Many Irish found the need to come to America in the late 19th century. Some were trying to escape English rule while others hoped to better their lives in America. Mary O’Flannagan came to New York City from Ireland in 1870 at the age of twenty. She came to America in hopes of economic survival. A friend’s letter inspired Mary to take the journey. The letter spoke of how women in America could marry for love and not money. The letter also said that if a woman were to save half of her earnings for ten years, she herself could be rich. When Mary first stepped off the boat she was a frail young women. She spoke mostly Gaelic and had hoped to find work.

Luckily for her many Irish women were getting involved in the maid business. She found a family willing to take house her, feed her and pay her minimal wages until she learned her chores better. Her chores included cooking, cleaning and tending to the children.

Jeremiah often looked at the papers that some African Americans would sneak onto the plantations. They advertised molding jobs where you could make $4.50 a day. Some other jobs included work in a steel mill and warehouse work. Jeremiah waited for a few months saving every penny he could so that he would be able to travel north. He watched his friends leave and wished more than anything that he could afford to go with them. To Jeremiah’s surprise, a friend of his contacted him from Newark New Jersey telling him of a job that he found him up north. It pays $2.75 per day and you get a rent-free room to live in. You will be dying clothes in a factory, Jeremiah was told. The job starts in three days his friend had told him. Jeremiah told his friend he could not take the job because he still could not afford a train ticket. His friend forget to tell him the best part of the offer. The company pays for travel to get there. Jeremiah was so excited he could hardly keep quite while sneaking off to the train station that night. He waited all day to board one of the trains packed with people. Finally, Jeremiah got to board his train in the early evening and headed off to start his new life. He knew it was not a great job and that there were many people out there better off then him but he was so happy to be away from the plantations after twenty years and to finally be on his on. His boss was pretty friendly and his wages were much better than they were at the plantation in Georgia. He even got to register to vote. His life was on the fast track up and he loved every minute of it.

Mary she had two daughters. They both were taught to read and write in English. They were determined to learn because they did not want to be anyone’s servant. Her daughters in 1914 were twenty-one and twenty-four. The twenty four year old was an elementary school teacher and the other was training to become a nurse. Mary eventually

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