Irish Emigration

One has to wonder what burr got under the saddle of Professor Jensen of the University of Chicago to write a paper claiming that the NINA (No Irish Need Apply)sign is a myth and that there was no job discrimination towards the Irish in the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries.

"No one has ever seen one of these NINA signs because they were extremely rare or nonexistent." says the professor. 

Now, professor, even if it was extremely rare then someone must have seen one?  And, who for goodness sakes, keeps an obviously discriminating "Help Wanted" sign they had in a shop window as a family heirloom to hand down to their descendants?

He says that the Irish carry a chip on their shoulder and are wallowing in self-pity about job discrimination. ????

No one of Irish descent that I know of has run into job discrimination due to being Irish these days so who is "wallowing?"


The professor claims that "By the Civil War these fears had subsided and there were no efforts to exclude Irish immigrants."  What the professor fails to mention is that the Irish weren't excluded from low paying jobs, or slums.

Take the time to read the professor's paper at
 http://www.yale.edu/glc/archive/Jensen.htm

His description of the Irish betrays a bias against them.

There are numerous people who have seen the signs and one has to wonder why Prof. Jensen didn't take the time to find them.

The New York Times of March 25, 1854

Senators Robert and  Ted Kennedy talk of their father seeing NINA signs in shop windows when he was a boy but the professor claims this couldn't be because the Senator's family wasn't poor and Ted Kennedy was born in 1939.  What Ted Kennedy's birthday has to do with his father seeing the signs and the professor's claim it didn't happen doesn't make sense. 

Whether the signs or ads were local or widespread, the attitude towards the Irish, just as with every new ethnic group, was very real. 

On more than one occasion in the latter part of the 20th century I have personally crossed paths with people who disliked the Irish no matter how long they lived in the U.S.  That was more a hold-over from religious intolerance than anything else.

And on one occasion an organization mainly focused on the deeds of it's members' ancestors (many themselves immigrants), made it clear, once they became aware that I was not eligible to be president, that my presence or financial support was not desired in their organization.

They carried a NINA attitude if not the sign, but I'm happy to say they were in the minority. 

The reproduction sign should be a reminder to Irish-Americans and every other ethnic group in America, that prejudice can be overcome in time.  This one is based on an original and makes a good Irish history conversation piece in your home or office. 

I'm sorry to say that the vendor who made the reproductions has passed away and I'm not sure if more will be available in the future.