The Open University
Yorkshire Region

Cultural Studies Research Forum
Reports and Abstracts 1995 -2000

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A Political Hot Potato - The "Irish Content" in American history texts

Sid Brown

Having worked on Irish-American themes for over twenty years as well as developments in American history texts, the news that Governor Pataki (New York), has suggested that the Irish Famine should be treated as an atrocity similar to those committed by Nazi Germany, was of considerable interest. With the assistance of a grant from the British Academy, a short article has been produced in which an examination of the ways in which Irish immigration, politics, attitudes and achievements have been discussed in the American high school texts of the 20th Century.