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The Hanging of Susanna Cox
A Re-Enactment at the Kutztown Folk Festival
In the 1970s, my parents took me to the Kutztown Folk Festival. One of the most memorable events was a re-enactment of the hanging of Susanna Cox.
Yes, that’s right. This festival, located in quaint Kutztown, Pennsylvania, included a re-enactment of a famous local hanging as one of its events. And why not? It’s an important part of the area’s history.
Content Warning: This article contains details about possible infanticide as well as details about a gruesome hanging.
At this festival, you’re surrounded by livestock and Pennsylvania Dutch foods and culture — from shoo-fly pie to the Quilt Barn. It was more down-to-earth than most festivals I’d attended. This was the first time I had seen an actual hog roasting on a spit.
Still, you wouldn’t expect to see a hanging re-enacted there. Quilting demos? Sure! A woman being hanged on a gallows? No! It’s shocking, but most of all, it’s sad.
No one was endangered in this re-enactment. They hanged a dummy dressed up as a woman in a white dress — and wearing a black hood — while someone narrated the tragic details. But it’s still shocking to witness. The hanging serves as a reminder that there is a dark side to folksy history.
