The New York Irish History Roundtable will present "A Fresh Look at the
Civil War Draft Riots" on Saturday,
April 1st, at 2:00 p.m. The event is open to the public.
Barnet Schecter and Kevin Baker, noted New York historians and authors,
will discuss the fresh ideas about the
Irish in New York City that emerged from Mr. Schecter's research for his
latest book, "The Devil's Own Work:
The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America,"
published in January. The talk will focus on
the struggle of Irish immigrants and Irish Americans against prejudice
and poverty - and their sacrifices on
the battlefield for the Union - as important contexts for the draft
riots of 1863.
The event will be held at Fordham Law School's McNally Auditorium, 140
W. 62nd Street, between Columbus and
10th avenues, Manhattan. A donation of $3 for refreshments is suggested.
Please RSVP to the Roundtable at roundtable(a)irishnyhistory.org by the
evening of March 31st.
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The Roundtable's free tour of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mulberry
Street, for Roundtable members and
their guests, has been booked to capacity.
St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, opened in 1815, was the first Catholic
cathedral and second Catholic church in
the city of New York. During the tour, we will visit the rectory,
Records Room, churchyard burial ground,
underground mortuary vaults, museum, and the cathedral's 1868 pipe
organ. The New York City Landmarks
Commission declared Old St. Patrick's Cathedral a landmark in 1966.