![Frontpiece, <i>A narrative of the proceedings of the black people during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793 ; and a refutation of some censures, thrown upon them in some late publications,</i> / by A.J. [Absolom Jones] and R.A. [Richard Allen].](http://explorepahistory.com/kora/files/1/2/1-2-984-25-ExplorePAHistory-a0j6s4-a_349.jpg "Frontpiece, <i>A narrative of the proceedings of the black people during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793 ; and a refutation of some censures, thrown upon them in some late publications,</i> / by A.J. [Absolom Jones] and R.A. [Richard Allen].")
Credit: Library of Congress
After the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey printed a pamphlet accusing the city's black community of profiteering and of plundering the houses of the sick. In response, Reverends Richard Allen and Absalom Jones published this rebuttal, documenting the brave actions of those blacks who remained in the city, and including a meticulous accounting of payments and expenses related to their service. They went on to chastise both white and black alike who fled the city, but saved their harshest criticism for those who remained yet refused to help the sick.
