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Jewish immigrants arrived in America in the latter part of the nineteenth century, primarily from Eastern Europe. In the big cities where they settled they encountered large enclaves of Irish Americans, themselves immigrants or the children of those who had arrived earlier from Ireland. Those Irish Americans served as the Jews’ models of what it meant to be a looked down upon ethnic group which endeavored to stand up for its rights and dignity.
The Irish held the reins of power on several key American institutions which the Jews needed to secure their place and livelihoods in their new American home. In urban politics, public education, and the labor movement, Irish Americans saw it in their own interests to open the door to these Jewish newcomers, knocking on the door— metaphorically — to carve out for themselves secure and stable lives.
Hasia Diner is Professor Emerita, New York University where she was the Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History, with a joint appointment in the History Department and the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. She served as the Interim Director of Glucksman Ireland House. Dr. Diner has been a scholar of American Jewish history, American immigration history, the history of American women, and Irish American history, all of which were the subjects of books that she wrote. A recipient of both a Fulbright award and a Guggenheim fellowship, she is the author of numerous books, two of which won National Jewish Book awards.
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