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The Irish arrived in large waves at the ports of Boston and New York in the mid- and late nineteenth century, many of them refugees from the potato famine, political oppression, and poverty. Originally manual laborers at sites including New York State’s Erie Canal, the Irish soon spread across the continent, first achieving prominence in public service jobs and municipal politics. Here is the story of the ordinary and the famous, from the neighborhood policemen to Boston’s illustrious Kennedy family and many others.

This important new series documents and dramatizes the immigration experience of untold numbers of men, women, and children who arrived in America from the four corners of the world. As they assimilated into American society, they enriched the nation’s character and experience. Many of America’s immigrants passed through the Ellis Island Immigration Center in New York Harbor during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What were the initial hopes and fears of these new arrivals? Where did they first settle, and what kinds of work did they find? Which elements from their various cultures have since blended into the national scene and helped reshape what has become modern America?The first titles in this dramatic series bring alive the experiences of four important ethnic groups, with contemporary photos and first-person accounts of their dramatic, life-changing experiences. Readers glimpse each group’s social customs, family life, traditional food and drink, festivals, and much more. There are also brief but vivid capsule biographies of famous individuals who rose to prominence from each ethnic group. Approximately 150 illustrations in each book.