Lunchtime Lecture: The Irish Immigrant Experience in an Expanding United States, 1780s-1850s

The 2026 Lunchtime Lecture Series concludes with a new talk from Tom Schmidt, SHM volunteer and retired Auburn High School history teacher. Connecting national history to the local level, Tom discusses how changing immigration patterns, and particularly the dramatic increase of Irish émigrés in the middle 19th century transformed Auburn as well as New York and the nation as a whole.