Lecture -Toil and Trouble: The Irish in the Rhode Island Labor Movement: 1830s-1930s

Please join members and friends of the Museum of Newport Irish History for the 1st talk of its 24th Annual Lecture Series with Dr. Scott Molloy, whose lecture is titled: Toil and Trouble: The Irish in the Rhode Island Labor Movement,1830s-1930s The lecture is made possible by a generous gift from Virginia Pittsley, given in memory of her husband, Bill Pittsley, and their son, Jay Pittsley. The talk with Q&A to follow will be presented at 6:00 p.m. in-person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and live-streamed via Zoom. -Doors open at 5:30 p.m. -Light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar available. - Reservations are required for both in-person and virtual participation. - $5 per person fee to attend in person (cash or check @ door). - Those who become members to attend this talk will have the $5 lecture fee waived. - There is no fee to participate via Zoom. TO RESERVE: Click the website link on this listing. Questions/Assistance with Reservations: Please write [email protected] or phone Ann at (401) 841-5493 TALK OVERVIEW: Irish immigrants to Rhode Island and elsewhere brought one valuable skill: strong backs. And work they did. Beginning in the 1840s, endemic Irish child labor became a lifetime sentence in factories and mills. Those strong backs barely held out as Hibernian laborers struggled to gain a foothold in the skilled trades over decades. They soon found the instrumentality to gain traction: the American labor movement. Unions barely existed in the Old Sod due to a British-imposed prohibition on industrialization, the foundation of organized labor. England also muzzled public speaking and dissent. Ironically, in the United States, during and after the Famine exodus, public works, private construction, and government infrastructure required Hibernian hands. As work conditions deteriorated, the Irish immigrants learned about the union movement from, of all people, earlier English arrivals, much to the chagrin of the Yankee elite. The Irish slowly moved into the skilled building trades, transportation operations, the rubber footwear industry, and textile employment. Irish females, often single and unaccompanied to America, toiled as domestic servants in the homes of the wealthy, where they learned the ways of local culture. Not only did the Irish catch the tail of the union comet, but they also learned to master public speaking despite general illiteracy in their ranks. In this talk, Prof. Scott Molloy will discuss vignettes from Irish work life in Rhode Island, illustrated with photographs and graphics depicting people and events, including many from Newport. GUEST SPEAKER BIO: Scott Molloy is Professor Emeritus at the University of R.I., where he was an award-winning professor at the Schmidt Labor Research Center. He previously drove a RIPTA bus, was a union activist, and was chief of staff to a U.S. Congresswoman. He earned his doctorate in American History from Providence College in 1991. A prolific writer, Molloy wrote, Trolley Wars: Streetcar Workers on the Line (U. of N.H., 2007), Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor (U. Press of N.E., 2008), and his latest book, From the Front of the Bus to the Front of the Class: Growing Up a Baby Boomer in Rhode Island (2022). Dr. Molloy was inducted into the Labor History Society Hall of Fame and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. The Molloy Labor and Transit Collections wing at the U.R.I. library houses Dr. Molloy’s donated archive related to labor and transit in the Ocean State. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington is home to a 10,000-piece collection of labor memorabilia donated by Dr. Molloy and named in his honor. Scott Molloy holds dual U.S.-Irish Citizenship and served as Grand Marshal of the 2018 Providence St. Patrick's Day Parade. We welcome him for this, his sixth speaking engagement with the Museum. ABOUT THE MUSEUM The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit 501c3 organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts over 900 members. In addition to operating an Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street, the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social, and fundraising events throughout the year, including its popular Annual Lecture Series, now in its 24th season. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents. The cemetery was established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current Saint Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard. To learn more or to join the Museum, please visit www.NewportIrishHistory.org PHOTO of Scott Molloy by Kris Craig, courtesy of the Providence Journal

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