T
EXPLORATION, ENCOUNTER, EXCHANGE IN HISTORY
he majority of Irish women immigrants departed from small farming communities, with low economic prospects, for
41
Eastern and Midwestern urban centers. There, the women took jobs in factories, in mills, as domestic servants, and in
other unskilled occupations. The newcomers benefitted from strong, established female networks. Women already living in the
United States encouraged their sisters, nieces, cousins, and friends to join them and often paid their passages.9
Established women helped the newest arrivals to secure employment and housing, which was an advantage. The networks and
opportunities for women were so robust that Irish women’s immigration remained strong throughout the century, even during
economic depressions, when men’s immigration rates fell. Living and working in the United States offered Irish women more
opportunities for autonomy and self-sufficiency than they enjoyed in the more strictly controlled, patriarchal culture at home.
Immigration rates and documentary evidence suggest that Irish women found the adventure of their new lives in America as
compelling as the economic opportunities.10
Questions
• What opportunities were available to Irish women that were not
open to them at home?
Exploration:
• What expectations did they have of life in America?
Encounter:
• What effects did America’s cultural diversity and tolerance have
on Irish immigrant women’s lives?
• How were their lives different than in Ireland?
Exchange:
• Why was it significant that large numbers of unmarried
Irish women migrated, especially in contrast to other ethnic
groups? How did American culture adapt to receive unmarried,
independent women?
• How did the unbalanced sex ratios of immigrant Irish women to
Irish men affect the formation of families and communities?
10
Ibid, 36.
Suggested Online Resources:
• Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/
presentationsandactivities/presentations/
immigration/irish.html
• Tenement Museum
www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/irish.htm