Series 3 - Margaret Kenny letters

145pp

The original letters belonged to Mary Fitzgerald of Dun Laoghaire who, in 1955, permitted Arnold Schrier to make the photostatic copies from which Kerby A. Miller made his typed transcriptions.

Materials pertaining to the Margaret Kenny letters, written in 1881-1890 and sent from Kenny in Taunton, Massachusetts to her nephew in Ireland, and originally collected by Dr. Arnold Schrier.
In his notes, Kerby A. Miller writes of Margaret Kenny and her letters: 'Wife of a laborer from Co. Clare, has been in the US at least 10 years. Good remarks on hard times for the poor in America; she wasn't able to save and send money home, as expected; instead, she had to work very hard and was often sorry she came to the USA,' and that the letters 'do convey a very important and interesting sense of deep disillusionment with America and with her emigration experience, from a long life's perspective.'
The series contains: Miller's typed transcripts of the letters with edits and annotations; photocopies of the letters; Miller's correspondence with researchers, genealogists and the Old Colony Historical Society; census research; copies of newspaper clippings; photocopies of secondary sources related to New York and Massachusetts; Miller's research notes.