President Obama preparing his address with speechwriters
What does it all mean?
On the one hand, President Obama’s decision to use his executive authority to address the long-simmering issue of immigration should bring some measure of relief to more than 5 million of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
Under the plan as it is so far understood, roughly 4 million undocumented immigrants would have deportation deferred for three years if they:
Are parents of American citizens or Green Card holders (legal permanent residents).
Have lived in the U.S. for at least five years.
Register.
Pass a criminal background check.
Pay taxes.
Many also would receive work permits, and a Social Security number. Most important to many, they might be able to travel to their home countries and return.
Additionally, the Deferred Action for Children (DACA) program would be expanded. DACA defers deportation of undocumented children and young adults, and provides access to two-year renewable work permits and Social Security numbers. Just over 1 million young people are eligible for DACA. Under the president’s plan, 300,000 more would be eligible.
On the other hand, the devil’s in the details—and a lot of the details of implementation aren’t clear yet. What’s more, there are at least two wild cards in the mix. We don’t know whether the next president will keep the new policies in place, and Republicans in Congress opposed to the president’s actions are likely to take action to prevent implementation.
Additionally, it’s a temporary measure, and does not provide a path to full U.S. citizenship. As Obama put it: “All we’re saying is, we’re not going to deport you.”
For now, though, says Siobhan Lyons, director of the Irish Immigration Center of Greater Philadelphia, it’s a noteworthy advance. “Overall, it’s good news, and a step in the right direction. In the next few months, we’ll find out how they’re going to implement what President Obama said. I hope it presses our representatives in Congress to do the right thing. It’s time we had a proper discussion.”
Exactly how it will all play out is still a matter of concern, especially since actual implementation won’t happen until the spring.
One of the most pressing concerns, Lyons added, is the ability “to travel back and forth, both for joyous occasions, and for sad occasions like family funerals.” There are questions, too, about how that provision that might be implemented, It has always been a critical concern of the Irish government.
To make a start on answering those questions, the Immigration Center is hosting an informational meeting Monday night at 6:30. Three immigration lawyers will be on hand: Shelley Grant, Audrey Allen, and Tom Griffin. If you’re interested, there’s no need to call. Just show up. You should also keep an eye on the Immigration Center’s Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/icphila This is going to be the first of several steps to bring clarity to the situation as it progresses.
For now, it’s important tor undocumented Irish—of which there are close to 50,000 in the U.S.—to pay close attention to this issue, and where it’s going, and not to take actions prematurely, Lyons says. “There are going to be specific requirements and forms,” she says, but exactly what they’re going to be, no one knows yet. “Don’t just rush off. Try to get information from the Irish Immigration Center or immigration lawyers. We all need to be on the same page.”
The president’s invitation to “come out of the shadows and get right with the law” is welcome and long awaited, but Lyons counsels patience. “It’s great news, but right now, everybody needs to stay calm and carry on.”
The Immigration Center is at 7 South Cedar Lane, Upper Darby, PA 19082.
Last month, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person, at age 17, to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her devoted advocacy in her mission to ensure that all females around the world have the right to an education. Her story has become a rallying cry and she is known around the globe. Born in Pakistan, her town was taken over by the Taliban, and the school founded by her father, Ziaudden Yousafzai, was threatened because girls were allowed to attend. Malala became targeted personally for her passionate stance, and was shot in the head in an assassination attempt as she rode the bus home from school. Not only did she survive the attack, but she has taken her fight against the Taliban’s position worldwide. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif commended her as the pride of Pakistan and encouraged: “Girls and boys of the world should take lead from her struggle and commitment.”
And that’s exactly what the girls at Mount Saint Joseph Academy, commonly referred to as “The Mount,” in Flourtown, PA, did. “You’re never going to hear a teacher here who tells you your ideas are too big. Nothing’s ever too big. And that’s just what you get in every single class…they say ‘I support you. Go for it,'” explained senior Jess Tyrrell.
So when the 16 students in the 20/20 club (an organization that’s committed to solving 20 global problems over a span of 20 years) at the all-female Catholic high school read Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” last spring, it was the club’s advisor Kate Shevlin who encouraged the girls to reach out to Malala.
Colleen McBride, one of the members of the club, had just been elected student body president for the 2014-2015 school year. With the theme of “Bring a Whole New Spirit to the Mount” in mind, Colleen knew this was a big idea and she ran with it.
“Reading her book, and realizing that she was our own age, and that even though she’s across the world we can still connect to her, I knew there was something to this, that this is happening for a reason. Our mission at The Mount is ‘On the education of women largely lies the future of society,’ Colleen said. “Then we realized she was coming to Philadelphia and it became real, it became an attainable goal.
“We decided we wanted to ask Malala to come to The Mount, and when we found out she was going to be receiving the Liberty Medal here, we began brainstorming. Even though this was in June, we knew October 21st was going to be here before we knew it. We decided to make a video, and we spent the whole week of July 4th filming and putting it together.”
Katie Mars, another student in the group, came up with the video’s tag line, “Malala is…” and all the girls then took it from there.
“We were talking about it, and I went home and decided to write a reflection. I write poems and reflections when I have spare time and feel inspired, and it all just sort of happened,” Katie explained.
With the video finished and on YouTube, they began an ardent twitter campaign at https://twitter.com/mountformalala to get their message to Malala. “We tweeted directly to Malala, and everyday we would have a tweet dedicated to her—like a picture of her, or a quote, and then throughout the day we would post the video saying ‘We made this video for Malala, we stand in solidarity with her, education first.’ And then we would do small stuff; for her birthday, July 12th, I made her cupcakes that said ‘Mount for Malala’ on them and posted the photo, and that was the first favorite [on their twitter account] we got directly from her,” Colleen said.
“Eason Jordan, the director of operations and communications of the Malala Fund, he reached out to my account and the Mount for Malala account,” Colleen relayed. “First they said thank you for this inspirational video, so we knew they had actually seen the video. And then he tweeted to me and said, ‘Would you be able to have a phone chat tomorrow regarding Malala’s Philadelphia visit?’ so the next day I was sitting here in this room and Eason said ‘Malala and the Malala Fund are so impressed with your efforts.’ We had worked so hard, and it was a huge group effort and then to hear that they’re impressed—and they’re inspired by US–when we’re so inspired by THEM, it was just an incredible thing.”
Although due to time constraints and security issues, Malala wouldn’t be able to schedule a visit to The Mount, the 16 girls all got an invitation to attend the Liberty Medal Ceremony.
Colleen was further blown away when Eason told her, “Five girls will be onstage at the ceremony to read blogs and then greet Malala, and the Malala Fund has chosen you to be one of those girls.”
“That was such an honor for me,” Colleen said. “Because it wasn’t just for me. I was representing the whole school on that stage, and I wore my uniform. And I know Malala loves her uniform, so I was really proud to be up there representing The Mount. I sat right behind her onstage. We stood and greeted her, and that was the first time we made eye contact. I was just beaming and it was just an overwhelming experience. I read her excerpt about when the Taliban first came to her village, and the artillery fire she and her friend heard as they were doing their homework. They thought it was a normal day, and weren’t really focused on it. Then it talked about her blog, and how no one could know it was written by her.”
Although the other girls weren’t onstage, they did meet Malala as part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit before the actual ceremony. As they waited for Malala to meet them, “the energy was just amazing,” Jess said. “The room went completely silent the second she walked in. I’m pretty sure everyone was just staring because she just walks in and she’s this larger than life figure.” Katie further described the moment, “She took the entire presence of the room, and everyone was focused on her. Though she’s very small in stature, she has such a big presence. And she’s just so humble as well. She’s accomplished so much but she just came in and shook hands with every single person in the room.”
“We met her dad as well,” Jess went on. “He’s much more talkative than she was. He said, ‘Yes, my daughter has this opportunity to go and spread her message, but it’s left to people like you to spread it around.’ He’s saying that every single girl is inspirational, and to hear that from someone whose daughter is the biggest inspiration in the world was so encouraging. He believes we can be like her without having the kind of situation she’s suffered. It just takes the courage to stand up and go for it.”
For Katie, Ziaudden Yousafzai’s message was just as powerful. “He said, ‘Every girl is special.’ A Nobel Peace Prize winner’s father is telling me I’m special. Sometimes you forget that. It’s not about me personally being special, but everyone, even the girls who feel forgotten, they ARE special. It really brought new light to my eyes.”
The experience has been a life changing one for all the girls.
Colleen explained, “I went home that night thinking, okay, Malala came here to Philadelphia and she inspired us so much. Now she has left and she’s going on to other countries, but we have the obligation to carry out her message here in the United States. We’re a developed country—and she works to help girls in countries that aren’t developed—but we still have those problems here. We want to continue her mission. I envision all teen-age girls coming together and really being supportive of one another, and being able to create a network where we can be there for one another.”
“We want to start a new initiative here in the schools in Philadelphia,” Jess said. “Malala’s focused on the big picture, so if we start working towards doing little things and make a difference on a local level, hopefully that will spread all over the country. The Philadelphia school system is the perfect example because it’s just in crisis right now. But every single voice that stands with us for the Philadelphia schools counts. Malala said, ‘When the whole world’s silent, one voice becomes powerful’ and you can imagine how many voices we can raise for the schools here.”
“We’re brainstorming right now,” Colleen revealed. “We’re an all-girls school, and there are many like us in our area and we’d like to come together, including girls in co-ed schools that share the same message. By coming together, and starting an organization, we can have an impact in Philadelphia and help here. And then if other schools around the country do this, and they can focus locally, it’s really a national impact. We’re thinking, start local, think global.”
And they all have plans to continue their mission beyond their 2015 graduation.
“I’ve completely transitioned,” Colleen said. “I was always into science, and last year I thought I wanted to be a nutritionist. That was my goal, and I still love science, but being elected president, and then being in this initiative, I’ve really embraced my leadership skills and my creativity. I now see myself focusing on an emphasis on education, and the whole planning process within the community and carrying out a mission of women’s education.”
With Jess, the experience solidified her plans for the future. “I’ve always wanted to major in foreign affairs, with a minor in communication. So, what I’ve realized now is that I want to be an advocate for countries like Pakistan, for these countries that don’t have nearly the rights we have.”
And Katie is still up in the air, but is “looking into public policy and political science, maybe even going into the government realm or the non-profit realm—an area where I can help girls in this country who are struggling for an education…I would even love to be President one day—set your hopes and standards high! I’ve got a few years.”
Wherever they end up individually, they all see themselves coming together again in the future to continue their mission. Colleen summed it up: “I think it’s exciting because we all took this initiative and we’re running with it now with our futures. And I feel like we’re all going to go our separate directions, but say, Katie’s in politics, and I’m staying here in America helping, and Jess is in Pakistan, and we can all come together. Because it all started at The Mount, and that’s what’s wonderful here. They say we create founders here, and the sisterhood is just so strong here. I came in as a freshman not knowing anyone and I’ve transformed. I think it goes to show that at The Mount it doesn’t matter who you are, we all come together. We all grow into leaders and founders.”
With this determination and drive, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see these women accepting their own Nobel Peace Prizes one day in the not so distant future.
We always knew Philly was an Irish town, but even we were surprised at how Irish. And not just the city, but the surrounding counties. We’re all over the place. It’s almost an infestation. In a good way.
No big surprise to those of us who cover Irish doings in the area, but Delaware County is the area’s Irish capital. The other counties have a pretty fair representation, too.
But what’s it all look like in one quick snapshot view? We’ve banged together a neat infographic that should provide you with the highlights. If there’s a pop quiz later, you’ll pass.
If you have a blog of website of your own, feel free to steal embed it. It’s easy to add to Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too, so feel free. Just click on the easel.ly link at lower left below the infographic. easel.ly
The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association carefully matched its parade theme to its selection of grand marshal this year. The parade will honor families, and its grand marshal, Kathy McGee Burns, has a huge one: She’s the mother of nine children.
But there’s far more to Burns than motherhood on a grand scale. She sits on the boards of most of the Irish organizations in Philadelphia—and has headed most of them at one time or another. She has served as president of the Donegal Association, the parade board, is currently the president of the Delaware Valley Hall of Fame (which inducted her into the hall in 2012), and serves on the boards of the Irish Center, the Claddagh Fund, and the St. Malachy’s School Advisory Board. She was the driving force behind the direct mail campaign to raise money for the Irish Center this year and has thrown her support—financial and otherwise—behind the Duffy’s Cut project, whose board she now sits on. In 2010, she was one of the first recipients of the Inspirational Irish Women awards.
Read more about the woman who will be leading the parade here.
The parade will be held rain or shine on Sunday, March 15.
Musician Luke Jardel holds a photo of Emmett’s Tavern while Emmett Ruane shows off his new white apron, a gift from Jardel.
Emmett Ruane, whose Emmett’s Place tavern in Philadelphia gave birth to the careers of countless Irish musicians and provided a dance floor for countless Irish dancers, was one of four people inducted into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame on Sunday night.
Joining Ruane at the head table at the Irish Center were Donegal-born Jim McGill, former president of the Philadelphia Ceili Group and the Donegal Association, whose daughter Rosaleen pointed out was her—and many other people’s—first introduction to the Irish heritage and culture he loves; and Frank and Bill Watson, twin brothers who persisted against all odds and donated hours of their time and thousands of dollars of their own money to keep the memory of 57 Irish immigrants who died violently at a railroad site called Duffy’s cut more than 130 years ago, victims of disease, fear, and intolerance.
The first Commodore John Barry Award was given posthumously to Barry himself, the Wexford-born Revolutionary War hero who is considered the father of the US Navy. He lived in Philadelphia and is buried in the graveyard of Old St. Mary’s Church, near Independence Hall and the large statue of Barry that sits behind. Accepting the award in Barry’s name was Barbara Jones, Irish Consul General in New York, who is from Wexford.
The award was first proposed by Frank Hollingsworth, a member of the Hall of Fame committee, who traces his ancestors back to Wexford.
More than 300 people attended the event, which is held annually at The Irish Center.
See our photos below.
Declan Forde in the iconic scene from “Waking Ned Devine.”
Don’t order that Sierra Club calendar for 2015. The Irish Immigration Center of Greater Philadelphia has something better hitting the lucrative calendar market this year.
The Center’s full color 2015 calendar features photographs of more than 20 of the regulars at the weekly senior luncheon acting out iconic scenes from 12 popular Irish films of the last 60-some years, from “The Quiet Man” to “Once.”
The calendar idea was inspired by a similar calendar of classic films such as “Titanic” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” that were recreated by seniors at a German retirement center last year, says Siobhan Lyons, executive director of the Immigration Center, located in Upper Darby. “I thought it was an excellent idea and lots of fun. I thought it was something we could do, but with Irish films.”
The first person she approached was Declan Forde,79, a self-described “Cork rebel” who now lives in Havertown. “I spoke to Declan, who plays the character on the motorbike in ‘Waking Ned Devine,’ and told him I needed him to get naked for the Immigration Center, he said, ‘Name the date,’” says Lyons, laughing.
You can see Forde half-naked—just shirtless—on a motorbike on the October 2015 calendar page. Husband-and-wife Jim and Kathleen McCaffery appear as actors Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the sweet Irish romance “Once,” strolling down Grafton Street, which is played in the calendar by Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia. Tom McArdle was cast as the John Wayne character, Sean Thornton, and redheaded Kathleen Murtagh as Mary Kate Danaher, played by Maureen O’Hara, in the movie, “The Quiet Man.” The “cottage” was portrayed by the Fireside Room of the Irish Center in Mt. Airy. And Barney Boyce donned a brown wig to be Darby O’Gill joking around with the leprechaun, played by Jimmy Meehan in crown, green cape, and white knee socks, from “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”—a photo that required a little perspective trickery.
The Immigration Center partnered with www.irishphiladelphia.com to produce the calendar, which is on sale now online.
“What we think makes our calendar a standout is that we didn’t have a large budget, green screens, or bought costumes,” says Lyons. “We took the idea of the film and interpreted it the best we could with Philadelphia scenes. Where would this have happened in Philadelphia? So it really has a Philly flavor to it.”
Along with Elfreth’s Alley and the Irish Center, the latter which provided the back drop for “Darby O’Gill,” “The Quiet Man,” “The Field,” “My Left Foot,” and “The Commitments,” the photos were shot at McGillin’s Olde Ale House on Drury Lane in Center City (“Michael Collins”), Valley Green in Fairmount Park (“Waking Ned Devine”), the Italian Market (“Agnes Browne”), Harrowgate Gym in Kensington (“The Boxer”) and the Upper Darby Police Department (“The Guard”).
Many of the locations even have an Irish connection. “McGillin’s is the oldest Irish pub in the city,” says Lyons. “The Upper Darby police station—there are plenty of Irish there. If you look at the census, most of the original residents of Elfreth’s Alley were Irish people who worked as weavers and linen workers. And the Italian market? Well, a lot of our people married their people!”
The Irish community also helped. The seniors created their own costumes and props with the help of Leslie Alcock, the social worker from County Carlow who runs the senior programs at the center. (She’s listed as “key grip” in the calendar credits, but she was also prop girl, lighting director, and senior wrangler, among other things.)
AOH/LAOH Div 25’s Pearse and Liz Kerr connected the Center with Charlie Sgrillo of the Harrowgate Boxing Club to arrange to photograph Pete McEneany in his role of Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Boxer” at the club in Kensington which regularly hosts Irish boxers in the summer in AOH-sponsored bouts. Sgrillo even taped McEneany’s hands to make the photo look more authentic.
Gary O’Neill of Drexel Hill responded to an Irish Philadelphia Facebook request for a motor scooter for the “Waking Ned Devine” scene. One Saturday, he hitched his cherry red, nonfunctional Honda scooter to the bed of his truck and drove it to Valley Green where he, his daughter, Eve, and friend, Brian McCaul, unloaded it and set it up. “We were going to use Declan’s son’s motorcycle, but Declan has two artificial hips and he was not getting a leg over a motorbike,” explains Lyons. He had no trouble with the scooter, though taking his shirt off on a cool autumn day was a little daunting.
Besides making some money for the Center’s senior programs, Lyons hopes that the calendar will make people think a little differently about the elderly. “There’s a stereotype that older people are just sitting down in wooly slippers waiting to die,” she says. “Working at the Irish Immigration Center, I have another view. If they were devils at 15, they’re still devils when they’re 75 and heaven help us, they worse because they don’t care anymore what people think!”
The making of the calendar proved to be so much fun—“we laughed through the whole thing,” says Lyons– that now more of the seniors want to be in next year’s production, theme still undetermined. “We might have to be doing some large crowd scenes,” she laughs.
The Irish Immigration Center 2015 Calendar sells for $20 ($15 for seniors; $4.95 postage) with discounts available for bulk purchases. You can purchase yours from the Irish Immigration Center starting on Monday, or pre-order at the online store.
Check out our photos below–some are actual calendar photos, others, outtakes from the shoots.
A local theater company that specializes in contemporary plays from Ireland and the UK, an Irish radio host, a local attorney and a state legislator with Irish ties were in the news in the past two weeks–and it was all good.
The Inis Nua Theatre Company, which brings contemporary Irish and UK plays to the stage in Philadelphia, won five awards at the annual Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater this week. Four awards went to the company’s musical, Midsummer, which took home honors in outstanding musical direction, outstanding lead actress in a musical (Liz Filios), outstanding direction of a musical (Kate Galvin) and outstanding overall production of a musical .
Inis Nua also won the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an evolving theater company which carries with it a $10,000 prize.
Tom Reing is artistic director for the 11-year-old theater company.
Marianne MacDonald, host of the popular Sunday morning Irish radio show, Come West Along the Road (noon, 800 AM), was the recipient of the Mayo President’s Award at the recent Mayo Ball at the Irish Center in Philadelphia. She also operates dance and musical tours to Ireland, Cape Breton, and other locales
Theresa Flanagan Murtagh, counsel for Murtagh Brothers Inc. in Newtown Square, was named to the Irish Legal 100, a list of top people of Irish descent in the legal profession by the Irish Voice newspaper. Murtagh is a graduate of the Villanova University School of Law and a former assistant district attorney in Delaware County.
Brendan Boyle of Philadelphia becomes the only son of Irish immigrants to serve in the US Congress. A state legislator from District 170 whose family has ties to Donegal and Sligo, Boyle was elected to Congress this week from the 13th District, which includes parts of eastern Montgomery County and northeast Philadelphia.
Irish Minister for the Diaspora, Jimmy Deenihan, talking to people at the Irish Center on Wednesday. Behind him: Immigration Center executive direct Siobhan Lyons.
The latest donor to Philadelphia’s Irish Center fundraising campaign is the Irish government.
Minister for the Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan, an ex-Kerry footballer whose brand new cabinet post gives him responsibility over the some 70 million people of Irish descent living in every corner of the world, announced this week that the government was allocating $2.3 million to 37 Irish immigration centers across the US for their work in supporting vulnerable populations, including the elderly and the undocumented. That includes Philadelphia’s Irish Immigration Center, located in Upper Darby.
“But I was glad to see that there was a small grant in there of $12,000 for the Irish Center,” said the 62-year-old Fine Gael politician, who is a multiple All-Ireland Gaelic football winner, at a reception—like most Irish gatherings, with fresh baked scone and brown bread—in the center’s Fireside Room on Wednesday morning.
Later in the day, Deenihan met at Stotesbury Mansion near Rittenhouse Square in the city with leaders and members of many of the region’s Irish organizations, including the Irish American Business Chamber and Network, Irish Network-Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Gaelic Athletic Association, which presented Deenihan with a Philly GAA jersey. He was accompanied by New York-based Irish Consul General Barbara Jones and Vice Consul Anna McGillicuddy.
Deenihan is doing a lap around the globe (he started in the United Arab Emirates, where some 10,000 Irish-born live) in advance of announcing a new “diaspora strategy,” a way to maintain a connection with those who trace all or part of their lineage back to the Emerald Isle. He said he expects to have an action plan in place by January.
If his remarks were any indication, at the top of the list will be immigration reform in the US, particularly as it relates to the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish living and working in the US. Deenihan met with several local undocumented Irish immigrants in an upstairs room at Stotesbury on Wednesday afternoon, before visiting the Irish Memorial on Front Street.
“Now that the mid-term elections are over, I hope President Obama will look at the authority he has to bring about a fundamental change in immigration rules affecting the Irish,” said Deenihan, while speaking to the estimated 80 people at the Stotesbury event.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which raised quotas for immigrants from countries such as Latin America and Asia who had been previously disadvantaged, followed the law of unintended consequences. The mission of Boston’s favorite Irish son, Senator Ted Kennedy, the new immigration policy reduced the number of legal immigrants from Ireland. Prior to 1965, about 70,000 were coming to the US; in the decade after, only about 10,000 were permitted to come.
Many countries rely on their diaspora for support—for money, for tourism, and in the case of Israel, said Deenihan, “their survival.” Ireland isn’t the first country to establish a minister for the diaspora, but he said, no other country has the strong connection Ireland has with the US.
“Nearly every family in Ireland has relatives here in America,” he said in his address at The Irish Center. “I have lots of relatives around here. I should have, I suppose, told them I was coming,” he added, to laughter.
“Our connection to you is so strong that though we’re part of Europe,” he said, “we look to support from here in the US.”
Later, I asked him privately about what specifically that connection meant to Ireland. “The diaspora has been very good to Ireland. The recent business investment in Ireland came because of our connection here,” Deenihan said. “But I’m not just looking at what the diaspora can do for us. I’m looking to give back to the diaspora.”
For one thing, he said, he wants to make it easier for Irish Americans to trace their roots. Fewer Americans than ever now identify as Irish, which can erode the link between the two countries and is something, he believes, that a little bit of family history searching could help mitigate. In recent years, the National Archives of Ireland has made both the 1901 and 1911 Census records for all 32 counties available online for free. “I’d like to make more records available,” he said.
As minister for culture, he presided over the development of the website, www.inspiring-ireland.ie, which gathers many of Ireland’s cultural assets under one virtual, searchable roof. For example, you can search by institution and see the portrait of famed playwright Lady Augusta Gregory that hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland or view a page from the transportation register of Cavan gaol (jail) that’s kept in the National Archives.
“I want to build on that site to make this kind of information readily and easily accessed,” he said. “If you give to people, they always give back.”
