Riot in Philadelphia. July 7 1844. From Villanova University’s Digital Library: Pennsylvaniana Collection. (View in Digital Library)
Welcome to Chaos in the Streets: The Philadelphia Riots of 1844. In May and July of 1844 Philadelphia was at the epicenter of religious and ethnic rioting and violence aimed at Catholic and Irish immigrants. To provide insight into these eventful days, the exhibit draws from material in Falvey Library's Special Collections including the Philadelphia Riots Collection, which includes digitized representations of materials owned by the American Catholic Historical Society - a Digital Partner of Villanova University, as well as the Pennsylvaniana and Americana Collections.
The exhibit will take visitors through the events in Philadelphia that led up to the riots and the riots themselves with a detailed look at the destruction of Catholic churches during the May rioting. Also observed is the effect the violence had on the city of Philadelphia and the formation of Villanova. Finally, the exhibit is bookended with an eye on the historical backdrop of the time focusing on a political group called the Nativists that eventually became the Know Nothing Party.
Visitors will see publications portraying the events of the rioting, as well as anti-Irish and anti-Catholic writings that were popular at the time. Letters from the sheriff of Philadelphia in 1844, Morton McMichael, are also included. Links to the full-text scans of books utilized in the exhibit are also provided when available.
Curated by Karla Irwin (Digital Library Intern Fall 2011) with graphics by Joanne Quinn. Transcription of manuscript materials by: Susan Connor, Susan Ottignon, and Chelsea Payne. Technical support provided by: David Lacy.
