@article{1378531,
      recid = {1378531},
      author = {Dearinger, Ryan,},
      title = {The filth of progress : immigrants, Americans, and the  building of canals and railroads in the West /},
      pages = {1 online resource (310 pages) :},
      abstract = {"In America's historical imagination, toil and triumph  against nature and overwhelming odds characterizes such  achievements as the Erie Canal and the transcontinental  railroad. Triumph transformed canal and railroad  entrepreneurs into visionaries whose work brought the  nation bountiful riches and did the Lord's bidding.  Celebrated for their spirit and perseverance in 'building'  the nation's infrastructure, they found respect for looking  to tomorrow and creating a future. For generations, most  indexes of American history supported and reinforced this  narrative of progress. Yet, if this is the historical  memory, it is conveniently stunted. What of those whose  bodies strained and broke under the load of such glories?  What of those men beyond the din and fanfare who only  appear in old photographs with faces blurred and  indistinguishable? In their lives and deaths in the mud,  muck, and mountains is another history of American  achievement. These barely visible and forgotten, ordinary  men, 'unskilled' immigrants from Ireland and China,  Mormons, and native-born American workingmen rank, as well,  as the creators of national growth and progress. Their  experiences and voices, along with those of the privileged  and well-connected, are the subjects of this study. I  examine the rise of Western canals and railroads to  national prominence through the menial labor of countless  men, largely hidden from view because they left virtually  no paper trail, who strung together livelihoods at the  economic fringes of society. This book examines the contest  for control of American progress and history as distilled  from the competing narratives of canal and railroad  construction workers and those fortunate enough to avoid  this fate"--Provided by publisher.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1378531},
}