The 1842 "Lombard Street" Mob Attack
This story describes the violent attacks of a white mob on innocent Black people and their property in 1842 Philadelphia.
Histories of this mob attack frame it as a race riot around job competition between Irish and Black laborers, as a powder keg of anger that burst unexpectedly. However, the newspaper records immediately after the event reveal a coordinated planned terror attack on the Black community, with particular emphasis not on labor sites, but on Black people and property.
The Black community endured 2 days of indiscriminate mob violence, up to and including violence inflicted on children. This included:
- 2 halls destroyed
- 1 church destroyed
- Multiple homes damaged
- 13 Black people in the hospital including a 14 year old
- Many more injured
Other histories of this attack have focused on the perpetrators and their reasons for becoming violent. This history is different. It draws from the local papers and accounts and presents them without academic analysis, just as they occurred.
This history focuses on the people...and what they lost.
Note: At times this story will draw direct quotes from the newspapers of the time, some of whom dehumanized and objectified Black people by using the word 'the' as in 'the Black' when referring to a human being. We caution that this is hurtful language. While we have been traumatized by reading these sources, we recognize them as the only record of violent acts that need to be surfaced and remembered, lest they be minimized and nearly erased.