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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages from 1770-1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
An Irish secret society known as the Molly Maguires is thought responsible for a string of violent attacks in the Pennsylvania coal fields. After Pinkerton detective James McParlan goes undercover to join their ranks, 20 Mollies are tried, convicted, and hanged. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| 1862-1875 | Wave of assaults, robberies, and murders attributed to the Molly Maguires. |
|---|---|
| January-June 1875 | “The Long Strike,” scene of some of the most violent crimes in labor history. |
| 1876-1877 | Molly Maguire Trials. |
| June 21, 1877 | Ten Mollies convicted of murder hanged. Known as “Black Thursday” or “Day of the Rope.” |
| December 18, 1878 | Jack Kehoe, alleged Molly Maguire leader hanged for the murder of mine boss, F. W. Langdon. |
| December 15, 1889 | The suicide of Franklin B. Gowen, former railroad president leads to conspiracy theories. |
| 1911 | Pinkerton James McPartlan recounts his infiltration of the Molly Maguires in various newspapers. |
