Throughout my blogging here on “Enhanced News Archive”, I’ve tried to stay out of politics but this is just too good to pass up.
I was helping my good friend Christine with her Greenwalt Family Tree and was looking for newspaper articles, when I found a reference to the O. U. A. M. in a small item calling for a meeting to attend the funeral of our late “brother Frederick Greenwalt”.
I did not know what O. U. A. M. was so I did a search and found two (2) items which explain what the organization is. Order of United American Mechanics – O. U. A. M. sounds like a mechanics union but Frederick was not a mechanic. So what is the name?
I could write the description here but like I said “it was too good to pass up” so I will give you the two versions I found and included my political satirical introduction to each piece.
Enjoy.
Two different versions of the same organization:
Order of United American Mechanics – O. U. A. M.
How FOX news would report it:
“The Order of United American Mechanics was founded at meetings held July 8th and July 15, 1845, at Jefferson Temperance Hall, Philadelphia, when an organization, styled the American Mechanics’ Union, was formed for the protection and encouragement of workingmen, and the providing of relief funds…” 1.
How MSNBC would report it:
“The Order of United American Mechanics was an anti-Catholic American Nativist organization of the mid-19th century. It was founded in Philadelphia amid the anti-alien riots of 1844-45. It originally was called the Union of Workers. Members were required to undertake efforts to publicize and campaign against the hiring of cheap foreign labor and to patronize only “American” businesses…” 2.
Bring on the hate mail… always good to hear from my readers.
Jose from Clarkston, Michigan
Link to item 1.
Link to item 2.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_United_American_Mechanics
Genealogical Collection 
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