Scott Molloy is a professor of labor and industrial relations at the University of Rhode Island’s Charles T. Schmidt Jr. Labor Research Center. He received his B.A. from Rhode Island College (1970), M.A. from the University of New Hampshire (1972), and Ph.D. from Providence College (1991). While earning his Ph.D. in American History at Providence College, Molloy worked as a bus driver and union business agent for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. He also sat on the executive boards of the Rhode Island chapter of the Federation of Labor and the Providence Central Labor Council. In 1987, Molloy founded the Rhode Island Labor History Society. He is an active participant in various Irish heritage groups, and helped create the Irish Famine Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island. In addition to honors such as Rhode Island Professor of the Year (2004) and the URI Foundation Teaching Excellence Award (1995), Molloy is the author of several books including "Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line" (1996)," All Aboard: The History of Mass Transportation in Rhode Island" (2004), and "Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor" (2008).
Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Special Collections Unit.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Scott Molloy Research Collection, Mss. Gr. 232, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
The Scott Molloy collection includes Rhode Island related labor material and ephemera, as well as personal papers, notes, and correspondence. A bulk of the collection is dedicated to Irish material collected while researching and "Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor" (2008), as well as trolley and transportation research from "Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line" (1996) and "All Aboard: The History of Mass Transportation in Rhode Island" (2004). Molloy’s father began amassing a collection of material related to the history of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union Division 618, which Molloy continued to collect.
The collection is arranged in seven series as follows:
The collections was given to Special Collections in July of 2009 by Scott Molloy. Molloy collected the material over a number of years for his research.
The correspondence series includes letters written to Molloy about various labor topics and interests. They are further broken down into two categories, "foldered" and A-W. Foldered letters include attached documents and are arranged alphabetically by last name of the author of the letter. The title includes the name of the author as well as the letter’s subject. A-W are loose-leafed letters organized in alphabetical order by author’s last name, with A-O and P-W together. Included in the title is the subject of the letter. Notable letters include correspondence with Lawrence "Larry" Spitz, an important advocate of Rhode Island labor, Anne Burlak Timpson, the "Red Flame" of 1930s labor activism in Rhode Island, and Patrick Conley, a prominent Rhode Island historian and Molloy's close friend and colleague.
The writings series includes writings of interest by fellow colleagues, historians, and peers, as well as student papers. Most of the writings are about Rhode Island labor topics. Writings are organized alphabetically by author’s last name, but the title also includes the subject of the writings. Also included in writings is a box of student genealogies by Molloy’s students of HIS 362, listed alphabetically by last name of the researcher. All genealogies have Rhode Island connections.
The academic and career series includes Molloy's notebooks and writings as a student through high school to his dissertation at Providence College, his career at URI, and involvement in organizations. Sub series 1, which features documents from his academic career, is organized chronologically by years of study. Sub series 2 contains Molloy's career at URI, involvement in organizations, his tenure portfolio, and feedback on his publications.
The Irish series includes Molloy’s research for
This series contains all trolley and transportation related research that Molloy completed or collected. There is a large collection of photographs within the series, as well as news clippings, notes, and articles pertaining to transportation in Rhode Island and beyond.
This series contains a wide variety of research material collected by Molloy over the course of many years. It includes general labor research, photographs, and news clippings. Worth noting is the Rhode Island labor index, compiled by Rev. Robert Hayman, as well as documents regarding the 1982 Brown and Sharpe strike.
This series contains all oversize posters, newspapers, and ephemera from the Molloy research collection.