Browsing by Subject "nineteenth century"

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    Shillelaghs, Shovels, and Secrets: Irish Immigrant Secret Societies and the Building of Indiana Internal Improvements, 1835-1837
    (2009) Perry, Jay Martin; Wokeck, Marianne Sophia; Kelly, Jason M.; Morgan, Anita J.
    In the 1830s, Indiana undertook an ambitious internal improvements program, building the state’s first railroad and multiple canals. To complete the projects, Indiana used Irish immigrant laborers. The Irish laborers developed a reputation for brawling amongst themselves, highlighted by a riot involving 600 laborers working on the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1835. Multiple volumes of Indiana history identify the Wabash and Erie riot as a one-time event inspired by Protestant and Catholic animosity imported from Ireland. A review of the historical record, however, contradicts these long-held assumptions. Inspired by Irish traditions of faction fighting and peasant secret societies, Irish immigrant laborers formed secret societies that used violence against competitors in hopes of securing access to internal improvement jobs for their own membership. The rival secret societies, the Corkonians and the Fardowns, organized based on their provincial origins in Ireland. Examples of Corkonian and Fardown violence occurred throughout the country. In Indiana, a pattern of Corkonian and Fardown conflict resulted in skirmishes on at least three different construction sites between 1835 and 1837. In contrast to the traditional narrative, the Corkonians and Fardowns were both pioneers of the first wave of large-scale Irish Catholic immigration whose rivalry centered on job protection and economic grievances.
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    "Somebody's Spinster": Roles, Intimate Relationships, and Identity of Julia Graydon Sharpe
    (2020-06) Mahon, Leeah Nicole; Robertson, Nancy M.; Badertscher, Katherine; Morgan, Anita
    Single women living in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America faced ever-changing, but constant, analyses of their lives. It seemed privacy was revoked when a woman chose to remain single in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, leaving them to be hyperaware and conscious of all other choices that they made in their lives. Not only was their business not theirs alone, but single women were often also defined by their lack of spouse, regardless of their accomplishments or fulfilled lives. Despite the full life that she led and ways in which her singleness allowed her to contribute to her family, friendships, and community, Julia Graydon Sharpe, a white, elite woman from Indianapolis, Indiana, was one of the many women whose legacy has been defined by her marital status. Sharpe was many things in her life: an artist and clubwoman being two of the most visible. However, it was her role as a sister, aunt, daughter, and friend that were the most fulfilling and important to her in her life as a single woman. An examination of what Sharpe saw as her defining roles within her immediate family and close friendships, as well as what coming from elite family afforded her, helps reveal the life she was able to lead and how she chose to present herself. The exploration of her many intimate roles also put into context how indispensable Sharpe’s commitment and contributions, albeit not monetary, were to her family and friends. Understanding these roles challenges the way we view the “spinsters” of the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century.