John Hughes secured his place in the pantheon of famous nineteenth-century Americans through his shepherding of the famine Irish immigrant generation into American society. He combatted Nativism and bigotry, building a path of acceptance in American society for not only the Irish but countless numbers of immigrants who followed. Was Hughes successful in his struggles? Is the fight for acceptance on the part of those perceived as different still as contentious an issue in America as it was 175 years ago?
