The Philadelphia Nativist Riots ─ Irish Kensington Erupts

The outskirts of Philadelphia seethed with tension in the spring of 1844. ByMay 6, the situation between the newly arrived Irish Catholics and members ofthe anti-immigrant Nativist Party took an explosively violent turn. When theIrish asked to have their children excused from reading the Protestant versionof the Bible in local public schools, the nativists held a protest. The Irishpushed back. For three days, riots scorched the streets of Kensington. Thoughthe immigrants first had the upper hand, the nativists soon put the communityto the torch. Those who fled were shot. Two Catholic churches burned to theground, along with several blocks of houses, stores, a nunnery and a Catholicschool. Local historian Kenneth W. Milano traces this tumultuous history fromthe preceding hostilities through the bloody skirmishes and finally to theaftermath of arrests and trials. Discover a remarkably intimate and compellingview of the riots with stories of individuals on both sides of the conflictthat rocked Kensington.