Vol. XXXii — No. 3 — 2020

Two memorable anniversaries for 2020

atherine Flanagan, born in Hartford in C 1889, was a tireless and effective leader in Connecticut and in other states in the cru- sade of women for the right to vote. On this 100th anniversary of victory in that crusade in 1920, she will be inducted into the Con- necticut Women’s Hall of Fame — Page 3.

ather Thomas M. Conway, born in Water- F bury in 1908, died a hero’s death in 1945, just 75 years ago. He was the chaplain on the USS Indianapolis which was torpedoed only several weeks before the end of World War II. Its sinking was one of the worst tragedies in the history of the U.S. Navy. — Page 5.

Thoughts about The Shanachie & the Ethnic Heritage Center

he first edition of The Shanachie was Irish word that means storyteller or histori- races and places, not competing against, but T published 31 years ago in January an — had only four pages. Most of the arti- appreciating and accepting each other’s 1989. The leading article on page one re- cles were about Connecticut’s Irish. But one contributions and flaws. ported that the newly organized Connecti- small article was about another Connecticut After the article about African-American cut Irish-American Historical Society had ethnic group. The article was about the fact barbers, there followed in succeeding is- joined five other groups in the New Haven that in the mid-to-late 19th century many of sues, but not in exact order, articles about a area to create an unusual kind of history the barbers in New Haven were of African- Spanish sea who settled in New organization: an Ethnic Heritage Center. American descent. It told how one of them, London, a Jewish seminary in New Haven, The article explained that the purpose of Fred Manyard, was in 1894 renovating the an Italian neighborhood in Hartford, a the Ethnic Heritage Center was for African- Chapel Street shop of “another famous Afro Ukrainian convention in Connecticut, Polish American, Italian, Jewish, Spanish, Ukraini- -American barber, Charley Reese.” Manyard immigrants in Derby and Romani Gypsy an and Irish historical societies to establish was busy transforming the business “into a people living throughout Connecticut. a single home for their archives and activi- more modern barber shop.” In addition to these quarterly reminders ties. The groups would share space, but For the first 10 years thereafter, The Sha- of the contributions and obstacles faced by keep their own libraries and collections. nachie, continued to include among the many ethnic groups, the entire issue of The Together they would fashion exhibits and Irish stories in each issue one article about Shanachie of September-October 1992 was sponsor speakers with an emphasis on the a different Connecticut ethnic group. The devoted to the topic of “Prejudice.” rich ethnic diversity of the New Haven area reasoning was that the Ethnic Heritage Cen- What prompted that was the controversy and Connecticut. ter was about the reality that our nation is (Please turn to page 2) That first issue of The Shanachie — an truly a melting pot enriched by people of all

Ethnic heritage, Black man was industrial leader in New Haven good and bad lmost forgotten in the commercial bor and a renewed effort was begun “to (Continued from page 1) A history of New Haven is the contri- thoroughly repair and put in first rate con- surrounding the 500th anniversary of the bution in the early 1800s of a colored man dition” what existed and add 1,500 feet. voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New named William Lanson, who was born in Historian Thomas Trowbridge wrote, “So World in 1492. Descendants of Europeans 1781, and came to New Haven from Derby much money had been already sunk that saw it as a great achievement, the first ex- about 1803. He settled in the New Town- many owners declined investing more, ploration of a new world led by an Italian ship area where the Mill River empties into while those that were not deterred by the sea captain sailing for the royal family of New Haven harbor. heavy losses al- Spain. American Indians and Black people It was about then ready … were de- remembered it as the beginning of centuries and there that the termined to go on of displacement and enslavement. first two ethnic with the work.” That special issue of The Shanachie in- neighborhoods in Thus, on July 28, cluded articles about the discrimination a the city of New 1810, a contract number of ethnic groups have experienced Haven were found- was signed to in Connecticut history. The introductory ed: by extend the wharf a page one article in that edition began: “Few African-Americans, distance of 1,350 human feelings are as positive and praise- Slineyville by Irish feet and to raise worthy as the love of and pride in one’s immigrants. all of it above high ethnic and racial heritage. Few human feel- Lanson, a leader tides. The contrac- ings are as ugly and destructive as hatred of in the New Guinea tor was William and prejudice against others because of neighborhood, had Lanson, described their ethnic and racial heritage …” It ended both business and by Trowbridge as with “the hope that the examples will en- construction skills. “a colored man of courage all of us to rethink our racial, ethnic He ran a horse and remarkable pow- and religious attitudes and become more carriage livery on ers and who de- conscious of the terrible price we all pay for Fleet Street with a serves more than prejudice and intolerance …” stable close to Yale passing notice for The year 2020 has seen the same type of University. He also his enterprise in situation, this time with the additional evil built a hotel within connection with of a brutal coronavirus pandemic that has a half mile of the this contract.” afflicted and killed millions worldwide, and steamboat landing Connecticut Herald, May 2, 1820 To complete the in which certain races and ethnicities suffer in New Haven har- final section of the more than others. Also in 2020, we are cele- bor. He was active, too, in the religious life wharf, Lanson and his crew quarried huge brating the 100th anniversary of a constitu- of the city as one of the founders of the stones at East Rock, the mini-mountain tional amendment that gave women the African United Ecclesiastical Society and a overlooking the city. On the Mill River at right to vote, even as we know that women proponent of a school for colored children. the foot of East Rock, he loaded the stones still suffer numerous sexual assaults and His most significant construction project, on specially built scows that carried them come up short in pay, job opportunities, etc. however, was the completion in the years down into the harbor to the wharf. Among If all that is not disturbing enough, 2020 in 1810-1812 of New Haven’s Long Wharf. those who marveled was the president of the United States has also seen a spate of Therein lies a centuries-long story. The Yale, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, who de- killings of Black people by police, violence English Puritans, who in 1638 picked the scribed the work as “honorable proof of on city streets and bitter arguments as to site of their settlement at what is now New the character which they (Lanson and his who is to blame. Haven, did so because of its huge harbor. men) sustain, both for capacity and integri- ty …” In 1825, Lanson also built a retaining In the midst of these problems, The Sha- They were businessmen and thought the wall for the harbor basin into which the nachie is reviving the practice of having in harbor would make the city a booming boats would come down along the Farm- each issue an article about an ethnic group seaport. From almost the beginning, how- ington Canal, some of which was dug by other than the Irish. The story in the col- ever, the shallow depth of that harbor hin- Irish immigrants. umns on the right of this page is about a dered vessels from landing there. During colored man who played a positive role in the 1600s, several small wharves were Later in his life, Lanson fell upon hard the maritime history of New Haven. It is built out into the harbor, but failed to at- times. He died a pauper in 1851. certainly no big step forward in dealing tract oceangoing ships. Through the 1700s, Sources: Papers of the New Haven Colony Histori- cal Society, ”History of Long Wharf in New Ha- with our nation’s problems, but it may help numerous attempts were made with only partial success to build one solidly an- ven,” Vol 1, 1865, pp. 97-98; Vol. 5, 1894, p. 89. in some little way. And that, after all, was New Haven Journal and Courier, Oct. 16, 1890. chored wharf way out in the harbor. By the the idea of establishing an Ethnic Heritage Connecticut Herald, March 8, 1843. Peter P. Hinks. Center in the beginning. It was a good idea year 1801, a wharf made of timber and “Successes and Struggles of New Haven Entrepre- then, and remains even more so now. bridges extended 2,000 feet into the har- neur William Lanson,” Connecticut History.org.

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Women’s Hall of Fame will honor suffragist Catherine Flanagan

atherine Flanagan ruffled a lot of tipped his hat to them when he passed

C feathers when she took a vacation through the White House gates. But from her job as secretary at the head- after the nation declared war on Ger- quarters of the Connecticut Women’s many in April, the female picketers Suffrage Association in August 1917. were accused of being un-American Flanagan was 28 years old that sum- and aiding the enemy. mer, the second oldest of seven children When Catherine Flanagan arrived and of Irish immigrants John J. and Bridget began taking her turn at the White E. Flanagan of Hartford. Like all her House gates on Aug. 5, the situation siblings, she was born in Connecticut. was tense. The pickets were being har- Her father, who was said to have fled to assed by bystanders, among them gov- America because of his involvement in ernment and Navy personnel, who the movement for Irish independence, ripped banners from their hands died when Catherine was only 13. On the afternoon of Aug. 18, the gov- Catherine finished eighth grade and ernment indicated it would no longer began working odd jobs to help her tolerate the picketing because of the widowed mother make ends meet. She danger of people being hurt. No effort continued her education in night school was made to exercise better control taking practical courses such as short- over the bystanders, but the women hand, typing, bookkeeping and dress- who had picketed peacefully every day making. She spent her Sundays doing for more than six months were told to laundry, sewing and cooking food for disperse. When they refused, Flanagan her siblings for the week. and three others were arrested. Taken Years later, Flanagan said that her before a city judge, the women were first involvement in the suffrage move- found guilty of unlawful assembly and ment was in May 1914 when she volun- disrupting traffic. The sentence was a teered to help in the preparations for $10 fine or 30 days behind bars in the the first annual parade of the Hartford District of Columbia workhouse at Oc- suffrage chapter. She may have been coquan, VA. “Of course, we refused to among the hundreds who marched and/ pay the fine, which would have been an or one of the 25 young women who admission of guilt,” Flanagan told a spent weeks making dresses and cos- reporter. tumes and more than 100 huge golden Controversy over Flanagan’s picketing and silver banners. More than 1,000 and arrest erupted not only in Wash- turned out for the parade, which includ- ington, but also back in Connecticut. In ed suffrage groups from New Haven and Nightstick in hand, a District of Columbia police an editorial, the Hartford Courant com- other towns and cities. officer keeps a close eye on Connecticut suffragist mented: “The picketing at Catherine Flanagan of Hartford, one of the wom- That same day — Saturday, May 2 — was inexcusable and no mere men en picketing at the White House in 1917 for the suffrage advocates turned out in droves could have ‘got away’ with it. Why cause of the right to vote. On Aug. 18, she and throughout the nation with similar pa- should women, whose ambition is to be others were arrested, found guilty of unlawful rades and rallies. However, not all treated like men, escape the penalty assembly and sentenced to a month in prison. Americans wanted to allow women to they have invited? … Are the agitating women of America for the country or vote. In Hartford there was some grum- New England. Instead, she immediately against it?” bling and suggestions in letters to the editor headed for Washington, D.C., to get involved in local papers stating that suffrage was just in what has been described as “one of the Even the suffragists themselves were another word for socialism. most dramatic episodes of civil disobedi- divided on the issue. The president of the Whatever her role in the parade, the lead- ence in American history.” CWSA, Mrs. Thomas Houghton Hepburn, ers of the suffrage movement apparently wrote, “I admire Miss Flanagan very much In January that year, two allied groups — were impressed with Flanagan’s enthusi- … If she prefers to spend her vacation the Congressional Union for Women Suf- asm and skills for shortly after the event working to make our own country safe for frage and the National Woman’s Party — she became secretary and manager of a democracy … it behooves those who are began picketing the White House in a cam- staff of four at the association’s Connecticut less public spirited to try to comprehend paign to pressure the government to recog- headquarters in Hartford. her unselfish devotion.” However, the vice- nize the right of American women to vote. president, Grace Gallatin Seton of Green- It might seem that an energetic young At first, they were met with polite indiffer- wich frowned on the picketing: “The organ- lady like Flanagan would spend her vaca- ence. President Woodrow Wilson even tion at the seashore or in the mountains of (Please turn to page 4)

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of a wet, greasy turnpike; two miles of (Continued from page 3) Connecticut climbing up a red clay hill in the midst ization most emphatically does not Women’s Hall of Fame of a downpour of rain; only able to endorse picketing at the White make the slippery ascent by clinging to House at this time.” Oct. 22, 2020 wild blackberry bushes and climbing Mrs. M. Tuscan Bennett, treasurer over fences to talk to U.S.G. Ellis, an influential state representative.” of the CWSA, said the country was 6:30 p.m. “indeed in a sad state of affairs when Flanagan and her sidekick, Anita Pol- the government uses its strong arm “Conversations & Cocktails” litzer, scoured Tennessee and would to protect disorderly mobs in a cow- Six virtual chatrooms not take “no” for an answer from influ- ardly assault upon American wom- ential men or not so influential men. en,” who for 50 years had sought on issues that matter When asked if the latter helped the nothing more than the right to vote. cause, Pollitzer replied, “Indeed they Another member of the CWSA, Mrs. 7 p.m. did, some because they were sympa- Annie G. Poritt wrote of Flanagan’s thetic to the cause, and others because value to the cause: “Long association Induction Ceremony we made them help.” with Miss Flanagan has made me Share the powerful stories of In her multi-state crusade, Flanagan regard her as a driving force in our eight of Connecticut’s early suf- was not always victorious. In Idaho, she association, capable not only of mak- fragists and hear Connecticut failed in her main goal to get Republi- ing up her own mind … but also capa- women on the power and can U.S. Sen. William Borah to vote for ble of marshaling other people to importance of the vote. the 19th Amendment. Borah actually carry out duties or activities ... One of favored women’s suffrage, but Idaho the hardest workers in Connecticut had adopted suffrage in 1896, and he in the various patriotic activities Inductees believed that it was up to each state to taken up by Connecticut suffragists.” Josephine Bennett approve or reject women’s right to While it was at first thought that Frances Ellen Burr vote. Flanagan wrote: “I campaigned all over the state getting petitions, and Flanagan might lose her job, just the Catherine Flanagan opposite happened. She, along with telegrams and speaking on street cor- Hepburn and several others resigned Sarah Lee Brown Fleming ners and at the state fair, all to get that from the CWSA and became active Emily Pierson scoundrel Borah’s vote, but we didn’t get it.” instead in the National Woman’s Clara, Elsie & Helena Hill Party which had been founded in Even though the issue was settled by 1916 with the sole purpose of con- (Contact: 203-392-9007) Tennessee voters, the Connecticut Gen- vincing Congress to ratify a 19th eral Assembly met in a special session amendment of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 15, 1920, and made the Land of state on Sept. 10,1919; New Jersey, 29th granting women the right to vote. Steady Habits the 37th state to ratify the state, Feb. 9, 1920; Idaho, 30th state, Feb. 19th Amendment by votes of 25-0 in the Hepburn explained, “Today national work 11, 1920; and Tennessee, the 36th and final Senate and 194-9 in the House. is of first importance … We have gone to required state, Aug. 18, 1920. war for democracy, and yet millions of Connecticut Secretary of the State Fred- The going was not always smooth. Flana- women in our own country are denied the erick Perry signed a certified copy of the gan and her comrades were up against right to vote. Simply mentioning this fact in ratification and Flanagan — in recognition powerful opponents. In Trenton, N.J., she suffrage journals and to suffrage audiences of her contribution to the struggle — was and others were “ousted from the Hotel is futile. We must say it in such a way that chosen to carry the resolution to the na- Sterling where they had set up their head- all of the world will hear, and that is what tion’s capital. Just three years and a month quarters” by James Nugent, a county Demo- the pickets … have done at Washington … In after she was arrested at the White House cratic Party leader and bitter enemy of my opinion it is through such women as and jailed — she returned to Washington to women suffrage. Nugent told the hotel own- these that we shall secure the suffrage in deliver the historic document to the U.S. ers to get rid of the suffragists or lose the Connecticut by federal amendment …” State Department. support of the party. The suffragists were Flanagan was also immediately hired by told to pack their suitcases, banners and As the struggle for women’s right to vote the National Woman’s Party as a traveling signs. They lost that battle, but won the war neared its victorious climax, Catherine lobbyist to help secure ratification of the when New Jersey’s legislature ratified the Flanagan became involved in another civil 19th amendment by the required 36 states. suffrage amendment in spite of Nugent. rights crusade — that of Ireland for its in- During 1919 and 1920, she crisscrossed the In Tennessee, which became the over-the dependence. In 1919, the War of Independ- nation with considerable success in states -top state, Flanagan told of numerous ob- ence had begun in Ireland. In the summer she had visited: Massachusetts became the stacles: “Thirty miles on a local train, puff- of 1920, English soldiers raided the city hall eighth state to ratify the amendment on ing and wheezing its way among Tennessee in Cork and arrested Mayor Terence June 25, 1919; Montana, the 13th ratifying hills and stopping at every switch; 10 miles (Please turn to page 8) state on Aug. 2, 1919; New Hampshire, 16th in a Ford slipping from one side to the other

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Chaplain from Waterbury gave his life to save Navy comrades

ather Thomas Michael Conway, born known, was the flagship of Admiral Ray- deep in the belly of the killing nine F in Waterbury, CT, on April 8, 1908, mond A. Spruance, commander of the 5th crewmen. With major internal damages, the the son of Irish-born parents, died halfway Navy Fleet, and was in combat in the Aleu- Indy limped back across the Pacific to the around the world on Aug. 3, 1945,` in one of tian Islands, Tarawa, the Marshall Islands Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco. the most tragic events in U.S. Navy history. and Saipan. It participated in a Navy raid on Repairs required several months during Father Thomas was the first of three chil- Tokyo in February 1945, the first attack on which, it was reported that Father Conway dren of Thomas F. and Margaret Meade Japanese soil since the Doolittle air raids in visited the families of the nine sailors killed Conway. Margaret immigrated to the Unit- 1942. And it was with the fleet that pound- in the attack. ed States in 1889, Thomas F. in 1899. They ed Iwo Jima and Okinawa for the Marine On July 16, the Indianapolis sailed off to were married in 1906 and settled into a and Army invasions there that spring. war again on a top-secret mission. Even its home on Cooke Street in Water- crew did not know that the ship bury where Thomas F. was a was carrying the enriched urani- steam fitter for a plumbing com- um and other components for the pany. world’s first atomic bomb. The Young Thomas attended prima- Indy delivered its deadly cargo to ry school in Waterbury and the U.S. bomber airfield on Tinian LaSalette Junior Seminary in Hart- Island on July 26. ford. In 1928, he enrolled in Our The missile was reassembled, Lady of Angels Seminary at Niaga- and just 11 days later on Aug. 6, ra University in western New was dropped from a B-29 bomb- York state. He was ordained a er on the Japanese City of Hiro- priest in the Buffalo, NY, diocese shima. More than 60,000 Japa- on May 26, 1934. nese were killed. Three days later a second atomic bomb was One of his first assignments was A memorial to the USS Indianapolis stands on the east bank of dropped on Nagasaki and on Aug. as a curate at old St. Bridget’s the Central Canal in that Indiana city. It was erected and dedicat- 15 surrendered uncondi- Church in Buffalo’s First Ward, a ed in 1995 by 316 survivors in memory of their 879 shipmates tionally. waterfront neighborhood filled who perished when the cruiser was sunk by a Japanese subma- with Irish immigrants and their rine just after midnight on July 30, 1945. The base of the monu- The Indianapolis did not live to descendants, factories, grain silos ment contains the names of all the crew. Embedded in gray and share in the victory in which it and maritime history. The First black granite is this nighttime likeness of the cruiser. had contributed in numerous Ward was on the eastern shore of ways. Having delivered its nucle- Lake Erie. Beyond were three other Great ar cargo, the Indy stopped to refuel in near- Lakes — Huron, Michigan and Superior — Chaplain Conway was a jack of many by Guam. On Saturday morning, July 28, it that spanned the vast midwest of North trades to the ship’s 1,195 sailors. He con- set sail eastward for Leyte in the Philippine America. Conway fit right in with that set- ducted both Catholic and ecumenical reli- Islands, a voyage of about 1,350 miles, four ting for he had a yearning for the sea. He gious services, organized Friday evening days at a leisurely pace of 15.7 knots. There owned a small sailboat and spent his lei- talent shows to relieve tensions, prodded its crew was to undergo a 10-day training sure time sailing on Lake Erie. Tied up out- young sailors to write letters home, came program before rejoining the fleet in Okina- side St. Bridget’s Church, his little boat up with cash to enable the Indy’s physician, wa from which the invasion of Japan was to became a familiar parish symbol. Dr. Drew Haynes, to spend a leave with his be launched. wife and children back in Connecticut. Like other young men, priests were re- That weekend, a Japanese , the quired to register for the draft when the Doug Stanton, author of one of the several I-58, was prowling westward along that United States entered World War II. Con- books about the Indy, wrote, “The boys same route known to be the main water- way’s card listed him as 32 years old, born usually confided in Father Conway ... The way for U.S. Navy ships to and from the Far in Connecticut and five feet, nine inches tall. kind priest in his early 30s was relentless East. In the evening on Sunday, July 29, the In September 1942, the bishop of Buffalo and fearless in his duty. Once while saying sky was overcast, the heavy cloud cover freed Conway from his parish duties to Mass, battle stations had been called sud- opening only occasionally to allow glimpses become a Navy chaplain. After serving denly. (Father Conway) shouted out, ‘Bless of a half moon. Shortly after 11 p.m., I-85 briefly at naval stations on the east coast, us all, boys, and give them hell.’ … He was a Commander Nobuko Hashimotoh spotted Conway was transferred to in priest with grit.” through binoculars the dim outline of a ship 1943. He served on the USS Medusa, a re- In late March 1945, the Indianapolis was on the horizon. He ordered the I-85 to dive pair ship, until Aug. 25, 1944, when he be- engaged in the shelling of Okinawa prior to and through the periscope followed the came chaplain of the USS Indianapolis, a the U.S. invasion of that island, which was approach of a two-masted U.S. warship. At cruiser launched in 1931. the final steppingstone on the way to Japan. a range of 1,500 yards Hashimotoh fired six During World War II, the Indianapolis On March 31, a kamikaze pilot broke torpedoes. At 15 minutes after midnight on became a workhorse of the U.S. campaigns through the ship’s defenses and just before Monday, July 30, three of the torpedoes crashing triggered a bomb that exploded in the Pacific Ocean. The “Indy,” as it was (Please turn to page 6)

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mounts … he cries, a strange gibberish, (Continued from page 5) some of the words are Latin, but in a little exploded on the starboard side of the USS while he sinks into a coma. The only sound Indianapolis, setting off massive geysers of is the slap of water against us as I wait for water followed by glowing red flames. In 12 the end. When it comes, the moon is high, minutes, the cruiser rolled completely over, golden overhead. I say a prayer and let him its stern in the air, and sank carrying with it drift away...” 300 crewmen. Almost 900 others were left The next morning, Friday, Aug. 3, a Navy in the ocean. Some were fortunate to find patrol plane flying a routine mission in one of the dozen or so lifeboats that had search of Japanese ships saw in the water been released. “The rest,” wrote one histori- below a black streak speckled with projec- an of the sinking, “bobbed on the surface, tions. When the plane swooped down, the most had lifejackets, but many did not.” projections turned out to be people all As tragic as that was, it was only the first along the length of a huge oil slick. The scene in the disaster. Attempts had been plane sent an urgent message to headquar- made to send an SOS, but with the sinking ters, then made another run and dropped a so rapid it was uncertain the message had life raft, life jackets and a keg of water. reached the airways. In addition, the im- In his Saturday Evening Post article years pending climax of the war had brought so later, Dr. Haynes wrote, “And then we heard many U.S. Navy ship into the Philippine Sea A park in the old First Ward on the Lake it … The roar of a plane. (We) prayed that it that it was almost impossible to keep accu- Erie waterfront in south Buffalo, NY, is was real and not just a last torturous dream. rate track of their comings and goings. It named in honor of Father Thomas M. Con- (The plane) came near, passed over us and was not unusual for vessels to be hours way, the Waterbury, CT, native who gave then grew smaller in the distance.” early or late. It was the plight of the crew of his life to save his Navy comrades when Shortly, a Navy Catalina pontoon plane the Indianapolis that their disaster was un- their ship, the USS Indianapolis, was torpe- landed within the oil slick, took on 56 survi- known for four days — from 1:30 a.m. Mon- doed in August 1945 in the North Philip- vors — some of them even lashed to its day to roughly pine Sea. Conway was an assistant pastor wings — and waited for the arrival of the “The nights and days in the sea without at St. Bridget’s Church in that ward before first of six Navy ships that rushed to the food or water were horrifying,” wrote one he enlisted as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. scene. By nightfall, they were able to rescue historian. “Sharks lurked and took dozens a total of 316 of the approximately 880 sail- in 1955, Conway’s friend, Dr. Haynes, re- of the men. Sunburn, saltwater and dehy- ors set adrift when the Indy went down. called the agony of the Indianapolis crew dration peeled away the men’s skin. Men In August 2017, after several earlier failed became delirious, some drank seawater after almost three days awash in the ocean: “All thoughts of rescue are gone, and our attempts, the wreckage of the Indianapolis which triggered greater dehydration before was discovered. It lies in several locations they fell into a coma and died. …” twisted reasoning has come to accept this as our life until the end is reached. A life at a depth of 18,044 feet among the ocean Father Conway was among the survivors. with nothing but the sky, the shimmering floor mountains of the North Philippine Sea. For three days he was a source of strength, horizon and endless wastes of water. Be- The remains of the ship are well preserved courage and hope just as he had been on the yond this we dare not imagine … But we because of the great depth. The wreckage ship. With only a life jacket to buoy him, he have not lost everything. To the contrary, was revealed to the public on Sept. 13, 2017 made his way among the scattered groups we have found one comfort — a strong be- in a PBS television program titled “USS Indi- of sailors and marines, offering encourage- lief to which we cling. God seems very close. anapolis, Live from the Deep.” A second PBS ment for the living, giving last rites to the program titled “USS Indianapolis: The Final “Much of our feeling is strengthened by dying, collecting the dogtags of the dead. Chapter,” was aired on Jan. 8, 2019. the chaplain … (He) is not a strong man Years later, Frank J. Centazzo, a sailor also physically, yet his courage and goodness from Buffalo, NY, remembered, “I watched seem to have no limit. I wonder about him, Sources: Dan Kurzman, Fatal Voyage, 1990. Wik- Father Conway go from one small group to ipedia, “USS Indianapolis.” Lynn Vincent & Sara for the night is particularly difficult and another getting the shipmates to join in Vladic, Indianapolis: Survivor Accounts from the most of us suffer from chills, fever and de- prayer and asking them not to give up hope Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History, 2018. lirium. The moon has been up for some time of being rescued. He kept working until he Richard A. Hulver & Peter C. Luebke, A Grave when I hear a cry for help. It is Mac, the Misfortune: The USS Indianapolis Tragedy, 2019. was exhausted. I remember on the third day sailor who has given so much to so many. Thomas Helm, Ordeal by Sea: The Tragedy of the late in the afternoon when he approached When I swim to him, Mac, is supporting the USS Indianapolis, 2014. Lou Michel, Lives of two me and Paul McGuiness. He was thrashing chaplain, who is delirious. ‘Doctor, you’ll Buffalo sailors converge on USS Indianapolis, the water and Paul and I held him so he just have to relieve me for awhile,’ Mac 2014. Bill Milhomme, blog. The Priest Aboard the could rest a few hours … He made us be- Doomed USS Indianapolis, Feb 6, 2009. Ances- gasps. “I can’t hold him any longer.’ lieve that we would be rescued ... He gave us try.com, census returns of family of Thomas F. hope and the will to endure … Later he “I take the chaplain from him, thrust my and Margaret Meade Conway, Waterbury, CT. managed to get away from us and we never arm through the chaplain’s life jacket so that I may hold him securely through his saw him again.” wild thrashing … The chaplain’s delirium In an article in the Saturday Evening Post 6

U.S. sailors among first victims of 1918 pandemic in Ireland

iven the close ties between Ireland In Ireland as elsewhere, the first wave of G and its diaspora over the centuries, the pandemic faded in early summer but it is no surprise that the United States was returned with a more virulent wave in Rebel & physician involved in Ireland’s first contact with the autumn 1918. Leinster and again Ulster Spanish flu in 1918. were most affected. A third wave, almost mong the Irish medical profession- The first outbreak of flu cases reported as strong as the second, lasted from mid- A als who put themselves at risk for February to mid-April 1919. the good of their nation during the 1918 in Ireland was aboard the ship Dixie. A tender, the and the flu pandemic oc- flu pandemic was one of the most mili-

Dixie had arrived at Queenstown in County curred at a critical moment in Irish history. tant rebels of the Easter Rising in Dublin Cork on June 12, 1917, just two months Having been governed for centuries as a on Easter Monday 1916 after the United States went to war. It was colony to be exploited rather than a neigh- Born in Killala, Co. Mayo in 1874, Kath- part of the fleet of American ships sent to bor to be cherished, Ireland was in the leen Lynn was protect the coast of the British Isles. In May midst of a political revival when the war the daughter of a Church of Ireland 1918, the flu flared up on the Dixie afflict- began. ing 77 sailors, 11 percent of the entire priest, Rev. Rob- The revival was born in the mid-19th crew. century with a fantasy that England out of ert Lynn, and his

The outbreak apparently was contained the goodness of its heart would agree to wife Catherine. A on the ship, but the disease remained in home rule. The fantasy went up in the graduate of the that region of Cork because during June smoke it was made of when in 1914 Eng- Catholic Universi- and July, 87 soldiers with influenza were land begged Ireland to join its war and ty Medical School in Dublin, Lynn admitted to the Queenstown military hos- forget freedom until later. Many Irish pital and another 119 to the military hospi- trusted England one more time; many was denied a tal in Cork city. went ahead with their plan for independ- position in the Kathleen Lynn At Berehaven in Bantry Bay along the ence. It is tough to win a war, much tough- Adelaide Hospital coastline west of Queenstown, there was er to win a war within a war. Many Irish because of her another U.S. Navy base. The flu struck lost their lives in each of those wars. gender, but became a visiting doctor in there in October 1918 among the crews of The World War and the pandemic were several Dublin hospitals. Politically a nationalist, suffragist and American and . always linked. The largest number of Irish supporter of organized labor, Lynn in From a third to a half of the submarine flu cases were in seaports like Cork, Dublin crews were afflicted and on three battle- and Belfast where Irish volunteers were 1916 joined the Irish Citizens Army at the ships — the Utah, Oklahoma and Nevada — garrisoned to leave for the war and were request of her friend, James Connolly, the there were numerous cases with 11 deaths returned by ship or train dead, wounded commander of that military group. Con- on the Nevada. The lines of sailors waiting or alive from the battlefront. nolly was among those the English exe- cuted after the Easter Rebellion. at sickbay were said to be between 50 and A particularly heart-rending case of Irish 60 feet long. “One can tell by the expres- courage and patriotism is that of Charles Lynn taught members first-aid and used her car to run guns into Dublin. Dur- sion on each face,” reported one officer, Heatley and Catherine Moran who were “that they are battling to their utmost to married in 1910 in Dublin. Charles went ing the Easter Rising, she was chief medi- stave off the disease.” off to war in 1914, survived battles, came cal officer for the rebels in Dublin City In early summer, Belfast at the far north- home on leave, went back to war. In late Hall. After English troops recaptured the ern tip of Ireland was besieged. Newspa- summer 1916, Catherine learned Charles position, she was arrested and impris- pers in that city reported on June 11, 1918, was missing in action. Sometime in 1917, oned at Kilmainham and Mountjoy Gaol. that schools and businesses in that area she received a telegram saying he was be- When World War I began in 1914, Eng- were closing due to the flu. The papers soft lieved dead. In late October 1918, Cathe- land used wartime strictures to imprison -pedaled the topic. “There is no reason for rine came down with influenza, struggled Irish nationalists whether they committed the general public to become unduly for a month and died Nov. 4, 1918, with crimes or not. alarmed,” commented the Belfast Evening her three young sons at her bedside. Among them in October 1918 was Dr. Telegraph, adding that medical profession- All told, it is estimated the pandemic Lynn. With the increasing ills and deaths als doubted the outbreak was of “any seri- afflicted 800,000 Irish people, about from the flu, Lynn was released on the ous disease.” 23,000 died. About 200,000 Irish fought condition that she work among the vic- Before the end of the month, however, for England in World War I, 49,000 died. tims. It was work she had been doing all along focusing especially on Dublin’s chil- thousands of workers in the city’s ship- Source: www.ouririshheritage.org, National Museum of yards and on its trams were stricken by dren. She set up a vaccination center on Ireland, The Enemy within: The Spanish Flu. Eimear Charlemont Street and in 1919 estab- the flu. Another Ulster seaport, Londonder- Flanagan, “Spanish Flu: Belfast newspapers.” David lished Saint Ultan’s Children’s Hospital. ry, was at the same time having the highest Durnin & Ian Miller, “Medicine, Health and Irish Experi- mortality in Northern Ireland from pneu- ences of Conflict, 1914-1945.” History Ireland, “Greatest Source: “Kathleen Lynn,” Wikipedia. monia which often followed the flu. Killer of the 20th Century: The Great Flu of 1918-19.” March-April 2009.

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Catherine Flanagan honored convince the U.S. Congress to recognize the on behalf of Irish independence, Flanagan Irish Republic. Her work was once again met William Leary, a Connecticut-born law (Continued from page 4) lobbying politicians for a worthy cause. professor at the University of Utah. They MacSwiney. In Brixton Prison, MacSwiney This time the opposition was the English struck up a correspondence friendship and began a hunger strike that ended with his embassy which used all its influence to were married in December 1921. death on Oct. 24. Shortly after, his sister, prevent recognition of Irish independence. Sources: The Shanachie, Nr. 1, 2006, Nr. 1, Mary MacSwiney, came to the United States In June 1921, Flanagan wrote, “The two 2007; Bridgeport Weekly Herald, Sept. 23, as an envoy of the Irish Republic. Flanagan resolutions which so vitally affect the Irish 1917; Hartford Courant, Aug. 18-25, Sept. 13 was in Washington at that time and was Republic are tied up in the Foreign Rela- -16, 1917. New Britain Herald, Feb. 19, 1919. asked by the American Association for the tions Committee. We have as yet … been Washington, D.C., Herald, Aug. 29, 1920. Recognition of the Irish Republic to serve unable to arrange public hearings on the Library of Congress, Records of the National as secretary/traveling companion for Mac- Irish question.” A month later, the issue Woman’s Party, American Memory Project. Swiney in a speaking tour across America. was resolved when a truce was reached Linda J. Lumsden, Rampant Women, Suffra- MacSwiney spoke in cities from the east to between the Irish Republic and the English gists and the Right of Assembly. Catherine west coasts and at the first American con- government. On Dec. 6, 1921, the Anglo- Flanagan, “Demonstrations and Their Use,” vention of the AARIR in Chicago. Irish Treaty was signed leading eventually in The Suffragist, Aug. 10, 1918. When the two returned to Washington, to independence for Ireland. the AARIR hired Flanagan as secretary of A nice footnote: At a rally in Salt Lake City its Legislative Committee which hoped to

The Shanachie

Published quarterly by the President George Waldron Connecticut Irish-American “We have kept faith Historical Society Vice President Vincent McMahon with the past; P.O. Box 185833 Recording Secretary Patricia Heslin Hamden, CT 06518 Treasurer Mary McMahon we have handed www.ctirishhistory.org Financial Secretary Joan Murphy www.ctirishheritage.org a tradition Shanachie Editor Neil Hogan [email protected] to the future.” https://www.facebook.com/CT Irish American Historical Society In Ireland, a Shanachie is a folklorist, historian and keeper of the traditions of the people. Padraic Pearse

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