin Jeter, Mary Zahrobsky and Leila
Houghteling. In the preface to the school's major research work, THE
TENEMENTS OF CHICAGO, 1908-1935, Abbott lists twenty-two co-workers,
three of whom were men. Sociology at this time was a male preserve so
the gender division between sociology and social work was quite marked.

THE CHICAGO STUDIES

THE TENEMENTS OF CHICAGO presented three main areas of research which,
from a modern perspective, appear radical and innovative. These
concerned housing, racism, and the culture of minority groups. They
were distinctive both in terms of theoretical arguments and method. On
the housing question, Helen Jeter produced a remarkable analysis of
market mechanisms which consigned low-income groups to poor quality
accommodation for which they paid relatively high rents. In particular,
she identified a distinction between use value and exchange value,
somewhat in advance of modern Marxist analysis. Jeter wrote: "Another
factor may have been present...increased land values due to anticipated
future use of the land for commercial and industrial uses. Since the
assessed valuation and actual tax rates are based to a certain extent
upon this anticipated use, the owner and landlord may be justified in
asking for higher rents; but higher rents in turn justify increased
capitalization and, consequently, higher valuation of the building
which again justifies higher taxes. This circular effect of anticipated
land value, taxation, income, and valuation of the building may
conceivably go on without regard to the continuing decay of the
building or the economic necessities of the renters" (p. 291). We might
compare this analysis with the view of the Chicago sociologists and the
economist, Homer Hoyt, that the free market worked effectively because
good housing filtered down to successively lower income groups.

In their housing research, the women made a connection between rents
and racism. Edith Abbott and Mary Zahrobsky identified racism as a
problem for Black Americans, unlike other minorities--particularly in
relation to access to decent housing. Racism was a problem which Robert
Park barely recognized. This was despite his early association with
Booker T. Washington and his role as chairperson on the Chicago
Commission of Race Relations set up after the 1919 "race riot." Abbott
and Zahrobsky were among the first researchers to identify housing
sub-markets, forty years before David Harvey produced what was widely
considered to be an innovative analysis of housing sub-markets in
Baltimore.(2) Specifically, they argued:

"In any study of housing conditions in Chicago, the problem of the
Negro will be found to be quite different from that of other immigrant
groups. With the Negro, the housing problem has long been an acute
problem not only among the poor, as in the case of the Polish, the
Jewish or the Italian immigrant, but also among the well-to-do of the
same racial group...The prejudice among the white people of having
Negroes living on what they regard jealously as their residence
streets and their unwillingness to have Negro children attending
schools with white children confines the opportunities for residence
open to Negroes of all positions of life to relatively small and
well-defined areas. Consequently, the demand for houses and
apartments within these areas is comparatively steady and, since the
landlord is reasonably certain that the house or apartment can be
filled at any time, as long as it is in any way tenantable, he takes
advantage of his opportunity to raise rents and postpone repairs"
(p. 125).

Sophonisba Breckinridge made a similar point in an article published
in 1913(3) and the argument about discrimination and the emergence of
distinct and separate housing markets was reinforced by Helen Jeter in
her chapter on tenement rents (p. 274).

At various points in their study, the authors demonstrate their
commitment to the underprivileged and the need to understand the
world-views of immigrant communities. Abbott, for example, recognized
the anxieties of Italian families evicted from their homes and the
consequent break up of the community. Similarly, she described the
disillusionment of Croatians, cut off from their rural roots by the big
city: "One of the old Croatian group said, 'When two people meet on the
street, here they say, Got a good job? How much do you get? Who's the
foreman? In Europe, if the same men met, they would have said, What are
you going to do on Sunday? Here, they do no know what to do on a
Sunday--there is no form of recreation that appeals to them. Here, they
do not feel free in the parks, they do nor know how to reach the
country" (p. 115).

Observation, analysis, and for some a background in the settlement
house movement, led the women in the School of Social Service
Administration towards socialist prescriptions. Edith Abbott could see
no solution to the housing crisis without state subsidies and public
provision:

"The final answer, if and when it comes, to the ever present housing
question must come from the economic side. The unskilled workers...do
not have the wages to pay for decent houses. The employer must pay
higher wages...or very great numbers of new houses must be furnished
out of taxes. There is no other way. Shelter must be subsidized on a
really vast scale if the slums are to be cleared...." (p. 494).

WHY WERE THEY MARGINALIZED?

The research of the School of Social Service Administration undertaken
in the 1920s and 1930s was often of a high quality, certainly
comparable with much modern work on the capitalist city. Yet, Abbott,
Breckinridge and their colleagues rarely get a mention in the urban
studies literature. I would suggest three related reasons or this.
First, the sexism of the men in the School of Sociology was at times
quite blatant and the dismissal of the women's work meant that their
ideas were excluded from the sociological mainstream. Second, gender
was connected with politics in such a way that some of the women were
considered by the conservative establishment to be dangerously radical.
Third, their analyses were out of tune with subsequent urban research,
much of which was based on neoclassical economics and had scientific
pretensions.

The questions of what constituted social science and who was qualified
to profess it were crucial ones at the time. Park and Burgess insisted
on the scientific nature of sociology and drew on biological analogues
in developing their ideas about urban society: 'the city as a
laboratory'; 'the city as an organism'; neighbourhood change as a
process of invasion and succession, and so on. According to them,
social work was unscientific. In Park's hierarchical ordering of
knowledge, social was positioned above social work, and science was
for the boys. What he and his colleagues were doing was necessarily
superior to the research undertaken by the women in the School of
Social Service Administration. Writing in 1981, Stuart Queen, a
student in the sociology department during Park's time, recalled that
"I was immersed in sociology as a science and except in the classes of
Charles Henderson and Edith Abbott, I heard little about the social
services. However, there were occasional rumblings about 'the old
maids downtown who were wet-nursing social reformers."(4) Science was
masculine. Social work was intellectually inferior as a university
discipline, and a suitable pursuit for women.

Park clearly found the politics of the women threatening. He claimed
that "the greatest damage done to the City of Chicago was not the
product of corrupt politicians or criminals but the women
reformers."(5) Politics informed the women's research on the city but
some had a broader interest in political issues. Sophonisba
Breckinridge accompanied Jane Addams at the peace conference in the.
Hague in 1916 and was involved in several Women's World Fairs which
were held in Chicago in the 1920s. This link between theory and
practice was for Park disturbing and unscientific.

Since the sociologists had the power, it is perhaps unsurprising that
they provided the conceptual bedrock for modern urban studies. It was
their scientific approach, however, which appealed to spatial
scientists like Peter Haggett in the 1960s. Even David Harvey gave
space to Park and Burgess in his first Marxist work, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND
THE CITY, and missed the critical intervention of Edith Abbott and her
colleagues. To be fair to him, he had probably not heard of them, but
that in itself is indicative of the domination of a masculine social
science.

CONCLUSION

I may have exaggerated the difference between Park's sociology and the
women's social work research. Park once stressed the importance of
ethnography but there is little evidence that he tried to represent
other life-worlds in his research. Like most of his colleagues, he
kept people at a distance. It is certainly the case that Park rejected
political commitment in research because this to him was unscientific.
Several of Park's biographers have commented on his complex
personality but this does not seem to have translated into an
appreciation of the complexity of society. Edith Abbott and her
colleagues demonstrated a sensitivity to difference as well as an
awareness of the structural basis of social problems. In this sense,
they were very modern. A feminist history of urban studies which
acknowledges their contribution is overdue.

NOTES

1 Ceri Peach, ed., URBAN SOCIAL SEGREGATION. (London: Longman, 1975).

2 David Harvey, "Government Policies, Financial Institutions and
Neighbourhood Change in US Cities", ed., M. Harloe, CAPTIVE CITIES.
(London: Wiley) 123-139.

3 Sophinisba Breckinridge, "The Color Line in the Housing Problem"
SURVEY 40 (1913): 575-576.

4 Stuart Queen, "Seventy-five Years of American Sociology in Relation
to Social Work" AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST 16 (1981): 34-37.

5 Martin Bulmer, THE CHICAGO SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1981).

David Sibley teaches geography at The University of Hull, England. His
research interests include Gypsy communities, problem drinking and the
production of knowledge in the social sciences.

Copyright Women & Environments 1995

From: Kevin Kenny
Subject: Timothy Guinnane - article

Timothy Guinnane, an economic historian and demographer
whose book _The Vanishing Irish_ (Princeton UP, 1997)
offers a comprehensive revision of Irish post-famine
Ireland has published an article concerning Irish patterns
of settlement and marriage in America. I've been unable to
track it down in my files.

Has anyone come across this piece, and can they help me
locate it?

Many thanks

Kevin Kenny

----------------------
Kevin Kenny
Associate Professor of History
Department of History, Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Phone(617)552-1196; Fax(617)552-3714; kennyka[at]bc.edu
www2.bc.edu/~kennyka/

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Kevin,

This looksd like the one...

P.O'S.


Timothy W. Guinnane and Mark C. Foley
Did Irish marriage patterns survive the emigrant voyage? Irish-American
nuptiality, 1880-1920
Irish Economic and Social History
XXVI 15-35 1999

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
[mailto:owner-irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk]On Behalf Of
irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Sent: 21 December 2000 07:01
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Subject: Ir-D Timothy Guinnane - article



From: Kevin Kenny
Subject: Timothy Guinnane - article

Timothy Guinnane, an economic historian and demographer
whose book _The Vanishing Irish_ (Princeton UP, 1997)
offers a comprehensive revision of Irish post-famine
Ireland has published an article concerning Irish patterns
of settlement and marriage in America. I've been unable to
track it down in my files.

Has anyone come across this piece, and can they help me
locate it?

Many thanks

Kevin Kenny

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

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Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
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CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2000 FROM PRESIDENT McALEESE

It gives me great pleasure to send warm Christmas and New Year
greetings to every member of the Irish family at home and abroad and
to the many friends of Ireland across the globe.

As the year 2000 draws to an end, we are only now approaching the true
centre of the Millennium celebrations, the birth of the Child of
Bethlehem, two thousand years ago.

For Christians, this Christmas Day has a very special significance.
But many people of other faiths, and indeed of none, draw hope and
inspiration from the simplicity and innocence of that Nativity scene,
and from the enduring relevance of its message of love and peace.

Here in Ireland, we are profoundly grateful for the distance we have
already travelled in building peace. We are blessed to have so many
people of goodwill, whose tireless efforts have transformed Ireland
into a beacon of hope for our suffering brothers and sisters in
deeply troubled parts of the world, including the very birthplace of
Christ himself.

We have been witnesses to the transforming power of goodness and
generosity when they touch the political landscape, how they kindle
hope, make the future brighter and lift our hearts. In exactly the
same way we each have the power to transform the lives of others, to
lighten a burden, to make the journey less lonely, less stressful.
Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children bring love and
friendship to each other day in and day out. They make life
worthwhile, they make the ideal of "love" believable, they live the
Christmas spirit of goodwill all year long.

This Christmas, I would like to say a warm thank you to all those
people whose hearts and hands have brought to life the promise of
that Nativity scene, peace on earth and goodwill to all.

A very, very, Happy Christmas and New Year.


MARY McALEESE
PRESIDENT OF IRELAND