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Daniel Cassidy Papers

Call Number

AIA.049

Dates

1844-2008, inclusive
; 2000-2008, bulk

Creator

Cassidy, Daniel (Role: Creator)

Extent

4 Linear Feet in 3 record cartons, 1 manuscript box, and 1 half manuscript box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English and Irish.

Abstract

Daniel Cassidy (1943-2008), Irish-American writer, singer, filmmaker, and professor. Beginning his career as a musician and screenwriter, Cassidy later turned his interests towards research and academia, focusing on storytelling, newspaper writing, and broadcast history. A prolific writer, Cassidy's works include numerous newspaper and journal articles, as well as the book How the Irish Invented Slang: The Secret Language of the Crossroads. Materials in this collection include notes, manuscript drafts, annotated newspapers, play scripts, census documents, and annotated research files. The material primarily documents Cassidy's research interests and film work, with smaller portions concerning his personal life and his time with both the New College of California and the Crossroads Irish American Festival.

Biographical Note

Daniel Cassidy (1943-2008), an Irish-American writer, singer, filmmaker, and professor, was born in Brooklyn in 1943. He attended the the New York Military Academy on a musical scholarship, and studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Cornell University. His first job was at the New York Times, which he left to pursue screenwriting full time. From the late 1960s through the 1980s, Cassidy performed as a musician, but gradually transitioned into composing his own music. He performed at, among other places, Carnegie Hall, the LA Civic Auditorium, and on the Tonight Show. In addition to his musical work, Cassidy was also a prolific screenwriter--he sold film scripts and treatments, and worked in both film development and television production. His 1996 documentary, Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs, about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, was nominated for an Emmy Award, and his film Uncensored Voices aired on PBS.

In the 1990s, Cassidy's interests turned toward research and academia. Cassidy was a professor at New College of California, in the Media & Film Studies Department, where he taught storytelling, newspaper writing, and broadcast history classes. In 1995, he founded the Irish Studies Program (An Leann Eireannach) at New College. Cassidy was co-director of the program, one of the first in the country, until the college closed in 2008. Additionally, Cassidy was co-founder of the Crossroads Irish American Festival in San Francisco, and served as director of the festival until his death.

Cassidy was a prolific contributor to newspapers and journals. His book, How the Irish Invented Slang: The Secret Language of the Crossroads, was published in 2007. The book, which looked at the influence of Irish phrases on slang that developed in America in the 1800s, won the 2007 American Book Award for nonfiction. The book was met with much praise from within the Irish-American community, but was criticized by linguists for lacking evidence to support the book's claims. Cassidy's other research interest was African-American and Irish intermarriage in New York City in the 1800s, although he did not develop this enough before his death to publish any scholarly work on the topic. Cassidy died on October 11, 2008.

Arrangement

The Daniel Cassidy Papers are arranged in four series:

Missing Title

  1. Series I. Research and Publications
  2. Series II. Personal Papers
  3. Series III. Film
  4. Series IV. Media

Scope and Content Note

This collection comprises material primarily relating to the research interests and film work of Daniel Cassidy, with smaller portions of the collection dealing with his personal papers as well as his time with both New College of California and the Crossroads Irish American Festival. Materials include awards, correspondence, newspapers, annotated secondary source materials, original writings, and play scripts.

Access Restrictions

Open for research without restrictions.

Use Restrictions

The Tamiment Library does not have information about who owns copyright to this collection. Materials in this collection are expected to enter the public domain in 2078. The Tamiment Library is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Daniel Cassidy Papers; AIA.049; box number; folder number; Archives of Irish America/Tamiment Library, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Provenance is unknown. The accession number associated with this collection is 2010.070.

Separated Materials

Duplicate copies of unnanotated newspapers and journals were removed from the collection. Additionally, photocopied duplicates of annotated play scripts were also removed. An unannotated photocopy of the full text of Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underworld Lingo by Vincent Monteleone was removed from the collection; a copy of the book is available in Bobst. Personal material was removed from the collection and returned to the family.

Collection processed by

Kate Feighery

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:31:15 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information Note

When this material arrived, there was no discernible order inherent in the way the material was arranged. There were no folders or other means of organization, and materials related to each other were scatted among the various boxes. The current organization of the collection was imposed by the archivist. Once the order was established, materials were all placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Folder titles were assigned, as there were no pre-existing folder titles.

The dates on the folders containing previously published (secondary source) or census material indicate the dates that Cassidy annotated the material, not the date of original publication. There are a wide range of original publication dates within the secondary source material; the majority of the historical newspaper clippings and plays were originially published between 1880-1920. Dates in brackets are best approximations of when Cassidy was annotating the material.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012