Irish vs. Yankees: A Social History of the Boston SchoolsBoston entered the twentieth century as an Irish Catholic city, no longer the Yankee town of its Puritan past. The dominance of the Irish Catholic population, swelled by the potato famine masses, gave it political control of the city, and significantly, control of its public schools. Unlike in other American cities, Boston Catholics had little need for a large or influential parochial system: they had the School Committee, school principals, and the