author
1877 Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July
A state investigative committee rather than a single writer, this group produced a massive firsthand report on the 1877 railroad riots in Pennsylvania. The book gathers testimony, official records, and the legislature’s findings on one of the most dramatic labor uprisings of the nineteenth century.
1 Audiobook
Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877 Read in the Senate and House of Representatives May 23, 1878
by 1877 Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July
About the author
This author credit refers to a committee created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly after the railroad riots of July 1877. According to the text of the report, the legislature ordered a joint committee of five House members and three Senators to investigate the disturbances, examine witnesses, gather papers, and report its findings back to the Senate and House.
The resulting volume, read in the Pennsylvania legislature on May 23, 1878 and printed in Harrisburg by state printer L. S. Hart, is not a personal narrative but an official public document. It reflects the committee’s effort to collect extensive testimony from places including Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Scranton, and Reading while tracing the causes, violence, troop response, and wider consequences of the strike.
For readers today, the committee stands out less as an individual author than as a window into how Pennsylvania’s government tried to understand a crisis in labor, transportation, and public order. If you enjoy primary sources and American history, this report offers a detailed, on-the-ground record of the Great Railroad Strike era.