Hidden Scots in New York? (Scott, Independence: neighborhoods, live, move to)

[Writermouse]

Hi all - I'm a Scottish lass married to a charming American and we are organising our move to NYC. Husband has family there, and lived there himself for a while as a teenager, and I've visited several times so it's not too outlandish a jump.

Buuuuut I'm just wondering, the Irish are pretty visible in NYC, so why no Scots? Where do they go when they move to the US, produce the 2nd and 3rd generation? Seems like they just go into hiding. Maybe they are really assimilated straight off the plane, or getting lumped in with the English, which seems to be the same word as UK in the states.

Not that I mind much, I love NYC for its melting pot style. I don't want to hang out with expats from the dear green place (Glasgow - heh) all the time. Just really curious - why the vanishing act, eh?

[SeventhFloor]

good question. i cant think of any predominantly scottish neighborhoods in nyc, althought there are some predominantly irish, like some sections of the rockaways in queens, and woodlawn in the bronx.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Writermouse

Hi all - I'm a Scottish lass married to a charming American and we are organising our move to NYC. Husband has family there, and lived there himself for a while as a teenager, and I've visited several times so it's not too outlandish a jump.

Buuuuut I'm just wondering, the Irish are pretty visible in NYC, so why no Scots? Where do they go when they move to the US, produce the 2nd and 3rd generation? Seems like they just go into hiding. Maybe they are really assimilated straight off the plane, or getting lumped in with the English, which seems to be the same word as UK in the states.

Not that I mind much, I love NYC for its melting pot style. I don't want to hang out with expats from the dear green place (Glasgow - heh) all the time. Just really curious - why the vanishing act, eh?

There's still a Scots population in a few places like Kearny, NJ, but no, there aren't that many. It may be that the Irish immigration was so massive, and they experienced discrimination when they got here that there are many more of them and formed a tighter community, but Scots have been in the US for a long, long time. The Southeastern US, for example, had a significant early Scots and Scots-Irish population.

This is a good question. I'm going to Google a bit and see what's out there. I know a lot of people who are proud of their Scot heritage, but they don't tend to have organizations or anything that I know of.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

There's still a Scots population in a few places like Kearny, NJ, but no, there aren't that many. It may be that the Irish immigration was so massive, and they experienced discrimination when they got here that there are many more of them and formed a tighter community, but Scots have been in the US for a long, long time. The Southeastern US, for example, had a significant early Scots and Scots-Irish population.

This is a good question. I'm going to Google a bit and see what's out there. I know a lot of people who are proud of their Scot heritage, but they don't tend to have organizations or anything that I know of.

Well, here you go! Of course, it's been Americanized--Elvis is included in this celebration.

New York Tartan Week - Official Website

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

Well, here you go! Of course, it's been Americanized--Elvis is included in this celebration.

New York Tartan Week - Official Website

And if you click on the "history" tab on that site, it tells us that almost half the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent and 9 governors of the original 13 colonies had Scottish ancestry, and FURTHER, that our Declaration was modeled on the Scottish Declaration of Independence of April 6. 1320. Who knew?

[Mightyqueen801]

Scottish New York City - Resource for all things Scottish in New York City

[tpk-nyc]

Scottish-Americans are a very understated group. They exist, they just don't like to make a show of themselves. Because they were largely Protestant, they assimilated into the "Protestant Establishment" a long time ago.

The Roman Catholic immigrant groups, Irish, Italians, Poles, etc., tended to band together and maintain a strong identity because they were persecuted for their religion, among other things.

[Writermouse]

wow this is great stuff - going to check out the links you provided. Yeah, check out the declaration of Arbroath for comparision to the US. This is one of the most inspiring bits (a lot of the rest was actually a desperate plea for help):

"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Pretty advanced for 1300s.

[cokatie]

Oh, they are here, Writermouse. My Mom is one of them! As another poster stated, a lot of the Scottish Catholics generally hang out with the Irish immigrants. Check out any Irish bar in Manhattan when Celtic v Rangers is on and you will see what I mean!