January 2001 University Reporter

by Anne-Marie Kent

Citing a current shortage of Irish-Americans holding prominent Massachusetts political offices, McCormack Institute Senior Fellow, Professor Emeritus Richard A. Hogarty asks, “Where have all the Irish gone?” His answer: they’ve gone into fields such as business and banking, leaving behind a rich history in local politics.

Hogarty’s recent New England Journal of Public Policy article, “The Harringtons of Salem: A Study of Massachusetts Politics,” explores this rich history with a close look at Salem’s Harrington family. “One [Harrington] served as city marshal; two as mayor of Salem; two served in the state Senate; two in the Massachusetts House of Representatives; and one was sent to Congress. At one time or another, four served on the Salem City Council,” writes Hogarty.

The project began in an unlikely way—Hogarty and former State Senate President Kevin Harrington were sharing a ride. “Kevin regaled me with the story of his cousin, Michael Harrington and his run for office in 1969, and Michael’s father Joe and his run for congress in 1941,” recalls Hogarty. “It was a fabulous story that no one had done.”

Thirty-five interviews and untold research hours later, Hogarty emerged with an expansive history. “Initially, I was going to focus on the congressional bids by Joe and his son Michael,” says Hogarty. “It soon became clear that the story was much bigger than that, though the comparison is interesting.”

A self-educated man known for his “wit and sarcasm,” Joe was elected to Salem City Council in 1937, went on to the State Senate in 1940, and in a 1941 special election made an unsuccessful run for Congress as an isolationist, his support quickly dwindling after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Years later, Joe’s son Michael served on the Salem City Council, was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1964, and went on to make a successful bid for Congress in a 1969 special election, running on a pacifist platform during the Vietnam War.

Other accomplished Har-ringtons include Nancy, president of Salem State College since 1990; her late brother Lee F. Harrington, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy from 1972 to 1980; and former Senate President Kevin Harrington.

In 1962, Kevin “led the battle over fiscal autonomy for the public university”; in 1965, he helped establish a new Department of Education and an independent Board of Higher Education; in 1976, he was instrumental in blocking death penalty legislation—and in 1978, he was considered a favorite for governor.

“Unfortunatelyfor Harrington, “ Hogarty writes, “his career ended abruptly when it was revealed that a $2,000 check made out to him had been cashed at his Salem bank.” Harrington reported no recollection of cashing the check, issued by the consulting firm of McKee, Berger, and Mansueto (MBM), but that firm’s involvement in an extortion scandal that sent Joseph J. C. DiCarlo, Democratic floor leader of the Senate, and Ronald C. Mackenzie, Republican whip, to prison cast a shadow on Kevin Harrington. “The damage had been done,” writes Hogarty.

Hogarty finishes the history with the fifth generation and Kevin’s son Neil, four-term mayor of Salem. According to Hogarty, Neil made the city “more viable economically” but also “struck most people as cold, reserved, and aloof.” Recently, Neil lost a bid for sheriff of Essex County.

“Generally speaking,” Hogarty concludes, “the decline of the Harringtons can be linked to the decline of the potency of the Irish political organization.”

Padraig O’Malley, senior fellow at the McCormack Institute of Public Affairs, writes, “The article is the stuff of the drama we expect from families in which politics is the bloodline to immortality—at least immortality of the political sort, of the capriciousness that accompanies great achievements and their counterpart—ignominious falls.”

"The Harringtons of Salem" Traces Rich History of North Shore Family

by Anne-Marie Kent