Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society 2011 Vol. XXIII, No. 1 www.CTIAHS.com Civil War 150th Anniversary Sentry at St. Bernard’s stands watch over resting place of Irish comrades he graves of Connecticut Irish- than 300 Civil War veterans are buried T American patriots can be found at there. Civil War battlefields from Bull Run, Va., Ironically, the monument was dedi- to New Orleans, La., and from Antietam, cated on the very same day, Oct. 28, 1886, Md., to Gettysburg, Pa. But in New Ha- that another great memorial of Irish- ven, Ct., there is an almost forgotten American immigration, the Statue of Lib- cemetery, St. Bernard’s, in which there erty, was dedicated in New York harbor. probably are more Connecticut Irish sol- Later this summer, our CIAHS will diers from that war interred than any in sponsor a special memorial program at St. any other single place. Bernard’s Cemetery as part of the state- So many, in fact, that in 1886 the state wide and nationwide observance of the of Connecticut appropriated $3,000 for 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which construction of a monument to their mem- began with the attack on Fort Sumter in ory. Lists published at that time, 20 years Charleston, S.C., harbor in April 1861. after the war, indicated that by then, well The 1886 dedication of the monument before the passing of the Civil War gen- at St. Bernard’s — pronounced with the eration, more than 150 Civil War veterans accent on the second syllable by New had been interred there. Haveners — was virtually a civic holiday Recent research indicates that more (Please turn to page 5) CCSU to host April 16-17 events onnecticut’s Irish Ninth Connecticut Volunteers Committee C will be well repre- are planning activities that will memorial- sented in the numerous ize the role the state’s Irish immigrants events that are being played in one of the most important and planned this year to tragic eras in American history. commemorate the 150th The state coordinator of the Connecti- anniversary of the beginning of the Civil cut Civil War Commemoration Committee War. Historical societies, libraries, schools is Matthew Warshauer, Ph.D., professor of and other organizations throughout the history at Central Connecticut State Uni- In 1886, the state of Connecticut provided $3,000 state are collaborating to ensure that the versity, and author of a just published for a monument in St. Bernard’s Cemetery in history of the war and the sacrifices of history of the war, Connecticut in the New Haven to honor the many Civil War veter- Americans in that era are remembered. American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice ans buried there. This statue of a color-bearer The Irish-American Historical Society, and Survival. stands atop the 32-foot granite pillar in the the Irish History Round Table and the (Please turn to page 4) cemetery located on Ella Grasso Boulevard. Page 2 Sacred Heart University to scan CTIAHS book and newsletters Sacred Heart University in for family history researchers Fairfield has agreed to scan for and a collection of documents from and about Northern Ireland its online collections some his- tory resources produced by the during the Troubles there in the Connecticut Irish-American late 20th century. Historical Society. Still another project for the The CTIAHS has provided future is to create and post the university with a set of 20 online picture and text exhibits about Irish people and places in years of The Shanachie, our newsletter and journal of Con- Connecticut. One online exhibit might be a study of Irish popula- necticut Irish history, and a copy of our book The Cry of the Fam- tion in the state over the centu- ishing. ries. Another might be on the achievements of Connecticut’s Church Street had a new name-for-a-day for the annual St. Pat- The book is a 200-page study Irish women. of the impact on Connecticut of rick’s Day parade in New Haven in March. The person honored the Great Hunger in Ireland in These exhibits might be was the late Tom Slater. Tom was a mover and a shaker of the the late 1840s. It includes chap- placed on our current website or parade. He was grand marshal of the parade and for many years ters about the influx of Irish on a website specifically de- recruited the marching units. One of his major achievements was immigrants to Connecticut dur- signed by the CTIAHS to trace having the New Haven parade, which began in 1842, memorial- ing the famine and the religious, the history of the Irish in our ized in the Library of Congress as a local heritage project. Tom political, economic and social state. also was treasurer of the Connecticut Irish-American Historical aspects of their putting down The Sacred Heart project Society for many years. roots in Connecticut. comes at a time when that uni- The university will photo- versity is expanding its own CTIAHS to meet on April 30 Irish Studies program. copy the CTIAHS material and add it to other materials avail- Beginning in the 2011-12 Members are invited to attend a general membership able online through its library. academic year, Sacred Heart meeting of the CTIAHS at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, at Hopefully, the cooperative pro- will offer a minor in Irish Stud- the Ethnic Heritage Center, Fitch St., New Haven, on the ject with Sacred Heart will make ies. campus of Southern Connecticut State University. Items on the agenda include: our materials more available and The minor will be coordi- lead to more interest in research nated with Sacred Heart’s al- Discussion of genealogy workshops. on the history of Irish people in ready functioning Center for Scanning of Shanachie newsletters by the library of Connecticut. Irish Cultural Studies in Dingle, The venture is the first of County Kerry. The minor will Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. what will be a series of steps to require at least three credits to Work on new sketches for a logo for the CTIAHS. use new technology to make it be earned at the center. Election of officers. easier for researchers in the field Students will enroll either in Plans for a breakfast meeting. of Irish-American studies to do a two-week or semester-long research on the materials we stay in Dingle. History of St. Patrick’s Day parade. have been collecting for more than 20 years. Other core requirements for Planning of a ceremony at St. Bernard’s Cemetery in the 18-credit, six-course, minor New Haven this summer in commemoration of the A second objective will be to are a foundation course in Celtic begin digitalizing on our own and Irish history and at least one 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War website the materials within our course each in religious studies in 1861. collection. and Irish literature. Courses will We have in our library, for also be offered in the areas of Plans for honoring the memory of Tom Slater, long- example, an important collection anthropology, media studies, time treasurer of CTIAHS. of New Haven public school Irish music and political science records that would be valuable on a two-year cycle. Page 3 A long story, a tall tale or a bit of both? How Callahan ended up with Old Hickory’s cane s there a walking stick fash- taining to the great con- Jackson went by boat and I ioned from a piece of hick- stituency — the thou- stagecoach to Philadelphia, ory tucked away in an attic or sands of readers of the New York, New Haven, cellar of a Connecticut descen- Register — whose most Hartford, New London, dant of the great Callahan clan? humble servant I am Providence, Boston and If a story printed in the New proud to be.‖ several other Massachu- Haven Register on April 22, With such an appeal, setts towns. Originally he 1881, can be trusted, there may Callahan could hardly planned to stop in Ports- well be. The author of the tale refuse to relate the story mouth, N.H., and other was a Register reporter. Stroll- of the cane. It came to northern New England ing near New Haven harbor New Haven on a visit to cities, but illness curtailed looking for a story to fill the the city of the president those plans. next day’s issue, the reporter known as ―Old Hick- Callahan said he recalled came across an old gentleman ory.‖ In fact, he ex- the visit to New Haven in looking at his cane. plained, President An- mid-June: ―I remember Approaching the man, the drew Jackson actually some of the incidents of young reporter struck up a con- was given that nickname the occasion as though versation and soon learned that because wherever he they had occurred but the owner of the cane was James went his old hickory yesterday. I can see with Callahan, a resident of Goffe cane went with him. my mind’s eye, the old Street. Jackson’s visit hero as he rode through the That much of the story can Callahan said the streets seated in a carriage be validated for the 1880 U.S. president was using the with Squire William Ellis Census returns do show James cane when he visited and other leading citizens, Callahan, age 69, living on New Haven many years with this very hickory Goffe Street with his wife Mary, before. ―I was scarcely stick planted between his age 54, and a son, John, 40.