In Defense of the Molly Maguires | New York Sun, 1877

In Defense of the Molly Maguires | New York Sun, 1877

On June 23, 1877, just two days after ten alleged Molly Maguires were hanged in Pottsville and Mauch Chunk, a striking letter appeared in the pages of the New York Sun. While most newspapers across the United States praised the executions as a victory for law and order, this writer – using the pen name Fiat Lux – offered a very different view. A Harper’s Weekly illustration of a Molly Maguires meeting They argued that the violence in Pennsylvani…