Dr. Thomas Callahan, Jr is a Professor of History at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he teaches Irish and British history. He received his PhD from the University of Connecticut in 1971, where he specialized in medieval English history. In recent years he has changed the focus of his research interests which now center around 19th and early-20th century Irish emigration. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland. He has published articles and presented papers at conferences in the United States, Ireland and Northern Ireland, including invited lectures at UC Dublin and NUI-Galway. His current project is a study of conditions faced by passengers in steerage on trans-Atlantic voyages in the late-19th century.