PHILADELPHIA PRAYER RIOTS RIBBON
Rare Catholic memorial ribbon, 2 1/2" x 10", printed by Baker & Elliott, Phila, pictures a memorial to nativist George Shiffler, an anti-Catholic "Murdered in Kensington...by a band of foreigners...". The Philadelphia Prayer (or "Nativist") Riots were a series of riots that took place between May 6-8 and July 6-7, 1844, in Philadelphia, and the adjacent districts of Kensington and Southwark. They resulted from anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. Rumors spread that Catholics were trying to remove the Bible from public schools, and eventually two Catholic churches were burned and dozens killed and injured.