Doc Chat Forty-Eight: Exploring the Irish American Experience Through the Emigrant Savings Bank Records
On March 17, 2022, Doc Chatters marked St. Patricks Day by finding the stories of Irish Americans in surprising historical records.
A weekly series from NYPL's Center for Research in the Humanities, Doc Chat pairs an NYPL curator or specialist and a scholar to discuss evocative digitized items from the Library's collections and brainstorm innovative ways of teaching with them. In Episode Forty-Eight, NYPL's Philip Sutton and professional genealogist Meryl Schumacker analyzed selections from the Library's collection of Emigrant Savings Bank records that reveal important details about the Irish immigration experience and serve as an essential tool for researchers tracing Irish ancestry.
Doc Chat Episode 48: Exploring the Irish American Experience Through the Emigrant Savings Bank Records from The New York Public Library on Vimeo.
A transcript of this episode is available here.
Episode Forty-Eight: Primary Sources
Philip and Meryl examined excerpts from the Emigrant Savings Bank Records, 1841-1945. Explore the finding aid.
They focused on an 1855 record associated with Mary O'Connor from the Emigrant Savings Bank Bond and Mortgage Record Book:
They also analyzed the following (not digitized):
Emigrant Savings Bank Test Book no. 1, nos. 1 to 12,482 (1850)
Emigrant Savings Bank Test Book no. 1, nos. 1 to 12,482, account no. 361, Catherine Edwards (1850)
Episode Forty-Eight: Readings and Resources
Marion R. Casey, “Refractive History: Memory and the Founders of the Emigrant Savings Bank,” in Marion R. Casey and Joseph Lee, eds., Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States (New York University Press, 2006).
New York, U.S., Emigrant Savings Bank Records, 1850-1883 Ancestry Library Edition (free at all branches of NYPL)
William Perris, Maps of the city of New York on NYPL Digital Collections.
Sanborn Map Company, Insurance maps of New York on NYPL Digital Collections.
Philip Sutton, “Emigrant City: Two Stories,” NYPL Blog, November 4, 2015.
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