Gender, Labor, Healing: Irish Immigrant Experiences in 19th Century NYC

Meredith Linn, assistant professor of urban studies, shares her research into the experiences of illness, injury, and healing among 19th-century Irish immigrants in New York City. In particular, Linn explores the different kinds of injuries (and sometimes permanent scars 
and disabilities) that male and female Irish immigrants suffered in New York as a result of the gendered division of labor and how they responded to these injuries. Linn is currently working on a book and several articles about Irish-immigrant medicine based on her dissertation, and is also engaged in a historical archaeological investigation with the Seneca Village Project. She helped uncover the remains of a house belonging to a family that was part of this long-forgotten 19th-century African American and Irish community in what is now Central Park.