The Kensington Riots of May 1844
I was going to put up all my material on the Anti-Irish Catholic Riots, which took place in Kensington in the first week of May of 1844. However, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) recently beat me to the punch and has put on their website much of the same material, so I decided to defer to them as far as the actual "text" content of the material. No need to do double work. I will hopefully find time in the near future to put up some broadsides that I have, flags, poems, and other ephemeral items.
From my years of collecting Kensingtoniana and from my years of being in the rare book business, I had the good fortune to be able to personally acquire several of the below listed sources. There is no need to duplicate work, so what I offer here is only the links to the HSP's website, where you can click and go visit the particular source that is listed. HSP has put these primary sources on the web as a feature in their education section of their website. They can be very helpful for educators as well as students. The pieces that contain the Kensington Riot material is in the section on "19th Century Nativism," which is about the 19th century political movement that espoused anti-immigrant, particularly, anti-Irish Catholic immigrant, sentiments (amongst other ideas).
This section of my Kensington Encyclopaedia concerns only the riots as they took place in Kensington and not elsewhere in the city (then county) of Philadelphia. I am not much interested in lesson planning and curriculum development (I gave up teaching in July of 2004 after an eight year sentence), but if your interested in using this material for that purpose, you can check out the "19th Century Nativism" section on the education section of HSP's website at the following URL:
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=92
At HSP's site you will not only get the Kensington History material, but much more on the riots as they pertain to other sections of the city, in particular Southwark.
Links for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Kensington Riots Sources:
Catholic Herald, Thursday May 9, 1844
http://www.hsp.org/files/thecatholicheraldmay9.pdf
"The Kensington Massacre," The Republic, A Magazine for the Defence of Civil and Religious Liberty, No.1, August 1845.
http://www.hsp.org/files/thekensingtonmassacrefinal.pdf
The Full Particulars of the Late Riots...May 3, 1844. Philadelphia: 1844.
http://www.hsp.org/files/thefullparticularsstudentreadingfinal.pdf
Six Months Ago, or the Eventful Friday, and Its Consequences. An Epic Poem. By R***. Philadelphia: J.F.M. McElroy.
http://www.hsp.org/files/sixmonthsagopoemstudent.pdf
A Full and Complete Account of the Late Awful Riots in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1844.
http://www.hsp.org/files/fullaccountofkensingtoncompletefinal.pdf
Reflections on the Late Riots by Candid Writers in Poetry and Prose. Philadelphia: 1844.
http://www.hsp.org/files/reflectiospoemforstudents.pdf
The Truth Unveiled; or, a Calm and Impartial Exposition of the Origin and Immediate Cause of the Terrible Riots and Rebellion in Philadelphia. By a Protestant and Native Philadelphian. Baltimore: Metropolitan Tract Society, 1844.
http://www.hsp.org/files/truthunveiledstudentreadingfinal.pdf
Address of the Catholic Lay Citizens of the City...in Regard to the Causes of the Late Riots in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: 1844
http://www.hsp.org/files/catholiclaycitizensstudentreading.pdf
Illustrations for the Kensington Riot
The following illustrations and captions of the riots in Kensington and are taken from the book, "A Full and Complete Account of the Late Awful Riots in Philadelphia." Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1844. Any annotations by me have been put in [brackets]. I will try to add more illustrations at a later date. These images are posted on the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's website and can be accessed by clicking on the links following the descriptions:
A faithful portrait of one of the steamer Princeton's rough and ready for battle jack-tars, armed and equipped as a "Boarder," who among some two hundred others similarly arrayed for active service, promptly obeyed the orders of their commander, Capt. R. F. Stockton, to render efficient aid, in quelling the late riots.
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots2final.jpg
Fight between the rioters in Kensington
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots3final.jpg
Scene of the Conflagaration on Tuesday night, May 7 [Looking north from Master and American Streets, shows the firing of the Nanny Goat Market, the Hibernia Hose Company, and some homes next to the hose company. Picture #4 below shows the aftermath of this fire.]
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots4final.jpg
No caption [The aftermath of the fire shown above in picture #3. This view is looking west, from just north of Master Street, from the eastern side of American street. The rubble is that of the Nanny Goat Market, which was located on American Street, just north of Master. In the background were other buildings, which were destroyed by the rioters, including the Hibernia Hose Company, and in the background further, groups of homes on Cadwallader Street, running northwest off from the intersection of American and Master Streets.]
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots5final.jpg
Burning of St. Michael's Church, on Wednesday afternoon, May 8. West View, on Second Street, with the residence of the Rev. Mr. Donahue
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots6final.jpg
Burning of the Nunnery or School House, On Wednesday afternoon, May 8. North-West View, on Second Street, corner of Phoenix
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots7final.jpg
Alderman Hugh and Patrick Clark's Houses, which were attacked by the mob on Wednesday afternoon, May 8. East View, Fourth street, corner of Master, as they appeared [before] the riots. [Clark was one of the main leaders of the Irish-Catholic community in Kensington. Patrick was his brother. They lived just a couple of blocks west from the Nanny Goat Market and St. Michael's Church.]
http://www.hsp.org/files/riots8final.jpg
Lithograph by John L. Magee of the Death of George Shifler in Kensington