My partner and I have decided that the topic of our research for this semester will be the Irish that migrated into New England, and more specifically North Adams, MA. Since the largest wave of Irish migration took place in the mid 1800s, the focus will probably be from 1800, extending into the first decade or so of the 1900s. We had originally thought to study the Irish factory workers, since North Adams was largely a factory town, but my research thus far indicates that although there were many Irish factory workers, most of the Irish migrants were employed by the local mining and railway companies. Given this, it may be interesting to further research the the Hoosac Tunnel and discover how many Irish migrants were involved in its creation.
I have found several interesting articles about famous writers, Thoreau and Wharton, and the racial themes present in their works. I even made the discovery that Wharton’s book, Ethan Frome, is set in a fictionalized version of North Adams. It might be interesting to read Ethan Frome and analyze it myself, or maybe I’ll be lazy and watch the movie.
Another source I found is a report of oral histories dating back to the turn of 20th century about North Adams when it was still a prosperous factory town with a diverse community. I thought that this would probably be one of the most modern sources that we will use in this project. Perhaps the only more modern information would would use would be tracing the descendants of Irish migrants and conducting interviews about the Irish community (if one still exists) today.
A very good source that is worth mentioning is an article about the Crispin Strike of 1870. While Irish people are not the focus, the article does include a large amount of information about the Knights of St. Crispin workers union that undoubtedly contained Irish members.
My most useful source thus far is an article by Jack Morgan that details the Irish migration patterns in New England during the 19th century as well as shifts in public opinion and the causes. Two recurring themes are Catholicism versus Protestantism, and Industrialization versus Agrarianism. I believe that these themes will continue to be a focus throughout this project.