The New York Irish

Abstract

During the mid- to late-nineteenth century, millions of Irish people emigrated to the U.S. fleeing hardship and searching for a better life. Much has been written about how they faced great anti-Irish prejudice and yet forged an Irish American identity in cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. A previously under-examined dimension of this struggle is how these predominately rural newcomers adjusted to urban life. This chapter begins to address this issue, focusing on how Irish immigrants in mid-nineteenth-century New York City manipulated their appearances. Using evidence from archaeological sites, immigrant letters, historical newspapers, and folklore archives, this study shows how some Irish immigrants utilized cosmetic hair preparations as transformative substances to style new urban Irish American identities and to manage interactions with employers, native-born peers, and other Irish community members.