Examines how Irish and Jewish Americans defined their place in a complex society.The story of America is the story of the unlikely groups of immigrants brought together by their sharedoutsider status. Urban American life took much of its shape from the arrival of Irish and Jewishimmigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and Forged in America is the story of how IrishAmerica and Jewish America collided, cooperated, and collaborated in the cities where they made theirhomes, all the while shaping American identity and nationhood as we know it.Bringing together leading scholars in their fields, this volume sheds light on the underexplored historiesof Irish and Jewish collaboration. While mutual antagonism was clearly evident, so too wereopportunities for cooperation, as settled Irish immigrants served to model, mentor, and mediate forJewish newcomers. Together, the chapters in this volume draw fascinating portraits that show mutualityin action and demonstrate its cultural reverberations.
