Pat used to live in a small Irish village run by one rich man. One day, this rich man stopped giving work to Pat’s father -- and told his rich friends to do the same -- in response to a false, salacious rumor. Without any prospects in their homeland, Pat's family came to the United States when Pat was seven. As a young man, he kept remembering a beautiful silk umbrella owned by the rich man’s wife in Ireland. He wanted to buy one for his own mother. After trying his luck in many different jobs, he ended up repairing umbrellas for a living.  But unlike the rich men, there is no umbrella that can protect Pat from the storms of misfortune.

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Oral history transcript to be performed: Umbrella Pat, Umbrella mender (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Noel Reyes

Sound & Music Credits

Music: "Streetlife Silentfilm” by Lobo Loco. From Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-ND

Sound Effect: "Animal world » Day in polish countryside - birds, dog"  by tom_woysky. From freesound.org. CC BY-NC

Sound Effect: "BELLS, BEEPS, SIGNALS recordings » 01112 church bells 3" by Robinhood76. From freesound.org. CC BY-NC

Sound Effect: "farmland » farmland February NL SHORT 130228_00" by klankbeeld. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Foley » Chains 2" by freemaster2. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Foley » RainUmbrella" by HerbertBoland. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "New Foley Sounds- by Allan K Zepeda » Rocks Falling No-Reverb Edition 16 Bit. Foley Sound" by ALLANZ10D. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Puke/Vomiting" by Joao_de_Deus. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Rocks » rocks1" by mystiscool. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "sound_design_excerpts » Janitor's Bedroom Ambience" : CC BY

Sound Effects: "Vehicles » farm sowing machine 2" by soundmary. From freesound.org. CC BY