The Conversation: Historian uncovers evidence of second mass grave of Irish immigrant railroaders in Pennsylvania who suffered from cholera, violence and xenophobia

Historian William E. Watson writes in The Conversation (Historian uncovers evidence of second mass grave of Irish immigrant railroaders in Pennsylvania who suffered from cholera, violence and xenophobia) writes about the discovery of a mass grave of Irish immigrant railroad workers.

“[I]in May 2025, we discovered human remains that suggest a second Irish immigrant railroader mass grave [the first one is at Duffy’s Cut] 11 miles west of Duffy’s Cut, in Downingtown. . . . After our team analyzed the remains, we came to the startling conclusion that the men didn’t die from cholera – they were massacred.

I believe that fear of cholera, an epidemic that some clergymen in America and England called `a chastisement for the sins of the people,’ and anti-immigrant sentiment fueled violence against them by native-born populations.”

KJ