| Servants of the Poor: Teachers and Mobility in Ireland and Irish America Contributor(s): Nolan, Janet (Author) |
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ISBN: 0268036608 ISBN-13: 9780268036607 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press OUR PRICE: $24.75 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2004 Annotation: In the late nineteenth century, an era in which social mobility was measured almost exclusively by the success of men, Irish-American women were leading their group into the lower-middle-class occupations of civil service, teaching, and health care. Unlike their immigrant mothers who became servants of the rich, Irish-American daughters became servants of the rich, Irish-American daughters became servants of the poor by teaching in public school classrooms. The remarkable success of Iris-American women was tied to their educational achievments. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the daughters of Irish America attended four-year academic programs in high schools, followed by two to three years of normal school training. By the first decade of the twentieth century, Irish-American women were the largest single ethnic group among public elementary school teachers in cities such as Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Janet Nolan argues that the roots of this female-driven mobility can be traced to immigrant women's education in Ireland. Armed with the literacy and numeracy learned in Irish schools, Irish immigrant women in America sent their daughters, more than their sons, to school in preparation for professional carrers. As a result, Nolan contends, Irish-American women entered white-collar work at least a generation before their brothers. Servants of the Poor is a pioneering work which looks at the teaching profession at the turn of the century from the perspective of the women who taught in Irish and American classrooms. Drawing on previously unpublished archival and manuscript sources, including memoirs and letters, Servants of the Poor will be of considerable value to thoseinterested in Irish, Irish-American, educational, and women's history. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - 20th Century - History | United States - 19th Century - Education | Teaching Methods & Materials - General |
| Dewey: 371.100 |
| LCCN: 2004018914 |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 5.92" W x 8.62" (0.79 lbs) 222 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Sex & Gender - Feminine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the late nineteenth century, an era in which social mobility was measured almost exclusively by the success of men, Irish-American women were leading their ethnic group into the lower-middle-class occupations of civil service, teaching, and health care. Unlike their immigrant mothers who often became servants of the rich, Irish-American daughters became servants of the poor by teaching in public school classrooms. Janet Nolan argues that the remarkable success of Irish-American women was tied to their educational achievements and to the encouragement of their mothers who had been educated in the Irish national schools. By the first decade of the twentieth century, Irish-American women were the largest single ethnic group among public elementary school teachers in cities such as Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. Servants of the Poor is a pioneering work which looks at the teaching profession at the turn of the century from the perspective of these women. |
Contributor Bio(s): Nolan, Janet: - Janet Nolan is professor of history at Loyola University Chicago. |