Data Protection and the records of Irish immigrants in Boston and New York City lying-in hospitals, 1860-1917

In this paper I wish to address the methodological problems posed by modern data protection laws both in Ireland and America that are being retrospectively applied to historic records. I illustrate the effects of such measures using my work on the relationship poor female Irish immigrants had with medical services in Boston and New York City as case studies. The datasets I have compiled are subject to varying degrees of access and disclosure, reflecting the the impact of regressive legislation. In my research I adopt a prosopographical approach to hospital registers to examine how Irish women learned to engage with medical power and services in the new world, which, I contend, are hugely important for historians of biopower. My transnational case study makes a clear argument for historians to take a more pivotal role in informing policy and to challenge dubious practices surrounding the conservation, preservation and access provision of medical records.