IABCN members, Irish American Films, will be screening “The Cut: The Journey of the Men and Women of Duffy’s Cut” on Saturday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Immaculata University. The screening will be held in the Green Room with a Q&A following the film.
Attendees are asked to donate a $5.00 contribution in support of the non-profit Duffy’s Cut Project. For more information on the screening, please contact Dr. Watson at 484-323-3491.
The film was produced by Joe Magee, Roger Bruce and Art Swanlund of Irish American Films and directed by Shawn Swords (Wages of Spin I and II, Charlie Gracie “Fabulous” National PBS) with William Watson, Ph.D., professor of History at Immaculata University, serving as historical consultant in addition to his role as director of the Duffy’s Cut Project.
“The Cut” The Journey of the Men and Women of Duffy’s Cut,” is a feature length documentary film about the 57 Irish railroad workers who arrived in Philadelphia to build mile 59 of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, and died within six to eight weeks of violence and cholera. The Irishmen were from Donegal, Tyrone and Derry in Ulster, with an average age of 22. A project, headed by Dr. Watson and his brother Rev. Frank Watson, has been underway since 2002 to locate the graves of these workers and properly rebury them. To date, the graves of seven workers have been excavated. Work is ongoing to recover the remaining fifty bodies.
“This documentary is the newest and most extensive coverage of the Duffy’s Cut story and it places the events at Duffy’s Cut in the context of other 1832-era deaths of Irish immigrant laborers elsewhere in Chester County,” stated Dr. Watson. The film discusses the possibility of the site being the location of the worst mass murder in Pennsylvania history.”
Located on the Main Line in scenic Chester County, 20 miles west of Philadelphia, Immaculata University is a Catholic comprehensive, coeducational institution of higher learning. On November 12, 1920, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted a college charter at the request of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) thus making Immaculata the first Catholic women’s college in the region. The IHM Sisters’ mission of educating women for more than 165 years has produced approximately 22,000 alumni worldwide and currently has nearly 3,000 students enrolled in 53 undergraduate majors, seven master’s degree programs, three doctoral degree programs, and over 40 additional professional endorsement, certificate and certification programs. Immaculata University contributes to the development of the whole person of any faith, fostering a commitment to truth, service, justice, and peace.
