S8 Ep791: 3. Survival and Hardship in New York's Five Points Famine immigrants endured the horrors of "coffin ships," where diseases like typhus and cholera claimed the lives of roughly ten percent of passengers. Upon arriving in New York with no formal inspection,

3. Survival and Hardship in New York's Five Points Famine immigrants endured the horrors of "coffin ships," where diseases like typhus and cholera claimed the lives of roughly ten percent of passengers. Upon arriving in New York with no formal inspection, many settled in the notorious Old Brewery tenement in Five Points. This squalid industrial building lacked basic ventilation and windows. Men like Bartholomew O'Donnell survived through grueling day labor, hauling heavy construction materials up rickety ladders. Despite these hardships, immigrants prioritized saving money in banks to protect their earnings from the high risks of fire and theft prevalent in crowded, lockless tenement housing. 3
1880 KILDARE