The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage will fund a comic book artist and writer to tell the story of the Paxton Boys as a graphic novel.
The Paxton Boys incident saw the slaughter of Lancaster County “Conestoga” native Americans by a group of marauders hailing from Dauphin County. Although Lebanon County had not yet been incorporated, Moravians living in Lebanon bore sad witness to the disturbing events, seen through the modern lens as an early and violent example of fake news.
Now the story will be told in a new form, thanks to a $300,000 grant from Pew. Scholar Will Fenton, who created Digital Paxton, will oversee the project. According to a report by WHYY, the graphic novel will be produced by comic artists Lee Francis of Native Realities comics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Weshoyot Alvitre, an artist and member of the Tongva tribe, living in Ventura, Ca.
Perhaps Lebanon’s Hebron Church could make an appearance? Here are some diary entries that we think could be turned into powerful graphic vignettes.
A party of Irish went by here. They invited my brother to go with them to Philadelphia to kill the Indians. They expect others to think the way they do.
Diary entry, Moravian Hebron Church, February 4, 1764
The returning rebels frightened several women with the news that they had killed all the Indians, five Quakers, and two Moravians in Philadelphia, and as proof, showed them the blood on their clothing.
Diary entry, Moravian Hebron Church, February 11, 1764
It was a curious sight, how not only the soldiers round about, but also the Brethren came armed to preaching.
Diary entry, Moravian Hebron Church, June 24, 1764
Follow the project on Twitter at @DigitalPaxton.