Scott Molloy Papers (Mss. Gr. 232.1)

Biographical note

David Scott Molloy was born on August 17, 1946 in Providence, RI to David and Miriam (nee Handy) Molloy. Molloy grew up in the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood of Providence. His father was a Providence Police officer and his mother was a math teacher at Mount Pleasant High School. Molloy graduated from Hope Highschool in 1965 where he was involved with civil rights advocacy efforts. He received bachelors degree from Rhode Island College (1970), a masters in American History from University of New Hampshire (1972), and a doctorate degree in American Labor History from Providence College (1991).

After receiving his masters degree Molloy was employed as a bus driver for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) from 1973-1981. From 1976-1984 he served as an adjunct faculty member at Rhode Island College, Community College of Rhode Island, Providence College, and the Institute for Labor Studies. From 1985-1986 Molloy served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Congresswoman Claudine Schneider before founding the Rhode Island Labor History Society (RILHS). RILHS conducts oral histories, hosts lecture series, publishes works on labor history, and hosts forums for labor leaders, academics, workers, and students.

Additionally, from 1976-1984 Molloy served as president, business agent, and shop steward for Division 618 of the Amalgamated Transit Union in Providence, RI. He represented over 500 union members negotiating contracts, managing arbitrations and grievances, editing union publications, and was involved with political lobbying efforts. He also chaired the union's political action committee and served on the transit union's executive board, as well as the parent union's New England Joint Council (NEJC).

In 1986 Molloy was hired as an Associate Professor of the University of Rhode Island's Charles T. Schmidt Jr. Labor Research Center. He assumed full-time teaching and administrative duties as part of a labor studies masters degree program concentrating on worker and industrial history, labor union governance, and introductory business studies. He was also involved in adult education, conference planning, student internship programs, and the creation of two labor archives, one at the Rhode Island Historical Society and the other at Rhode Island College.

Molloy sat on the executive boards of the Rhode Island chapter of the AFL-CIO and the Providence Central Labor Council. He is an active participant in various Irish heritage groups, and helped create the Irish Famine Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island. Molloy has received several awards including Rhode Island Professor of the Year (2004) and the URI Foundation Teaching Excellence Award (1995), and the Carngie Foundation's Professor of the Year award (2005) and in 1990 The Smithsonian Institute named a historical labor collection after him. He was also inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame (2009) and was the Grand Marshall of the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Providence (2018).

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), "Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and Nineteenth-Century New England Labor" (2008), and his memoir "From the front of the bus to the front of the class : growing up a baby boomer in the Reservoir triangle" (2022).

Scott Molloy retired from the University of Rhode Island after 30 years of teaching, research, and service. He has donated hundreds of artifacts, records, and other research materials relating to labor history to the Smithsonian Institute and the University of Rhode Island's University Archives and Special Collections (UASC), Rhode Island College and The Rhode Island Historical Society. His labor archive, the Scott Molloy Labor History Archive, is open for research at UASC.