Patrick Jay Conley

This book is a series of four well researched chapters by Rhode Island Historians covering what it was like at home during the Civil War. They cover the social and political conflict, the local economy, the role of the Irish population, and finally how all this is reflected in story, song and speech...

The themes of South Providence―urbanization, immigration, and industrialization―best characterize the nation’s modern development. This volume reveals how a well-known Providence community worshipped, studied, worked, played, ate, and drank. The denizens of South Providence were an extraordinary mix...

On a frigid day in 1843, Amasa Sprague, a wealthy Yankee mill owner, left his mansion to check on his cattle. On the way, he was accosted and beaten beyond recognition, and his body was left facedown in the snow. What followed was a trial marked by judicial bias, witness perjury and societal bigotry...

Picking up where Rhode Island's Founders left off Dr. Patrick T. Conley, Rhode Island's preeminent historian and president of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, takes us through the Ocean State's history from 1790 to 1860. Learn how Samuel Slater, the so-called Father of the Factor System, pion...

Two families, one solidly middle-class American and the other undocumented Mexican immigrants, face an uncertain future. No one’s job is safe, and no paycheck is ever guaranteed. They both live in a maelstrom of uncertainty. The rule of law has yielded to the flux of opportunism. While the O’Connell...

The Providence River begins its journey from the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers, in the capital city from which the river takes its name. A short distance downstream, the Seekonk River joins with the Providence as they flow on toward the mouth of Narragansett Bay. The histor...

Between 1986 and 2006 Rhode Island ran a gauntlet of scandals that exposed corruption and aroused public rage. Protesters marched on the State House. Coalitions formed to fight for systemic changes. Under intense public pressure, lawmakers enacted historic laws and allowed voters to amend defects in...

Rhode Island's contribution to World War II vastly exceeded its small size. Narragansett Bay was an armed camp dotted by army forts and navy facilities. They included the country's most important torpedo production and testing facilities at Newport and the Northeast's largest naval air station at Qu...