My great-grandfather Patrick Devine started work as a carpenter when he was 8. Patrick moved on from making good solid Irish coffins to undertaking–then used the skills he’d acquired shipping coffins “home” to build up a small but prosperous travel business. As a little girl, I’d visit my great-uncle Joe who still ran the family business and dream of traveling as I read his brochures. He never invited me to the other half of his building, but he kept a big black hat next to the door, and would put it on when he left the travel office.
My grandfather, all six-foot-three-inches of him, went to Harvard instead–class of 1912, followed by law school. I don’t know what they did to him there–apparently the Irish boys, like the Jewish boys, had a dorm of their own so the “real” Harvard boys didn’t have to spend time with them–but he came out a red-hot Democrat and liberal. He shocked our home town (Manchester, NH) by refusing to write restrictive housing deeds that would keep Jewish families from living in certain neighborhoods. He broke with precedent by setting up his first law firm with a Jewish partner. (I might add his Jewish partner was also breaking local precedent setting up to do business with my grandfather.) And he drummed the following mantra into his children and grandchildren:
“An Irishman with one shirt is Democrat. An Irishman with two shirts is a Republican. By god, I don’t want any of those two-shirt Irishmen in my family!
My grandfather was proud of his many shirts–but to him, that wasn’t the point of politics. Politics was about people getting together, figuring out what a just society would look like, and working together to build one.
So, my grandfather is one of the reasons why you see Dean for President buttons all over my blog. And he is one of the reasons why, tonight, I am going to go to the Dean2004 meetup in Boston–even though I don’t like to drive in Boston, I don’t know anybody who will be there, and I’m feeling very nervous about it.
I’d hate to imagine my peaceful, affection-filled life has “unmanned” me to the point I can’t do something scary. My grandfather, who served with great honor in World War I, used to wake the whole household, years later, as in his dreams he yelled at the Army mules to get those xx&*!! guns up out of the mud. So this is a very small thing I’m planning to do. Still, I’d love to have company if you can join me.
Post-Meetup-Update: I went to the April Dean2004 meetup alone and had such a great time! I am now enthusiastically working with so many of the new people I met there to help elect Dean in 2004. Come to the next meetup!
- Dean2004 meetup
- (First Wednesday of every month)
2 responses so far ↓
1 Betsy Devine: Now with even more funny ha-ha and peculiar » Up, down, and strange NH // Apr 23, 2007 at 9:49 pm
[…] Uncle Joe, aka within the family as “Darlin’ Joe.” Much more than my grandfather Maurice Francis Devine (his baby brother) Uncle Joe carried on the traditions of his Irish parents–and he was their […]
2 Supporting our troops, the way Democrats do it // May 8, 2008 at 5:27 pm
[…] blogged about my grandfather “the two-shirt Democrat” before, and put the full text of my his remarks on the GI Bill […]