The roots of Debra A. Mulligan’s family tree are thick and tangled throughout Johnston’s neighborhoods like a plate of spaghetti with marinara.

As an Ocean State scholar, Mulligan has launched a study of Johnston and its role as one of Rhode Island’s “Little Italies.”

“My presentation … will focus on the village of Thornton, nestled in the town of Johnston one of thirteen ‘Little Italies’ in the State of Rhode Island,” explained Mulligan. “Called ‘Frog City’ because of its proximity to swampland, Thornton housed a rich community of Italians. The immigrant journey to Johnston will be highlighted along with a discussion of their social and political experiences living in one of Rhode Island’s enduring ‘Little Italies.’”

The Johnston Historical Society will host Mulligan for her discussion, “Between Two Worlds: Rhode Island’s Little Italies” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 28 at the society headquarters, 101 Putnam Pike, Johnston .

“Who is an American?” Mulligan writes. “Italian immigrants arriving on America’s shores in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries grappled with this question. Pouring in from southern Europe, they looked upon this so-called land of opportunity to lift them from the poverty of their former life in Italy.”

Mulligan is Professor of History at Roger Williams University.

A Rhode Island native, Mulligan received her Master of Arts and Ph.D. in History from Providence College. She taught a variety of courses in East Asian, European, and American history at Roger Williams University since 2001 and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame and serves as President of the national History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta.

Her publications include a chapter in the two- volume study: “The Cultural History of Reading” (Greenwood Press, 2009), Lexington Books: Chapter, “Soul Libertie and the Sons and Daughters of Eire,” in “Narratives and Negotiations: Agency, Religion, and the State,” Lexington Books, 2015; and articles in the “Historical Journal of Massachusetts” (Winter 2007), and the “New England Journal of History” (2015). Her book, “Democratic Repairman: The Political Life of James Howard McGrath” was published by McFarland Press in May 2019.

Her articles on “the New England Crime Castle” and “J. Howard McGrath and the Wiretapping Case of 1939-1940” have most recently been featured on the website smallstatebighistory.com.

Mulligan is currently working on a manuscript tentatively titled, “Between Two Worlds: Rhode Island’s Little Italies, 1880-1930,” a forthcoming publication (Rhode Island Publication Society, 2025), the subject of her upcoming presentation in Johnston.

“In this presentation, I will briefly trace the journey of southern Italians to Rhode Island,” according to Mulligan. “Although Federal Hill served as the main conduit for the Italian community, many outlying neighborhoods such as Thornton and Simmonsville in the town of Johnston among other outlying villages were diverse, ethnically vibrant communities that adopted traditions they learned from their original Paese in Italy.”