The Irish and the "Americanization" of the "New Immigrants" in the Streets and in the Churches of the Urban United States, 1900–1930

JAMES R. BARRETT AND DAVID R. ROEDIGER

"THOUGH SURROUNDED BY Poles and Italians," the Jewish American writer Harry Golden recalled of his life on the Lower East Side, "it was the Irish and the Irish alone we Jews admired . . . we identified the Irishman not only with the English language but also with the image of what an American looked like. The Irish were the cops and the firemen and the ballplayers. Although the immigrant Jew and the Irish poor did not get along well, these Irish were still the figures Jewish immigrants wanted to emulate. I saw Orthodox Jewish women literally jump for joy at the birth of a grandson, and say, 'He looks just like an Irishman.'"