The North Arlington Public Library hosts a talk called “The Famine Irish: Living on the Street in New York’s Gilded Age,” by Rick Feingold, on Saturday, June 10, at 1 p.m. Feingold, who teaches American business history at Bergen Community College, will take his audience back to the 1850s, when Irish people fleeing the potato famine washed up on America’s shores. With no skills or education, limited English and a Catholic faith in a Protestant culture, they were locked out of most available jobs. Many children became homeless and worked as shoeshine boys. Feingold will hark back to the time of Horatio Alger’s novels, the Newsboy’s Lodging House, Barnum’s Museum, and the colorful tapestry of New York’s gilded age. Space for the program is limited. Please sign up at the Reference Desk.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.