Duffy's Cut: Immigration, Industrialization, and Illness in Nineteenth Century America

FAIN: ES-231140-15

Immaculata University (Immaculata, PA 19345-9903)
William Watson (Project Director: February 2015 to April 2017)

A three-week institute for thirty school teachers on Irish immigration, public health, and nativism in the first half of the nineteenth century.

The proposed summer institute for middle and high school teachers will be held on July 11 – July 29, 2016, at Immaculata University in suburban Philadelphia. The three week Institute will examine the tragic events that occurred at Duffy’s Cut in 1832 in which fifty-seven Irish immigrant railroad workers lost their lives as a result of violence and disease. This historical event encompasses several enduring themes, including immigration and nativism, industrialization, and epidemic disease. Participants will examine these timely issues not only as they apply to the events of Duffy’s Cut but also as they relate to today’s changing demographics and the cultural, economic, and political divide that exists between immigrants and natives in the 21st century. The Institute will investigate the importance of the humanities in understanding contemporary issues in America and will serve as a model for teachers on how to incorporate the arts and sciences into the teaching of history.