Black Thursday

On a day that will long be remembered as Black Thursday, four members of the Molly Maguires — Alexander Campbell, John Donohue, Michael Doyle, and Edward Kelly — shackled with chains, walk to the gallows specially constructed to accommodate four people; their execution sends shockwaves through Irish-American communities.

This mass execution took place on June 21, 1877, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and was part of a larger crackdown on what authorities saw as a violent secret society — the Molly Maguires, a group of mostly Irish Catholic coal miners accused of organizing vigilante justice against oppressive mine operators and unfair labor conditions.

The men were convicted of murder based largely on the testimony of James McParlan, a Pinkerton detective who had infiltrated their ranks. Critics argued that the trials were deeply flawed, heavily influenced by anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice, and driven by powerful coal interests.

To many Irish Americans, the executed men became martyrs for the labor movement and symbols of injustice. One of the condemned, Alexander Campbell, reportedly placed his hand on the prison wall before execution and declared his innocence — a handprint that, legend claims, can still be seen today.