Unlikely Union (eBook)

The Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians

Paul Moses (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
Nyu Press (Verlag)
978-1-4798-1024-6 (ISBN)

Infos

An Unlikely Union tells the dramatic story of how two of America's largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other after decades of animosity.They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Irish and Italians clashed in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II.The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as Mother Frances X. Cabrini, who stood up to the Irish American archbishop of New York when he tried to send her back to Italy, and sinners like Al Capone, who left his Irish wife home the night he shot it out with Brooklyn s Irish mob. The book also highlights the torrid love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; the alliance between Italian American gangster Paul Kelly and Tammany s Big Tim Sullivan; heroic detective Joseph Petrosino s struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and the competition between Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to become the country s top male vocalist. In this engaging history of the Irish and Italians, veteran New York City journalist and professor Paul Moses offers a classic American story of competition, cooperation, and resilience. At a time of renewed fear of immigrants, An Unlikely Union reminds us that Americans are able to absorb tremendous social change and conflict and come out the better for it.

Inhalt

CONTENTS
Acknowledgmentsix
Introduction1
Part I. In the Basement:The Church as a Battleground
1. “Garibaldi and His Hordes” 11
2. “The Italian Problem” 27
3. Tipping Point 42
4. “Race War” 56
Part II. Turf Wars:Rivals in the Workplace
5. “Can’t They Be Separated?” 73
6. “The Other Half of Me!” 100
7. Black Hand 113
8. On the Waterfront 155
9. White Hand 179
vii
viii
Contents
Part III. Sharing the Stage:Politics and Entertainment
10. The Pols 201
11. Cool 248
Part IV. At the Altar:Becoming Family
12. Love Stories 273
13. Food and Family 296
14. Sharing the Bastions of Power 312
Conclusion 327
Notes331
Bibliography361
Index367
About the Author381

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.7.2015
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► 20. Jahrhundert bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
• ISBN-10: 1-4798-1024-X / 147981024X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4798-1024-6 / 9781479810246