Episode 35: We Built This City

Irish immigrants were holding a wide array of jobs by the mid-to-late 19th century. However, no matter what the era, it seems that each newly arriving group of Irish immigrants first entered the workforce as manual laborers. Sample groups of Irish immigrants from the 1850s, 1880s, 1920s, and 1950s also show the same trend. More than half of them held laboring jobs during each given time period. At all of those time periods, Cleveland's growth provided laboring jobs--in manufacturing and construction. Irish immigrants were involved in building this city at each stage of its growth.