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Evaluative Statement
I have decided to include my second Honors paper because it shows the creative side of
my writing. We had to create a story in the period from 1890 up to 1920, discussing how,
according to Doctorow, people stitched themselves to the flag when coming to America as an
immigrant. I had to create a character from this time period who came for Americas way of
seeing, tell their story as if it were my own, and critically reflect on the choices my character
made. This was an engaging essay that let us as students run wild with our own ideas. From
this work, I learned the rich, cultural background of Irish immigrants, how to evaluate scholarly
sources, as well as incorporating them into my writing. This essay was challenging, but a quality
piece of my own work thus far at Wayne State.

A Journey toward the Promised Land

Libby Smith
Honors 1000
25 October, 2014

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Loud noises, crammed Irish immigrants, and a musty smell filled the air of the boat
arriving at Ellis Island from Ireland. Orla OGrady sat all by herself on her journey over to
America. Her father Bartley left Ireland a prior eight months before his wife, Fidelma, and
youngest daughter, Darcy, got terribly sick, leaving Orla to be their caretaker. He left to start a
new beginning for his family in Detroit due to the industrial boom. His work may have been
tedious, applying tires in an assembly line, but was worth it for the five dollars he earned each
day. He read in the Ford manual that he must breathe, eat, work, and sleep the American
lifestyle, which he did willingly for his family. The goal of the OGradys was to have a better
life than the one they were raised into in Ireland. Bartley had a dream of seeing his beautiful
wife, eighteen-year-old daughter, and ten-year-old daughter living happily in Detroit where he
could provide the best for them. To their surprises, it did not turn out as he expected.
It was 1909, and getting off the boat after a long ride over seemed like the easiest part for
Orla. This petite, 53, pale, girl was crammed between neighbors, strangers, and people who all
shared her same ethnicity and hope for a better life. Her belongings were few, because back in
Ireland her family had very little. She always carried with her a letter written from her father and
a picture of her mother, sister, and herself when they were younger (Foreign Colonies; Women
and Children image, Detroit News). Looking at it now, Orla missed her deceased mother and
sister Darcy, and felt alone for the moment. She realized this new land was going to be nothing
like she was used to in Ireland. Around her were multiple older women who were imagining
their lives here in the best way possible. They all giggled and playfully pushed one another
around. Most Irish women came over to America alone, in search for work and or a husband
(Fuchion, 2012). They daydreamed of the men and domestic jobs they would receive once in
New York or traveling to other cities, such as Detroit.

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It was now time to pass the final leg of the voyage. Orla blended in with all the
immigrant faces pressed around hers. She was pushed through the building connecting Ellis
Island to New York and her innocent face was not looked over twice. Ellis Island was the last
immigration inspection before the immigrants were in New York. Around her, men, women, and
families were turned away due to various reasons. Lost in a sea of immigrants, she was pushed
through until she was out and officially in America. The time of immigration was still relatively
new, so literacy tests were not in place for her, making her journey easier than most other
immigrants in later years (Ellis Island and the American Immigration Experience, 1992). Her
Ireland past was behind her, and American life was right in front of her eyes. In Ireland, she
lived a rural life with her family, but here in America there was a huge shift for the Irish; they
were now pushed into overcrowded cities to make a living (ODonnell, 1999).
Orla spent no time looking around, but instead traveled to a train station and bought a
ticket with the money her father sent her for the arrival. She was headed to Detroit, Michigan,
where her father would greet her. The train, like the boat, was packed with people, but not all of
them necessarily immigrants. Women and men dressed in business suits and did not associate
themselves with the young Irish girl that sat seats over from them. Immigrants were looked at
differently in America, and everyone could tell Orla was an Irish immigrant from just her hair
and raggedy clothing. In America, people gave up their ethnic roots so that they would be given
a better opportunity. When newly arrived, most immigrants started to shape their new identity as
white or American (Barrett, 2005). To pass time, Orla picked up one of the newspapers on
the train concerning jobs in Detroit. Her father would be making five dollars a day working for
Ford, but she should have some responsibility and look for a job too. Turning to the classified
ads, Orla read a few,

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HOUSEWORK- A competent girl for general housework; German preferred.
147 Couninonwealth
GOOD GIRL wanted as childs nurse: to go home at night. Apply 161 West
Canfield Ave (Gannet Co., Inc., 1909).
Though she was great at cleaning up and conducting housework, the first ad was specific in the
ethnicity the girl should be; Orla with her rosy red hair was definitely not German, so that was
out. The second ad grabbed her attention and felt like home to her. For almost the past year of
her life, Orla spent her hours bedside to her mother and sister. She knew the ins and outs of
taking care of people, including children. Once she reached Detroit, this would be the job she
would try to uphold.
After traveling close to 620 miles from New York to Detroit, Orlas train stopped in the
urban city. As she got off the train, her father was waiting like he promised in his letter. His face
had a few more wrinkles from long hours of work and stress, yet Orla still recognized him. This
was the happiest moment they had since years ago; they reunited and Orla screamed, Papa, I
missed you!. Her sweet voice sounded just as it did when she was only a little girl. He hugged
her so tight and never wanted to let her out of his sight again; they were all each other had in
America. Like other Irish immigrants in Detroit, he lived in the crowded city on a street called
Porter (now considered Corktown), a mile away from the industrial plant. Bartley managed to
afford a small 2-bedroom house, which he lived with another Irish couple he met on his way
over. They began walking to the house in which they would stay for the time being, until they
could accumulate enough money for a place of their own. Bartley spent six out of the seven days
working long hours at the Ford Company, and Orla would try to be a childs nurse part time so
she could make an income, but also tend to the house he had provided.

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Throughout time, Orla and Bartley became familiar with Detroit. They did not
necessarily see themselves as the same people they left back in Ireland. Orla worked as a childs
nurse for a young boy named Philip, that was disabled, and Bartley stayed making money for his
American dream at the Ford factory. Every now and again, the OGradys revisited their Irish
roots in an Irish Catholic Church, located near their community. Even though all the people
attending were considered Irish immigrants, few of them had traits that linked them to on another
(Silverman, 2001). When around other Americans, Orla and Bartley try to match to their way of
life. Being in America gave these two members of the OGrady family a new responsibility and
fresh start. Even though Bartleys earlier vision ended up different then the one he dreamed, he
knew with time, they would make it in America. Immigration for this father and daughter duo
was the right decision because here in America, their life would be a lot happier then the one
they left back home in Ireland. Now, America was home.

Work Cited
Barrett, James R., and David R. Roediger. "The Irish and the "Americanization" of the "New
Immigrants" in the Streets and in the Churches of the Urban United States, 19001930." Journal of American Ethnic History 24.4 (2005): 3-33. ProQuest.Web. 24 Oct.
2014.
"Ellis Island and the American Immigration Experience." USA Today 09 1992:
24. ProQuest. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Foreign Colonies; Women and Children. N.d. Wayne State University. By Detroit News. JPG
file. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
**Image on next page**
Funchion, Michael F. The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women In Domestic Service In
America, 1840-1930. Journal Of American Ethnic History 31.4 (2012): 118-120.
History &Life. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Gannet Co., Inc. "Classified Ad 14- No Title." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922)21 Feb. 1909: 1.
Print.
O'Donnell, Edward,T. "How the Irish Became Urban." Journal of Urban History 25.2 (1999):
271-86. ProQuest. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Silverman, Marilyn. "Irish America." American Anthropologist 103.3 (2001): 860861. ProQuest. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

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**Picture from paragraph two on page two