Attorney Patrick Conley Donates Law Book Collection to Roger Williams University School of Law

Attorney Patrick T. Conley has donated his 1,500-volume private book collection on American legal and constitutional history to the Roger Williams University’s School of Law.

This collection, formerly housed in Conley’s private library on the grounds of his Bristol home, consists of scholarly books on the origins and development of the American legal system, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal judiciary, and the development of Rhode Island law.  Many of the volumes are rare and out-of-print.

Included in the donation are Conley’s own books in this field of law:  Seven volumes on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and four volumes on Rhode Island’s constitutional and legal development, one of which, Democracy in Decline:  Rhode Island Constitutional Development, 1636-1841 has been called by reviewers “the finest Rhode Island history book ever written.â€

Conley has made much smaller book gifts to the libraries of his four alma maters — St. Michael’s School in South Providence, now Bishop McVinney School, La Salle Academy, Providence College, and the University of Notre Dame — and also to Bristol’s Rogers Free Library, the libraries of several historical societies, and Newport’s Museum of Irish History.

In addition to the donation of his prized collection, Conley also arranged for each of the 165 RWU law school graduates in May 2025 to receive a complimentary copy of Liberty and Justice:  A History of Law and Lawyers in Rhode Island, 1636-1998, a book he prepared for the centennial of the Rhode Island Bar Association that was published by the Rhode Island Publications Society.  Conley is the founding president of that organization.

Conley has made an earlier donation of 6,000 volumes of general American History books to the Roger Williams University’s library, as well as 3,500 to Johnson and Wales University, and, most recently, a 7,000-volume gift of American history books to Newport’s historic Redwood Library a move facilitated by the Heritage Harbor Foundation.  He has also donated his Rhode Island books, documents, and research materials to the Heritage Harbor Foundation, a gift consisting of 2,200 items.

Conley, who turned 87 in June, stated his desire to place his books where they can be of permanent use to the general public and students with an interest in those areas of scholarship.