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In 1816, Irish-born author David Baillie Warden described half the population of Washington, D.C., as being Irish noting that the Irish laborers could easily be identified for their lack of familiarity with the English language. His population estimate was an exaggeration, but his observation that Irish immigrants stood out because of distinctive accents and colorful speech patterns was more accurate. Washington's Irish population swelled with the demand for laborers after the British destroyed the federal buildings in 1814, and increased with the surge of Irish émigrés to America's major cities in the nineteenth century.
Employment on nineteenth-century government building projects, such as roads, canals, bridges, and public works, was seasonal, and frequently subject to the whim of congressional appropriations. Hoban gave a voice in local politics to the great number of Irish immigrants in Washington who worked as both skilled and unskilled laborers, draymen, tavern keepers, blacksmiths, grocers, and boardinghouse proprietors. Hoban was a founder in 1802 of the Society of the Sons of Erin, a group that helped workers in need of housing, food, and medical services.
Featuring Anita McBride, founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education and co-author of U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies
Featuring Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States
Featuring Shea McEnerney, historic preservationist and Next-Gen Leader
Featuring Laurie Grace, Chairman of the James Hoban Society of Ireland; Brother Christy O’Carroll, Congregation of Christian Brothers; Ciarán O’Connor, State Architect of Ireland; Merlo Kelly, Senior Architect, Lotts Architecture & Urbanism; Brian O’Connell, Director and Founder of O’Connell Mahon Architects and a contributor to the book James Hoban: Designer and Builder of the White House
Featuring Tham Kannalikham, White House Historical Association Board Member and former White House interior designer; Steven Spandle, architect of the White House tennis pavilion; and Emily Bedard, Next-Gen Leader and Creative Director for Foster Reeve & Associates
Featuring David Rubenstein, Author and Patriotic Philanthropist
Featuring Dr. Christopher Moran, Chairman, Co-Operation Ireland; Merlo Kelly, Design Fellow, University College Dublin, School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy; and Andrew McCarthy, Independent Historian and Scholar
Featuring Jason Van Dyke, Director of Communications, Grand Lodge of Washington, DC, and Chris Ruli, Historian & Librarian, Grand Lodge of Washington, DC
Featuring Historian Dr. Ed Lengel, Architect and Author Merlo Kelly, and Scottish Stonemason Charles Jones
James Hoban's life is a memorable Irish-American success story. In his boyhood he learned the craft of carpenter and wheelwright, and became an architect by profession and a builder by trade. Hoban came to America with high ambitions, and designed and erected many buildings; but what keeps his name alive today arises from one special commission—he was the architect of
