Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-century New England Labor (Revisiting New England: the New Regionalism)

Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-century New England Labor (Revisiting New England: the New Regionalism) by Molloy, Scott. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781584656913.

In 1847 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 and other immigrants--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 nations major cartels, and New Englands first Irish-Catholic millionaire. Backed by primary and secondary research on two continents, Molloys inquiry into Bannigans notoriety and success singularly codifies and elucidates the Irish-American experience during this critical period in American labor history.