Duffy's Cut: A 191-Year-Old Murder Mystery Brought to the Light of Day

On Wednesday, November 8, at 5:30 p.m., in Fahy Hall 236, the Rev. J. Francis (Frank) Watson, Ph.D., will give a talk "Duffy's Cut: A 191-Year-Old Murder Mystery Brought to the Light of Day".

The talk will focus on the history of the tragic events at Duffy's Cut – from the background of the Irish laborers in their homeland to their journey to America and their work along the early railroad in 1832 Pennsylvania and to their subsequent deaths by murder and cholera at the hands of local Nativist vigilantes. Furthermore, the presentation will showcase the archaeological and anthropological research that has brought their story to the attention of the world.

Rev. J. Francis (Frank) Watson earned his Ph.D. (2001) and MPhil (1997) from Drew University, and his STM (1989) and MDiv (1988) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Frank is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA/ordained 1989) and serves as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Whiting, NJ. He is the Archivist for the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA and serves as President of the Board of the Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia. Frank is the Founder and Co-Director of the Duffy’s Cut Project. He is author of Massacre at Duffy’s Cut: Tragedy and Conspiracy on the Pennsylvania Railroad (with William Watson) (The History Press, 2018); The Nazi Spy Pastor: Carl Krepper and the War in America (Praeger, 2014), which won an Award of Commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute in 2015; The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut, co-authored with William Watson, John H. P. Ahtes, and Earl H. Schandelmeie (Praeger, 2006). He is also a contributor to 8 other books and has written over 40 articles in scholarly journals and magazines. Frank has starred in several TV documentaries including Death on the Railroad, a PBS documentary in the Secrets of the Dead series; and The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut, a Smithsonian Channel documentary that was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy Award in the Best Single Documentary category, and a Celtic Media Festival award for Best Factual Documentary. He was also a Contributing Scholar for the television special Urban Trinity: The Story of Catholic Philadelphia. Frank has been interviewed numerous times on his work with Duffy’s Cut by the BBC, RTE, CNN, NPR, and numerous print news sources including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Asbury Park Press, Irish Central, the Derry Journal (Ireland), Derry Now (Ireland), The Telegraph (UK), the NY Post. Frank was inducted into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame in 2014 and received the award for Outstanding Dedication in the Irish Community, Philadelphia Irish Festival in 2014. He has been a Highland bagpiper for over 40 years.

This event is sponsored by the Department of History. Generous funding has been provided by the DEI Committee.

Free and open to the public!

Categories: Arts and Culture