His Areas of Expertise

His C.V.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Brief Bio For  
EDWARD T. O'DONNELL

Dr. Edward T. O’Donnell is a professional historian, author, and speaker.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA and his Ph.D. in American History from Columbia University.  He is an Associate Professor of History at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. 

O’Donnell is the author of several books, including:

Visions of America: A History of the United States (co-author, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009). This full-length survey text covers the history of the United States from pre-contact to Obama. In addition to an engaging and accurate narrative, it also features 700 historical images chosen by the authors. Each image is discussed within the narrative.

Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House/Broadway Books, May 2003). This book tells the story of one of the burning of the General Slocum on New York's East River in 1904. This disaster -- the worst in New York's history until 9/11 -- claimed more than 1,000 lives

1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History (Random House/Broadway Books, 2002). This book is best described as a fun reference guide to Irish American history (and, yes, it DOES include exactly 1,001 entries!.

O'Donnell is currently completing a social biography of Henry George -- Talisman of a Lost Hope: Henry George and Gilded Age America (forthcoming, Columbia University Press)

O’Donnell is also a professional speaker, delivering history-themed presentations before thousands of educational and business and non-profit organizations since 1991.  During his years in New York City, O’Donnell also led more than 1,200 walking tours through New York City’s ethnic neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Little Italy, and Harlem. 

O’Donnell is also active in the field of public history.  He has curated several major museum exhibits on American history and appeared in several historical documentaries.  O’Donnell has provided historical insight and commentary for PBS, the Discovery Channel, ABC World News Now, National Public Radio, the BBC, Bloomberg Radio, WOR Radio, Fox TV, and VH-1 (TV).  In the late 1990s he delivered radio essays on New York City history for NPR’s “Morning Edition” (heard on WNYC Radio (the local NPR affiliate in New York).

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Areas of Expertise for
EDWARD T. O'DONNELL

Edward T. O'Donnell has a broad knowledge of American history with particular expertise in the following areas: 
     Urban History 
     Labor History 
     Irish American History 
     New York City History 
     Public History 
     The Civil War 
     Gilded Age 
     Progressive Era
     Theodore Roosevelt 
     The Industrial Revolution 
     Immigration
     Diversity/Tolerance/Racism 
     The Lower East Side 
     Urban Politics
     Urban Reform
     Jacob Riis 
     Henry George 
     Thomas Nast 
     Major Disasters and Fires
     The General Slocum disaster 
     History of Cigarettes and Tobacco
     History of Christmas in America

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C.V. for 
EDWARD T. O'DONNELL

                               Edward T. O’Donnell, Ph.D. 

EDUCATION

Ph.D.               May 1995     Columbia University 
M.Phil.             May 1991     Columbia University 
M.A., History   May 1989     Columbia University 
B.A., History    May 1986     Holy Cross College 
 

EMPLOYMENT 

2001 – present: Associate Professor of History (tenured), Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA) 

1995-2001:  Associate Professor of History (tenured), Hunter College, CUNY (NY, NY) 

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Jennifer Keene, Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O’Donnell,Visions of America: A History of the United States (New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009).

Edward T. O’Donnell, Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House/Broadway Books, May 2003) 

Edward T. O’Donnell, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History (Random House/Broadway Books, 2002). 
 

Books in Progress

Edward T. O’Donnell, Talisman of a Lost Hope: Henry George and Gilded Age America (New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming 2008). 

Articles and Chapters

"Hibernians Versus Hebrews?: A New Look at the 1902 Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot," forthcoming, Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era April 2007 (vol. 6, no. 2).

“How Easily We Forget: The General Slocum Disaster,” New-York Journal of American History 65:3 (Spring 2004): 98-113.

“Pictures vs. Words?: Public History, Tolerance, and the Challenge of Jacob Riis,” The Public Historian 26:3 (Summer 2004): 7-26. 

"The Ethnic Crucible: New York's Lower East Side and How It Got That Way," Journal of Urban History (2005) 32: 138-146.

"How the Irish Became Urban: The Irish Experience in Large American Cities," Journal of Urban History 25 (January 1998): 271-286. 

“The Irish and Machine Politics in New York City,” Michael Glazier, ed., Encyclopedia of the Irish in America (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 2000): 887-89. 

"'The Scattered Debris of the Irish Nation': The Famine Irish and New York City, 1845-1855" in Margaret Crawford, ed., The Hungry Stream: Emigration from Ireland during the Great Famine (Institute of Irish Studies Press, 1997): 49-60. 

"United Front: The Irish and the American Labor Movement," in Terry Golway, The Irish in America (New York: Hyperion Press, 1997): 153-58. 

"'Though Not An Irishman': Henry George and the American Irish," American Journal of Economics and Sociology 56 (October 1997): 407-419. 

"Hibernians Versus Hebrews?: A New Look at the 1902 Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot," forthcoming, American Jewish History. 

"Built Like A Bonfire: The General Slocum Disaster, June 15, 1904," In Kenneth T. Jackson and David S. Dunbar, eds., Empire City: New York Through the Centuries (Columbia University Press, 2002): 

Recent Book Reviews

They Change Their Sky: The Irish in Maine (University of Maine Press, 2004), forthcoming in the Journal of American Culture.

Newspaper Features

2000-2009       “Hibernian Chronicle,” a weekly column on Irish American history for the Irish Echo, the nation’s most widely circulated Irish newspaper (ca. 150,000).

May 7, 2006: “Bring Us Your Tired, Your Poor. Or Don't,” New York Times. [article on the anti-immigrant movement in New York City]

September 4, 2005: "The Sage of Tammany Hall," New York Times. [article on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall]

July 31, 2005: "The Dawn of New York's Ice Age," New York Times. [history of the ice industry in 19th century New York City]

June 6, 2004: "A Neighborhood of Their Own," New York Times. [history of Philip Payton and the making of Black Harlem]

August 30, 2003: "Brother Can You Spare a Day?," New York Times.
[history of the Labor Day holiday and commentary on its enduring significance]

June 8, 2003: "The Fire, and the Forgetting," New York Times.
[history of the General Slocum fire of 1904 and commentary concerning historical memory]

Op-Ed Features

September 14, 2001: "Another Pearl Harbor? Not By A Longshot" carried by Knight-Ridder News Svc. and appearing in newspapers nationwide, including the Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette.
[commentary concerning the place of Sept. 11 in historical context]

March 17, 2000: "Parades Bring U.S. Diversity to Main Street," carried by Knight-Ridder News Service and appearing in 26 newspapers nationwide.
[commentary concerning the role of the St. Patrick's Day parade in promoting tolerance]

August 12, 1999: "A New Mask for Old Hatreds," New York Daily News.
[commentary concerning anti-immigrant billboards in Queens]

PROFESSIONAL PAPERS PRESENTED

“Using Images to Reinvent the American History Survey Course,” at the 2010 American Historical Association (January 2010, San Diego, CA).

“Visualizing Labor-Capital Conflict in the Gilded Age,” at the 2008 Organization of American Historians Convention (March 2008, New York, NY).

“‘Radically and Essentially the Same’: Irish Nationalism and American Labor Radicalism in Gilded Age New York City” at the 2004 Organization of American Historians Convention (March 27,  2004, Boston, MA). 

"Pictures vs. Words?:  Public History, Tolerance, and the Problem of Jacob Riis" to be presented at the 2003 National Council on Public History Conference (April, 2003,  Houston, TX). 

"Hibernians Versus Hebrews?: A New Look at the 1902 Jacob Joseph Funeral Riot" at the 2002 Organization of American Historians Convention. 

“From ‘Dangerous Classes’ to ‘Inspiring Masses’: Changing Representations of the Lower East Side,” at the 1999 American Historical Association Convention. 

"'The Ruin of the Republic Is Close at Hand': The Anti-Tobacco Crusade in New York City, 1880-1920," at the 1999 Organization of American Historians Convention. 

"'The Talisman of Lost Hope": Henry George and the Formation of a Working-Class Political Economy" at the International Conference on Henry George in Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of His Death at Cooper Union, New York City, November 1, 1997. 

"'Mere Tools of the Shylock Corporations': The Response of Workers to Anti-Labor Police Violence and Municipal Corruption in Gilded Age New York" at the 1996 Organization of American Historians Convention. 

"'The Glories of Our Ancestors' Civilization Are Unrivalled': Contemporary Afrocentrism and Turn-of-the-Century Hibernocentrism in Comparative Perspective" at the 1995 American Studies Association Annual Meeting. 
 

PUBLIC HISTORY

Documentaries

2009 Historian, and On-Camera Presenter.
“Pearl Harbor: Mystery Sub” NOVA/PBS
to air December 2009

2001-03 Historian, Consultant, and On-Camera Presenter. 
"Fearful Visitation: The Burning of the General Slocum" 
in production, Linhart-Dray Films 
aired, PBS, June 2004

2001-03 Historian, Consultant, and On-Camera Presenter. 
"Ship Ablaze: The General Slocum Disaster" 
NFL Films; aired on the History Channel June 16, 2004 

2000  Historian, On-Camera Presenter. 
“On the Inside: Times Square on New Year’s Eve” 
Discovery Channel, aired on April 27, 2000 

1999  On-Camera Presenter. 
Historical Documentary, Mountain View Productions 
“The Natural Corridor: New York’s Transportation History” 
PBS, fall-winter 1999-2000. 

1995-97 Historical Consultant (for Part III) 
"The Long Journey Home: The Irish in America" 
 The Lennon Documentary Group 
 PBS, January 1998 
 

Museum Exhibitions

2009-pres Historical Consultant
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Historic Lower East Side Walking Tour

2008-2009 Historical Consultant Lower East Side Tenement Museum
The Backyard Privy Exhibition

2002-2008 Historical Consultant
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Permanent Exhibition: Irish Family Apartment
(opened, June 2008)

2004-pres Historical Consultant
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Permanent Exhibition: Schneider Saloon
(expected opening t.b.a.)

2005 National Endowment for the Humanities, review committee for support grant applications for exhibitions, 2005.

2004  Curatorial Consultant 
Brooklyn Historical Society 
Exhibition: 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall: Brewing in Brooklyn 
(May 13, 2004-August 22, 2004) 

2003-4  Curatorial Consultant and Writer 
New-York Historical Society 
Exhibition: German New York and the General Slocum Disaster 
(June 15, 2004-August 22, 2004) 

2000-01 Curatorial Consultant and Writer 
Madison Square Garden (with Whirlwind & Co.) 
Great Moments in Garden History 

2000-01 Historical Consultant 
Irish Hunger Memorial Project, Battery Park City 
Public memorial commemorating the Irish Famine 

1999  Curatorial Consultant and Writer. 
New York City Police Museum 
Permanent Exhibition 

1998   Curatorial Consultant and Writer. 
Lower East Side Tenement Museum 
Centennial Windows Exhibition of Lower East Side History 

1995-96 Project Historian, Museum of the City of New York 
Exhibition: Gaelic Gotham: The Irish and New York
 

Other Public History Initiatives

2008-2009 NEH Podcast Grant  – researched and wrote (in ollaboration with two other historians) an educational walking tour of the historical Five Points district on New York City.  The tour will is now available as a podcast for use by high school and college students.

2007-pres   Scholarly advisor to Radio Diaries, an independent non-profit organization that produces radio documentaries for National Public Radio. www.radiodiaries.org

2007 NBC Universal: history commentator for segments on their www.icue.com history education website. 

2001  Academic Advisor/Editor, The New York Times, 36 Days: The Complete Chronicle of the 2000 Presidential Election Crisis (New York, Holt: 2001) 

1999-2001 Member of Executive Board, Alliance for New York City History. 

1998-2000 Member, Seneca Village Archaeology Project Advisory 
Committee: formed to bring about an archaeological excavation of the former Seneca Village located in present-day Central Park. 

1991-96 Co-Founder and Co-Director, Big Onion Walking Tours 
N. Y. City's largest walking tour company; conducts tours on urban, ethnic and architectural history. 

1995-98 Academic Advisory Group, New-York Historical Society: a panel of thirty scholars assembled to advise the institution on matters pertaining to its collections and future exhibitions. 

1991-92  Project Editor, Encyclopedia of New York, Yale University Press (1995). 

1997-98 Historians Committee for "New York 100," the centennial of the consolidation of New York City. 
 

OP-EDS

September 14, 2001: “Another Pearl Harbor? Not By A Longshot” carried by Knight-Ridder News Service and appearing in newspapers nationwide, including the Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette. 

March 17, 2000: “Parades Bring U.S. Diversity to Main Street,” carried by Knight-Ridder News Service and appearing in 26 newspapers nationwide, including Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, The Houston Chronicle, Salt Lake Tribune, St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press, Wilmington (DE) News Journal, Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader). 

August 12, 1999: “A New Mask for Old Hatreds,” New York Daily News. [commentary concerning anti-immigrant billboards in Queens] 
http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-08-12/News_and_Views/Opinion/a-37480.asp 
 

POPULAR WRITING

Weekly Irish history column, “Hibernian Chronicle,” for Irish Echo, the largest-circulation Irish American newspaper in the U.S. www.IrishEcho.com [Search for Hibernian Chronicle] 

Ten biographies of famous New Yorkers for the New York Daily News series “Big Town Biography,” 1999 www.nydailynews.com/manual/news/bt_bio/ 

“The Lower East Side: New York’s Immigrant Frontier,” co-authored with James P. Shenton, in  New York Walks, edited by Batia Plotch (Henry Holt, 1992).

TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY        

[TAH is a national program overseen by the Dept of Education and designed to improve the teaching of history and social studies in American public schools].

January 7, 2009: Teaching American History national conference. Keynote address before the project directors for all the TAH grant programs in the U.S.  "The Gilded Age: Making Sense of the Industrial Revolution, Big Business, Labor Activism, Mass Immigration, and the ‘New Woman’”

2005-present: Workshop Leader and Lecturer for Teaching American History grant programs across the United States, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Washington, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Wyoming.  Led workshops and seminars and delivered multimedia lectures on American history topics designed to help teachers devise new and innovative methods for using primary sources, especially visual documents, in their classrooms. 

2002-2004:  Lead Historian - Teaching American History grant (U.S. Department of Education) “Enlivening History with Primary Sources”; awarded to the Education Department at Queens College, CUNY and partnered with the New York Historical Society.  I served as lead historian and taught a two-week seminar in summers 2002, 2003, and 2004 for New York City social studies teachers.