Irish Titan, Irish Toilers: Joseph Banigan and the Woonsocket Rubber Company
Dr. Scott Molloy, URI Professor Emeritus, will speak about his book, Irish Titan, Irish Toilers which examines the life of Joseph Banigan, Rhode Island's first Irish-Catholic millionaire. Banigan was a refugee with his family from the Great Famine in 1847. With a year of elementary school he became a full time child laborer but with pluck and luck climbed the ladder of success as a producer of rubber footwear along with colleagues in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He eventually became president of the US Rubber Co. Dr. Scott Molloy taught labor relations at the University of Rhode Island for thirty years, including labor and Irish history. The Go Local: Converse 2020 Series is brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.