Irish titan, Irish toilers
Subtitle: Joseph  Banigan and nineteenth-century New England labor
By: Scott Molloy.
Series: Revisiting New England : the new regionalism
Publisher: University Press of New England
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Hanover
Language: eng
Number of pages: 309
ISBN-13: 9781584656906; 9781584656913
Subjects: Banigan, Joseph; Woonsocket Rubber Company -- Rhode Island -- History -- 19th century; United States Rubber Company -- History -- 19th century; Industrial relations -- New England -- History -- 19th century; Rubber industry and trade -- Rhode Island -- History -- 19th century; Businessmen -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Irish -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Other titles: Joseph  Banigan and nineteenth-century New England labor
Description: "In 1897 Joseph Banigan, an Irish Potato Famine refugee, established himself in Rhode Island as an entrepreneur. This was a time when 'No Irish Need Apply' signs abounded and discrimination against the Irish--institutionalized in the constitution of his adopted state--hindered voting and other human rights. Bucking this trend and belying his humble origins, Banigan succeeded spectacularly in the emerging local rubber footwear industry, becoming the president of the United States Rubber Company--one of the nation's major cartels--and Rhode Island's first Irish-Catholic millionaire. Backed by primary and secondary research spanning two continents, Molloy's inquiry into Banigan's notoriety and success singularly codifies and elucidates the Irish-American experience during this critical period in American labor history."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Spouting; title: The Irish background; title: Rhode Island's Yankee ascendancy; title: The Rhode Island Irish; title: The Woonsocket Rubber Company; title: A knight of St. Gregory against the Knights of Labor; title: Tragedy, philanthropy, and lace curtain; title: Rubber king and rubber workers; title: The United States Rubber Company; title: Conclusion: a memorial forever.