Miracle On An Orphan Train To Arizona
In late 19th & early 20th century New York, newly arrived Irish Catholics
were considered low-class by other ethnically “Anglo-Saxon” groups,
such as German, English, & Dutch, who were mostly Protestant.
“Low-class” is perhaps too mild a term. The Irish were considered hardly
better than Negroes, whom most whites believed were sub-human. Odd
as it may seem to us today, the fair-skinned, blonde or red-headed Irish
were not considered white in an era when white supremacy was a given.
Consequently, migrants from the Emerald Island faced horrific discrimination.
“Irish need not apply” was a common sign in the windows of many Eastern
businesses. The Irish in New York City languished in hopeless poverty, where
they had inferior housing, food, medical treatment, and education (if at all).
Moreover, there seemed to be no end to the number of Irish street urchins.
The orphanages run by Catholic nuns could not accommodate them all.
Public records show that about 150 Irish children were abandoned every month
and there were not nearly enough adoptive homes in the area to save them
from a hellish life on New York City streets.
<snip>
The Miracle
What the nuns apparently did not realize was that the long, hot, arduous
train ride across this vast United States had miraculously transformed
their despised Irish charges into superior “white” children.
http://tucsoncitizen.com/southern-arizona-guide/2012/11/21/miracle-on-an-orphan-train-to-arizona/
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