Bruce Boling Irish Language Papers
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Abstract
Bruce D. Boling is a linguist, historian, and librarian whose research focused on the Irish language with specific emphasis on the English dialects spoken in Ulster. He also collaborated with historian Kerby A. Miller on several projects related to Irish immigration history, including Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815. This collection documents Bruce Boling's research on the Irish language. Materials include maps, memoranda, correspondence, transcriptions and annotations of research material, journal articles on various aspects of linguistics, and original writing concerning aspects of English and Irish language dialects in Ulster. The collection provides resource materials not only on the history of Irish immigration and the changing nature of regional linguistic patterns, but also the way in which social scientists interrogate the intersection between linguistics and social history. The collection also documents developments in the field of Irish American historiography, including Boling's interdisciplinary focus and methodology.
Historical/Biographical Note
Bruce D. Boling is a linguist, historian, and librarian whose research focused on the Irish language with specific emphasis on the English dialects spoken in Ulster. Boling received a Bachelor's and Master's degree from the University of Iowa, a Master's in Library Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Masters and PhD in linguistics with a specialty in Celtic languages from Harvard University. He taught courses in linguistics at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and held research fellowships at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Boling also worked as a language consultant and a librarian at Brown University, the University of Wyoming, the Library of Congress, and the University of New Mexico.
Using immigrants' letters and other sources, Boling sought to reconstruct the Ulster region's 18th- and 19th-century dialects. He also collaborated with historian Kerby Miller on several projects related to Irish immigration history, including Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815.
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged into three series, one of which has been arranged into subseries. The series are as follows:
Series I. Research Files
Series IA. General
Series IB. Irish Immigrants in the Land of New Canaan
Series II. Original Writings and Presentations
Series III. Secondary Source Materials
All series are arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents Bruce Boling's research on the Irish language. Materials include maps, memoranda, correspondence, transcriptions and annotations of research material, journal articles on various aspects of linguistics, and original writing concerning aspects of English and Irish language dialects in Ulster. The majority of the collection consists of materials produced in the process of researching and contributing to Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815, including copies, transcriptions, and translations of 18th- and 19th-century Irish immigrants' letters to family members. The collection provides resource materials not only on the history of Irish immigration and the changing nature of regional linguistic patterns, but also the way in which social scientists interrogate the intersection between linguistics and social history. The collection also documents developments in the field of Irish American historiography, including Boling's interdisciplinary focus and methodology.
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Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Bruce Boling, the creator of this collection, were transferred to New York University in 2011. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Bruce Boling Irish Language Papers; AIA 062; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Existence and Location of Originals
Much of the collection contains photocopies of letters written by Irish immigrants from the 18th and 19th centuries. Original letters from the collection are located in numerous repositories, including the Belfast Northern Ireland Public Records Office, California Historical Society, Chicago Historical Society, Georgia Department of Archives and History, Illinois State Historical Library, Indiana Historical Society, John Hay Library at Brown University, Kent Library at State University (Cape Girardeau, Missouri), Kildare Archaeological Society, Minnesota Historical Society, National Library of Ireland, New York Historical Society, Perkins Library at Duke University, Public Archives of Canada, South Carolina Library, and Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina. The location of some original letters is unknown.
Immediate Source of Acquisition Note
Donated by Kerby A. Miller on the behalf of Bruce Boling in 2011.The accession number associated with this gift is 2011.041.
Separated Materials
Personal materials were separated and returned to the donor after processing.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Upon receipt, the collection contained several distinct types of materials, but no consistent overall arrangement. Portions of Boling's work concerning original immigrant letters were often grouped together in a loose alphabetical arrangement in folders with accurate labels. Other like materials, however, were loose or in unlabeled folders. The majority of the copies of secondary journal articles (which comprise Series III) were well-labeled, but not in any discernible order. Some were also loose and unfoldered. Loose articles were foldered and labeled, in the same format as those that were foldered. Pieces of Boling's original writings, including essays, manuscript drafts, and conference presentations were scattered throughout the boxes. Due to their distinct nature, they were physically and intellectually brought together, arranged alphabetically, and described.
Original folder titles were used, with descriptive clarifications as necessary. When no original folder title existed, one was created by the archivist in the same form as Boling's scheme. Not all descriptive folder titles, however, were accurate; some folders appear to have been reused and retain the original titles. In these cases, new descriptive folder titles were applied. In addition to this descriptive work, the collection was also rehoused in acid-free folders and boxes.