Life in the hub - A study of the lifestyles and identities of Irish and "coloured" people in Boston in the early 1920s

Martin, Leigh Margaret (2003) Life in the hub - A study of the lifestyles and identities of Irish and "coloured" people in Boston in the early 1920s. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The purpose of researching this subject was to create a picture of the lives of the Irish and Coloured people of Boston, both as a group and as individuals. Although there is an array of literary material available on the subject of Boston and its peoples, the 1920s as a decade remains almost untouched by historians. Furthermore, the Irish and Coloured people themselves feature infrequently in the literature on Boston, which makes a need for a study all the more essential. The primary source research for this work was undertaken during a four month research trip to Boston. The material from which this work takes its focus, is the Marriage Records for the city of Boston during 1921 and the newspapers which were published for each group during the decade. The Guardian and The Pilot. The aim of this work is to conduct a study into the lifestyles and identities of these groups within Boston society. The MR provide the statistical data from which to gain an understanding of these people by considering their jobs, their place of birth, their neighbourhoods and their religion. The newspapers are the cultural tool which allows the information within the MR to be put into context. Analysis of the newspapers enables a picture to be created of what kinds of messages and information these groups were receiving from their press. The outcome of this research has been to provide an insight into what kinds of jobs individuals in Boston were doing in the 1920s, it has also been to gain more of an understanding of their religion and to what extent this affected issues such as divorce and marriage. The lifestyles and identities of these groups have been shaped and influenced by what they read and by where they came from. The intention of this work has been to provide an understanding of these factors and how they affected those involved.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: American history, Ethnic studies
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: O'Brien, Dr. Phillips
• Date of Award: 2003
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2003-71928
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 May 2019 09:31
• Last Modified: 08 Aug 2022 12:31
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71928
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71928