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Scottish-Americans Rediscover Their Roots, Honor Victims of Kilt Famine

While most people are familiar with the Great Potato Famine that ravaged Ireland in the 1840s and spearheaded a wave of immigration the United States, few remember an equally disastrous epidemic that struck its neighbors across the sea some twenty-five years later.

That’s why today Scottish-Americans seek to promote awareness about the Great Kilt Famine of 1870, a scourge that nearly brought this land of history and heritage to its knees.

“One year the sheep just went bald,” recounts Magnus Kempster, whose great-great grandfather made the bold trek to America after his entire family perished during the famine. “There was no wool, no kilts…people began to die everywhere.”

This summer the Scottish Rite Temple in Alexandria, Virginia, will commemorate the famine’s innumerable victims with an educational exhibit which community leaders hope will serve both to tell their story and serve as a warning for the future.

According to exhibit chair Greig Pennington, “These are times of plenty in America right now, but what if the cows stop growing hide? What if black people stop picking cotton? What will we wear? What will we do? The answer is to be found in this exhibit as we honor the Kilt Famine’s victims by ensuring Americans do not die at the hands of a Great Leather Jacket Holocaust.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Culture, Race. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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