Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1875-1995 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
56pp
Context area
Archival history
Kevin Kenny created the transcripts from letters published in the Shenandoah Weekly Herald in 1875 and 1877. Kenny sent the transcripts to Kerby A. Miller for publishing in 1995.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Kerby A. Miller's compiles research on the Molly Maguires secret society, including transcripts of two letters.
Per Miller: 'Letter from Columbus Roarity, Co. Donegal, to his son, a Molly Maguire awaiting execution, 1877. Quoted in Kevin Kenny, "Making Sense of the Molly Maguires" (Unpub. MS, 1995), pp. 390-91. Entire text evidently in New York Times, 22 June 1877; Shenandoah Herald, 22 June 1877; and perhaps in Broehl, Molly Maguires, pp. 338-39. Letter by an anonymous "Molley [Maguire]" to the Shenandoah Herald, 2 October 1875. Cited on p. 312 of Kenny's MS. Excellent and seemingly authentic letter.'
The series also contains: photocopies of newspaper clippings; Miller's correspondence with colleagues; a copy of Kevin Kenny (1995), 'The Molly Maguires in Popular Culture', Journal of American Ethnic History 14, no. 4; and a copy of Kenny (1995), 'The Molly Maguires and the Catholic Church,'Labor History 37, no. 3.