NYC’s Emigrant Savings Bank Records
Katherine R. Willson

Katherine Willson will discuss the reasons behind the formation of New York’s Emigrant Savings Bank, which was geared toward Irish emigrants. She will then talk about the valuable genealogy information recorded in the bank’s records, as well as where to find copies of these records both online and offline.
Willson has lectured at regional and national events, is a full-time researcher for clients, and has taught genealogy courses for over 25 years. She is a past president of the Michigan Genealogical Council and a past board member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

The presentation will also be available on Zoom at 10:45 a.m. for those members who are unable to come to the library. 

The Green Space: The Transformation of the Irish Image
Marion Casey

It only took a century or so for phrases like “No Irish Need Apply” to segue to “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” in American popular culture. Casey’s book The Green Space examines the factors that contributed to remaking the Irish image from a downtrodden and despised people to universally acclaimed. According to Casey, as “Irish” evolved between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, a visual and rhetorical expanse for representing ethnicity opened up. In this evolution, both Ireland and the U.S. were linked to how versions of “Irish” were deployed over time—was it a straightforward noun about a specific people or was it a loose, malleable adjective only slightly connected to actual ethnic identity?

Marion R. Casey is Clinical Professor of Irish Studies at Glucksman Ireland House NYU and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of History at New York University. She is co-editor of Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States (2006).

Follow Your Family Through Their Chain Migration
Kevin Cassidy

The average Irish immigrant did not arrive in the U.S. alone. He likely followed an already existing chain of relatives, friends, and neighbors who had crossed the pond. This talk details how to find the pathway and track one’s family back to the parish of origin.

Forum member Kevin Cassidy is an avid researcher and lecturer on genealogy topics. He has spoken across the U.S., as well as Ireland. Cassidy has traced his own family tree back to the townlands of origin for all eight of his great-grandparents.