In April 1859, the men who voted for a new Mayor of Portland ignored the “virulent nativism” that had taken hold in some eastern cities during the turbulent 1850s. Their response to those who treated the Irish Catholic immigrant as second class citizen was to elect one as Mayor. Stephen J. McCormick was 29 when he won that election.

by Father Jim Galluzzo. Delivered at the fifteenth anniversary of the dedication of the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial - 13 December 2023 - Mount Calvary Cemetery Portland Oregon.