Spotlight on Local History
Duffy’s Cut: Unearthing the Past
Duffy's Cut, the location of a mass grave in Chester County of 57 Irish Catholic railroad laborers who came to build the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1832. The workers, from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry, died of cholera and violence two months after arrival. This talk will discuss the research being conducted at the site, where seven graves have been excavated and the work to locate the remainder is ongoing.
Free and Open to the Public, with a light reception to follow.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
1:30 PM | House Opens
2:00 PM | "Duffy's Cut" Talk with William E. Watson
3:00 PM | Light Reception
William E. Watson is professor of history at Immaculata University and director of the Duffy’s Cut Project. He has published and lectured extensively on his findings related to the historical and archeological research he has conducted on the Irish railroad workers who died amid a cholera epidemic in 1832 and were buried in a mass grave. He is author of several books, and coauthor of The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut and Irish-Americans: The History and Culture of a People.
263 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Organized in 1884
'The Oldest Catholic Historical Society in the United States'