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Morgiana Halley Projects

 Collection
Identifier: MF021

Scope and Contents

Two series by Morgiana P. Halley, one dealing with marine disasters in Newfoundland folk balladry and the other with marine convoys of World War II.

Dates

  • Creation: 1989-1990

Conditions Governing Access

For digitized items free from access restrictions, we are working to upload this material (pdfs, mp3s, jpgs) for public access, but it is an ongoing project. If you don’t find what you are looking for here, contact Special Collections (um.library.spc@maine.edu).

Conditions Governing Use

Rights assessment remains the responsibility of the researcher. On site access granted to all. No known restrictions on material.

Extent

2 items

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

NA2140 By Morgiana P. Halley, summer 1989, Newfoundland. Thesis "Marine Disasters in Newfoundland Folk Balladry including a Classificatory System for Sea Disaster Narrative.” Text: 385 pp. thesis.

NA2196 By Morgiana P. Halley, winter 1989 - 1990, Alabama, California, Arizona, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC, and Nova Scotia. Interviews made during research for a thesis on an ethnography of marine convoys of World War II. 86 tapes with catalog. Text: 243 pp. Recording: C 0747 - C 0833.

NA4289 Capt. Emerson E. Chodzko (1921-2008), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, November 24, 1989, Pacific Ave., Long Beach, California. Went to sea at age 16. Highest rank: Unlimited Master's, post-WWII. Rank during WWII: Chief Officer. Received probationary book after sailing on tankers for a year. Registered for draft on tankers. Shipped on the Mormac Gull, the Benjamin Rush, the George Ross, and the Carlos Carrillo. Topics include: training; diesel vs. steam turbine engines; traveling around the world; the size of convoys; cargo; liquor poisoned by "sympathizers" to kill U.S. sailors; famine and death rates; coming under attack by Stuka dive bombers. Brief interruption of interview by Doris Chodzko, Emerson's wife. Audiofiles: c0747, c0748 2 hr. Interview summary and obituary. Text: 12 pp.

NA4290 Arrie W. "Artie" Grissom (1927-2010), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, November 1989, in his motorhome near Berth 177, Wilmington, California. Arrie "Artie" Wade Grissom, originally from Arkansas. Topics include: WWII convoys; jinxed cargo; human casualties; unloading cargo at Tacloban airstrip in the Philippines; the Pacific theater; becoming ill with a lung condition that saw him medically surveyed out of the Navy; getting papers to serve in the Merchant Marine in 1945; Merchant Marine ships lost during WWII; 11 months in the Korean War; Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL 007) shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor on Sept. 1, 1983; Navy pay compared to Merchant Marine pay; race relations aboard ship. Audiofiles: c749, 1 hr. Interview summary and obituary. Text. 4 pp.

NA4291 John Marshall "Marsh" Dallas and Capt. Fred Anderson Steele (1913-2002), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, November 1989, in the home of husband and wife Fred and Madeleine J. (Beyrle) Steele (1918-1990), Arroyo Grande, California. Also present, Madeline "Pat" Dallas, wife of John Marshall Dallas. J.M. and Fred were schoolmates. Topics include: Dallas going to sea at age 14; shipping guano (nitrate) from South America; a gold strike in Chile causing the crew to desert the ship; breaking his back aboard ship at age 17; apprenticeship in a shipyard; Dallas family genealogy; investigation into the explosion of the ammunition ship USS Mt. Hood on Nov. 10 1944; and bombing of the USS Savannah. Audiofiles: c750, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text 3 pp.

NA4292 Retired Rear Admiral George William Jahn (1915-1999), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, December 13, 1989, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien; the Murmansk Run; German night attacks lighting up the sky; heavy weather; surviving the Japanese torpedo attack on and sinking of the American Merchant vessel Manini; race relations aboard ship; and draft dodgers. Audiofile: c751, side A, 1 hr. Interview and obituary summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4293 Robert Edward Imbeau, (1923-2008), and John M. Lappin, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, December 13, 1989, in the Purser's Office aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: convoy; German sub raiders; carrying troops aboard U.S. Army Transport ships; "eerie" things running at night; French sailors; age when went to sea; Matson Navigation; convoy lights; paravanes; superstitions; engineering; and recreation aboard ship. Audiofiles: c0751, side B, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 5 pp.

NA4294 Robert Hiller, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, December 14, 1989, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: age going to sea; Pacific convoys; recreation aboard ship; cargo; mutiny and court martial of a ship's gun crew near New Guinea; anecdotes about shipmates; initiation of Greenhorns; race relations aboard ship; jinx and superstitions; kamikaze attacks. Audiofile: c752, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4295 Capt. Frank Clayton Waters, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 15, 1990, at Barnett Road, Medford, OR. Topics discussed: His first convoy; shipping in the Atlantic; weather; went to see in 1906; being drafted into the Army in WWI; Army food; recreation aboard ship; initiation of Greenhorns; life after retirement. Audiofile: c753, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4296 William H. Aguilar, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 17, 1990, Napa, CA. Topics include: anecdote about apple pie; experiencing a torpedo attack in the North Atlantic; classmate Gordon Pollard found among prisoners in the South Pacific; social relationships, bickering, rivalry; race relations aboard ship; superstitions; initiation of Greenhorns; night bombings; and Seabees transported into Tarawa. Audiofile: c754, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4297 David H. Grover, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 17, 1990, Napa, CA. Grover served as a deck cadet for nine months, 1943-1944. Topics include: convoys and bad weather; ship-to-ship signal methods; witnessing wartime England; visiting various ports; superstitions; shakedown cruise out of Houston; initiation of Greenhorns and "Fool's errands" involving left-handed monkey wrench and golden rivet; social relationships aboard ship; race relations aboard ship; liquor and fighting; recreation aboard ship; and sensory experiences following a long ocean voyage. Audiofile: c755, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4298 Rudy Jasen and Tony Abela, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 20, 1990, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: descriptions of convoys in which Jasen sailed; carrying Seabees to the invation of Kwajalein; reacting to submarine attack; recreation aboard ship; Tokyo Rose; mail buoy "Fool's errand" and initiation of Greenhorns; crossing the Equator initiations; race relations aboard ship; and rough weather. Audiofile: c756, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4299 Joseph J. Milcic, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 20, 1990, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: joined the Merchant Marine between age 15-16, lied about his age; speed of convoys in the North Atlantic; cargo carried; loss of human lives; rescuing torpedo attack survivors; rough weather; recreation aboard ship; initiation of Greenhorns and "Fool's errands," keys to the locks of the Panama Canal; crossing the Equator; ethnic relations aboard ship; sleeping fully-dressed and wearing lifejacket when in a war zone; and working after the war. Audiofile: c757, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4300 Al Rynberg, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 22, 1990, in the Chief Engineer quarters aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: experience on convoys; being under attack in the South Pacific; recreation aboard ship; ethnic relations aboard ship; crossing the Equator ceremonies; initiation of Greenhorns and "Fool's errands"; Mitsubishi bombers; rough weather; and lifeboat drills. Audiofile: c758, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 1 pp.

NA4301 William Krasnosky, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 21, 1990, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: the Murmansk Run; anecdotes about humorous shipboard newspaper with far-fetched stories, divorce by 'pigeon post,' men wearing beards because the Navy couldn't afford mops; breaking down 2 days out from Scotland; being attacked off Norway; initiation of Greenhorns and "Fool's errands"; and superstition. Audiofile: c759, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4302 John Pottinger, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 21, 1990, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Topics include: experience on convoys; no one liked traveling in convoys--safer but more difficult; losses in East coast convoys; story of a torpedoed ship; story of employee of marine insurance company sending cargo manifests to Germany; humorous stories; recreation aboard ship; crossing the Equator ceremonies; initiation of Greenhorns and "Fool's errands" for the "key to the keelson," "bubbliator valve for the strudifier;" "hard luck ships;" and race relations aboard ship. Audiofile: c760, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4303 James E. Moore, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 21, 1990, aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA. Served as a chief machinist's mate in the Navy during World War II. Topics include: story about a destroyer in Alaska; recreational activities aboard the destroyer; "Fool's errands;" variety of stories. Audiofile: c761, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4304 Jim Cunningham and Robert Leach, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 26, 1990, in Sailors Union of the Pacific Dispatch Hall, Harrison St., San Francisco, CA. Topics include: experience with convoy; running convoys from Dutch Harbor to Adak Island, in the Aleutians; Japanese torpedo boats at New Britain; cargo; "hard luck ships;" nicknames; "Fool's errands;" initiation of Greenhorns; deaths; the Murmansk Run; and social relationships. Audiofile: c762, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 5 pp.

NA4305 Max L. O'Starr, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 27, 1990, Pacifica, CA. Topics include: having a malaria and a "nervous breakdown;" going ashore; meeting women; training as a cook; weather; discussion of various convoys, loss of human life and ships; Le Havre, France; seamen going to United Seamens Service rest camp for combat fatigue; crossing the Equator ceremonies; recreation aboard ship; race relations aboard ship; the Capt's cabin boy Ah Chong; the Norwegian Seamens' Association union. Audiofile: c763, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4306 Fred Lewis, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 28, 1990, Clovis, CA. Topics include: anecdotes from his service aboard the U.S.S. Daly; the deaths of three men in one attack on the Daly; being one of the youngest sailors aboard the Daly at age 17; recreation aboard ship; scarcity of reading material aboard ship; sleeping on deck; ethnic relations aboard ship; coming under attack; playing pranks and "Fool's errands;" crossing the Equator ceremonies; finding jobs after the war; an around-the-world trip aboard the tanker Brookfield; deciding to leave the sea and getting a high school diploma in order to get married; and running a port in Korea during the Korean War. Audiofile: c764, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4307 William "Bill" Kirby, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, January 29, 1990, Kirby Manufacturing, Co., Merced, CA. Topics include: discussion of a scrapbook; crossing the Equator ceremonies; loss of human life; cleaning bodies; socializing and recreation aboard ship; conflict aboard ship; the U.S.S. Daly as a "hard luck ship;" discussion of experience following an attack on the Daly; the deaths and recovery of Richard J. Mathieson, Alvin Crawford, and Henry Newburn; nicknames; race relations aboard ship; pranks and "Fool's errands;" and lonliness; anecdotes about being in the Philippines. Audiofile: c765, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4308 Henry K. "Hank" Adams, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, February 5, 1990, at the home of Fred Anderson Steele, Arroyo Grande, CA. Topics include: going to sea at age 15; traveling around the world on the S.S. President Wilson, 1933-1935; retiring at age 18; returned to sea during World War II; account of a 41 ship convoy coming under attack, losing 29 ships; surviving and waking up in the 5th Army Hospital in Belfast, Ireland; returning to sea after recouperating; Adam's prejudice against black shipmates; recreation aboard ship; emotional stress and suicide by sailors; alcohol, drinking, and drunkeness; shore leave; experiences in Italy, Ireland, and England. Audiofiles: c766, c767, 2 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 6 pp.

NA4309 James North and James Higman, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, February 9, 1990, at North's home, Santa Barbara, CA. Topics discussed include: "Captain of Port of New York;" mental health aboard ship; going to sea at age 18 in 1935; crossing the equator; "Fool's errands;" pranks; personal hygiene; pubic lice; friendships; race relations aboard ship; recreation;money; gambling; superstitions; "abandon ship" kits; convoy experiences; alcohol and fights among men; learning about the atomic bombing of Japan and end of World War II. Audiofiles: c768, c769, 2 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 8 pp.

NA4310 Frank Niedermeier, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, February 16 & 17, 1990, Yucaipa, CA. Topics include: becoming a cook; working in hotels; learning British English and American English; work history; meeting famous people including Charles Lindbergh, Igor Sikorsky, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello; cooking aboard ship; story of a Commander investigated for theft; German spies; convoy stories; shore leave; unloading cargo; race and ethnic relations aboard ship; gambling; sailing over the Arizona where the monument now stands; shore leave in Hawaii; encountering a sandstorm in the Red Sea; Suez Canal; crossing the Equator; recreation aboard ship; "We came close to mutiny one time" story ; souvenir shopping. Audiofiles: c770, c771, c773, c774, 4 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 12 pp.

NA4311 Herbert E. Wilson, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, February 16, 1990, Banning, CA. Topics include: convoy stories; first shore patrol; crossing the Equator; "We came close to mutiny one time" story. Audiofile: c772, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 1 p.

NA4312 Charlie Baca, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, February 22, 1990, in the armed guard messroom of the S.S. Lane Victory, San Pedro, CA. Topics include: an encounter with a U.S. sub; being caught whistling aboard ship; nicknames; relationships aboard ship; Fool's errands;" getting bored on watch; playing with a .38; a bar fight. Audiofile: c772, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 1 p.

NA4313 Clint Johnson, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 1, 1990, 1st Eng. cabin, S.S. Lane Victory, San Pedro, CA. Topics include: recreation aboard ship; alcohol and learning to drink; swimming in the port at Bahrein; maintenance issues; accidentally sinking an Australian corvette off New Guinea; homemade uniforms. Audiofiles: c776, c777, 2 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 2 pp.

NA4314 William E. Finch, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 9, 1990, Ranch Peñasquitas, San Diego, CA. Topics include: Finch's career in the Merchant Marine; receiving his Shellback Certificate; recreation aboard ship; "Fool's errands;" race relations aboard ship; Seabees; working in the engine room; cargo; convoys; conditions at sea; and being aboard ship during a collision. Audiofiles: c778, c779, 2 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 7 pp.

NA4315 Fred McKamy, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 10, 1990, San Jacinto, CA. Topics include: convoys; sailing as a carpenter and studying to become and engineer; nicknames; sailors' harassment of unpopular captain of the Davis; crossing the Equator; a French baker making "extra goodies"; Fools' errands; superstitions; shore leave; story about a kamikaze attack; and loss of human life. Audiofiles: c780, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4316 Capt. Richard G. Connelly, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 14, 1990, Naples, Long Beach, CA. Topics include: going to sea at age 17; attitudes of "small minded Americans" toward World War II; convoys; weather; relationships aboard ship; Fools' errands; recreation aboard ship; crossing the Equator; coming under attack; shore leave; superstition; race relations aboard ship. Audiofiles: c781, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4317 James Timothy Murphy, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 25, 1990, Huntington Beach, CA. Topics include: Montana-class ships; the collision of ships bear the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; unions; running up and down the East Coast of the U.S.; recovering a lifeboat between Trinidad & Aruba; working both diesel and steam ships; friendships; recreation aboard ship; rescuing survivors of a torpedoed Brazilian passenger ship; whalers; superstitions; shore leave; and race relations aboard ship. Audiofiles: c782, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4318 Samuel Hakam, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 25 and 26, 1990, Huntington Beach, CA. Topics include: loneliness of command; alcohol consumption; radio operations; being torpedoed off the African Coast; abandoning ship; sharks; getting picked up by an Australian patrol boat; contracting malaria in Takoradi, Ghana; story about running out of ammo while under attack; a poor Captain; Liberty ship S.S. Richard Henry Lee; Equator crossing; Fools' errand; superstition; weather conditions; experiences in Calcutta; Radio Ops socializing on air; meeting a Japanese man on air a year after the war; shore leave; experiences in Manila; the Murmansk run; marrying the same woman three times; experiences getting to and in Cassablanca; story about meeting a female spy. Audiofiles: c783-c785, 3 hr. Interview summary. Text: 8 pp.

NA4319 Doyle Bales, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 27, 2020, Bakersfield, CA. Topics include: first ship was a deep-sea tug; fishing for turtles; training to work in the engine room; convoys; getting blood poisoning; an acoustic mine hitting the engine room of the S.S. Francis Asbury on Dec. 3, 1944, injuries and loss of human life, and abandoning ship; witnessing his first German V-1 "buzz bomb"; arriving in NYC aboard a troop ship at Christmas time and getting home to Topeka, Kansas on New Years Day; story about a run to South America; cargo; transporting a ship full of zoo animals; adding quinine to beer to combat malaria and getting bad hangover; superstition; crossing the Equator; Fool's errands; Foreign nationals; nicknames; lack of bathing facilities. Audiofiles: c786-c787, 2 hr. Interview summary. Text: 6 pp.

NA4320 Albert Precious, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 29, 1990, Las Vegas, NV. Topics include: experiences in convoys; reaching Naples after the city was taken; recreation aboard ship; race relations aboard ship; crossing the Equator; superstitions; Fools' errands; nicknames. Audiofiles: c788, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4321 Jack E. McGinty, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, March 31, 1990, Prescott Valley, AZ. Topics include: discussion of racist terminology; relationships between races; McGinty's effort to stow away aboard the Golden Dragon when a child, caught by mate; went to sea at age 14 aboard the fishing barge Star of Scotland; story about a cyclone; crew member's attempted suicide; nicknames; relationships aboard ship; recreation aboard ship; favorite job was standing watch; Equator crossing; Fools' errands; superstitions; and pay. Audiofiles: c789, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4322 John Forsberg, Norman Law, Cliff Rehkopf, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 2, 1990, Apache Junction, AZ. Topics include: first World War II recipient of Navy Cross, Captain Joseph A. Gainard of the S.S. City of Flint, the first Merchant Marine vessel captured by Germans in WWII; recreation aboard ship; having photographs conficscated; sailing to Newcastle; convoys; contaminated food; the Murmansk Run; Operation Mulberry; youth and inexperience; loss of human life and bodies of soldiers floating near the Omaha Beachhead; retiring Liberty ships; women; German and Polish refuges resorting to sex work to survive in North Africa; food shortages; cigarettes as currency; crew safety; stories about friends and shipmates; Merchant Marine pay during WWII; Fool's errands; German Wolf packs; discovering a Japanese stowaway aboard ship; and Captains' relationships with the crew. Audiofiles: c790 and c791 2 hrs. Interview summary. Text: 6 pp.

NA4323 Donald Gibbs, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 3, 1990, Tempe, AZ. Topics include: surplus marmalade and peanut butter aboard ship; going to sea as a coal-passer at age 19; sailing on the S.S. Glen White (American Collier, 1918), a "bucket of bolts" too far gone to waste a torpedo; the Murmansk Run; the Union; Equator crossing; Fools' errands; Mail buoy story; Tokyo Rose, propeganda, gossip, and misinformation; having health problems and being called a draft-dodger; discussion of Russian ranks, etiquette, crime, sex workers; recreation aboard ship; superstitions; Foreign nationals among the crew; nicknames; Convoy lingo; discussion of family discipline on children; American's who hunted war souvenirs and trophies. Audiofile: c792, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4324 Edward S. Stanko, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 3, 1990, Apache Junction, AZ. Topics discussed include: becoming a fireman/watertender; fire in the engine room; getting "shanghaied" in New York; brothers not allowed to sail together after the 5 Sullivan brothers were killed aboard the USS Juneau; social relationships aboard ship; encountering a dockworker's strike; convoys; sleeping with clothes on; life aboard ship; joining the war effort after CCC camp; a story about driving a truck; witnessing a hanging in Cherbourg; nicknames; shore leave; fight between the Capt. and Ch. Mate of the Carlisle in Tocapila, Chile; the ferocity of the Japanese; ramming of the Carlisle; marital issues; and Equator crossing ceremonies. Audiofile: c793, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4325 David Leary, (1913-2000), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 3, 1990, Apache Junction, AZ at the home of John Forsberg. Topics discussed include: convoy, Leary's promotion from fireman to oiler; story of being told by another oiler to not arrive early for watch--'If you get killed, do it on own watch, not mine'--and that oiler being killed in a torpedo attack the next morning while Leary was on afterdeck, waiting to report for his watch; wrote to the War Shipping Administration for a "torpedo pin" with details of the attack and was told, "You don't deserve it," has never accepted decoration since; "coffin corner"; witnessing the 1944 eruption of Vesuvius; commentary on "Kaiser-built ships"; rumors of Russian mountains "honeycombed" with caves that housed factories, hospitals, and underground dwellers; avoiding Russian women; weather at sea; relations between departments; having a German skipper; working with foreign nationals; story of throwing a Russian overboard at dock in Constanta, Romania; being attacked by a sailor with a butcher knife; superstitions; Fools' errands; buying a slave girl in Tunis to free her; and family history in New Bern, North Carolina. Audiofile: c794, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4326 Pat Brinkley, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 5, 1990, Albuquerque, NM. Topics discussed include: age when went to sea; convoy experiences; recreation aboard ship; relations between departments; prepping ships for retirement; superstitions; Equator crossing ceremony trauma; Ethnic relationships aboard ship; Fools' errands; stealing Garrand rifles from a Liberty ship cargo; washing clothes aboard ship; making wine over the boilers; story of attempting to swim from his tanker to a carrier to watch a double-feature; adventures in Palou; alcohol and drunkeness; Japanese farming practices; stories of a jumpy shipmate; the"coffin corner"; hauling aviation fuel and precautions against sparking an explosion; and nicknames. Audiofile: c795, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4327 Martin Thomas "Marty" Hrivnak, Sr., (1927-2019), interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 6, 1990, Coors Road, Albuquerque, NM. Topics include: going to sea at age 16, stopped in 1946; sailing the Great Lakes; sailing through mine fields; rough weather on the Lakes; the Edmund Fitzgerald; convoy encountering heavy weather; discussion of "pelican hooks"; Destroyer escorts; listening to depth charges from the engine room; "Zoot suit" survival suits; the Murmansk Run; cargo; shore leave and souvenirs; witnessing buzz bombs in Antwerp; food supplies aboard ship; recreation aboard ship; torpedo watch; lack of credit given to the Merchant Marines; a "hungry ship is an unhappy ship"; story of a "problem" with Brits; convoy terminology; nicknames; ethnic make up of crews; drunkeness; leaving the sea and joining the Army Reserve; discussion of politics surrounding Merchant Marine and U.S. Coast Guard. Audiofile: c796, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4328 W.D. "Del" Alley, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, April 19, 1990, Key Allegro off Fulton-Rockport, TX. Topics of conversation include: joining the Naval Reserve January 1939, called to active duty June 1944; first convoy in 1944 took shell in the "vegetable box" directly below Alley's room; shuttled Naples/Anzio under constant shellfire; Unionism; relationships between departments; happy ship depends not on amount of food but preparation; recreation aboard ship; Equator crossing; trip to Russia aboard the Mormacray; running convoys at night; "Wolf packs"; attack in Bay of Biscay; account of days after German surrender; shore leave, sightseeing, and audience with the Pope; convoy terminology; and speed of convoys. Audiofile: c797, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4329 Harvey L. Watson, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 9, 1990, East Brewton, AL. Topics include: first went to sea Christmas Day, Dec. 1943; sailed on Liberty ships; recreation aboard ship; story about his only time in the wheelhouse; rigging hammock under a lifeboat where it was cool in the Indian Ocean; cargo; duties and tasks as a steward; one-time duty as a bedroom utility; Fools' errands; pulling a prank by whistling down a ventilator into the engine room; using spare inflation tubes to blow up bottles and jars as entertainment; shore leave; nicknames; Equator crossing; superstition aboard ship; colliding with a British ship during blackout; selling stolen bed sheets to make $500 to send to his mother; and ethnic relations aboard ship. Audiofile: c798, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4330 Raymond J. "Joe" Kennedy, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 16, 1990, at Savannah, GA. Topics discussed include: Army service in Africa, Sicily, and Great Britain; replacing troops manning the air station at Atkinson Field, Guyana; life aboard a troop transport; recounting humerous events; chow lines; officers' mess compared to enlisted mess; wearing helmet and lifejacket 24/7; recreation aboard ship; Equator crossing; pranks; flies in North Africa; C-rations and K-rations; and rough weather at sea. Audiofile: c799, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4331 Robert Owen, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 16, 1990, at Savannah, GA. Topics discussed include: going to sea at age 17 starting as unlicensed as a wiper, then oiler; getting licensed; recreation aboard ship--learned he couldn't play cards and couldn't fight, so took up reading; Fools' errands; Equator crossing; sleeping quarters aboard ship; politics relating to Maritime Marines and controversy about pay differences during World War II; convoys and maneuverability; building "monkey bridge"; construction of Liberty ships; nicknames aboard ship; lack of superstitions attributed to the young blood and lack of older sailors; story about a sleepwalker aboard ship; sailing with foreign nationals; Joe Ramsey (see na4332); running convoys in blackout; "Take a crap" story; and Unions and politics. Audiofile: c800, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 4 pp.

NA4332 Joseph O'Brien Ramsey, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 16, 1990, Savannah, GA. Topics include: forming convoys; going to sea in 1932 at a wiper, O.S., or messboy before becoming a cadet; got licensed in 1939; the Murmansk Run aboard the Hog Islander Schoharie; comparing Liberty ships with Hog Islanders; recreation aboard ship; making souvenir bottles; relationship between departments; nicknames; superstitions; working with foreign nationals; Equator crossing; sailing to Liverpool with Marshall Plan cargo and passengers; family's seafaring history; Fools's errands; unionization; difference between a fairy tale and a sea story; social differences between British and Germans; ramming and sinking a Finnish ship off France; sleepwalker story; and union politics. Audiofile: c801, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4333 Capt. Stephen F. Browne, Jr., interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 17, 1990 in the home of Robert Owen, Savanah, GA. Topics of discussion include Browne's training and early sailing history; Browne's career after World War II; operating commercial ships during Vietnam War; problems replenishing ship's stores in the Pacific during the war; "Soogee beef" and "Soogeeyaki"; Daly gunner story; maneuvering ships in convoy; memorable trip to Gdynia, Poland; brooms tied to buoys in Poland; story about an ATS quartermaster with gambling addiction; recreation aboard ship; one sailor building a washing machine on walking beam and charging to wash clothes; Fools' errands; relationships between departments aboard ship; worry accomplishes nothing; and experiences sailing the Mekong River. Audiofile: c802, 1 hr. Interview summary. Text: 3 pp.

NA4334 Brief transcripts and summaries of Morgiana Halley's conversations with seven informants. No audio recordings. These include: Warren Smith aboard the Jeremiah O'Brien, January 25, 1990, 1 p. Isacc B. Givens aboard the S.S. Lane Victory on which he served as a cook during World War II, November 24, 1989, 1 p. Paul Buhman in Vancouver, WA, by telephone, January 13, 1990, 1 p. George Heidel in Redding, CA, by telephone, February 8, 1990, 2 pp. Bernard N. Meyer at MMP Hall, Wilmington, DE, 1 p. Rey Martinez aboard Lane Victory February 24, 1990, 1 p. James E. Davis aboard Lane Victory, February 24, 1990, 1 p.

NA4335 Richard F. "Dick" Britton, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 19, 1990, in Charleston, SC. Audiofile: c0804, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4336 J. LeCato, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 19, 1990, in Charleston, SC. Audiofile: c0805, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4337 Theodore L. "Ted" Hostetter, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 19, 1990 in Charleston, SC. Audiofile: c0806, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4338 Edward Mathiasin, William Dennis, and E. Larsen, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, May 22, 1990, at Sealevel, NC. Audiofile: c0807, c0808, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4339 R. M. DeWees, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 1990, Newport-News, VA. Audiofile: c0809, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4340 S. Willner, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 10, 1990, Virginia Beach, VA. Audiofile: c0810, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4341 V. Finan, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 14, 1990, Washington, D.C. Audiofile: c0811, c0812, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4342 E. H. Richards, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 18, 1990, Suitland, MD. Audiofile: c0813, c0814, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4343 Capt. John J. Klocko, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 20, 1990, Crofton, MD. Audiofile: c0815, c0816, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4344 Jonny Johnson, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, June 26, 1990, Piney Point, MD. Audiofile: c0817, c0818, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4345 Capt. Ed March, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, July 8, 1990, in Melville, DE. Audiofile: c0819, c0820, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4346 Capt. P. Brick, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, undated, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Audiofile: c0821, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4347 Richard Adhelm-White, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, August 3, 1990, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Audiofile: c0822, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4348 Capt. E. S. Wagner, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, August 3, 1990, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Audiofile: c0823, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4349 Harry Kilmon, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, August 29, 1990, Wilmington, DE. Audiofile: c0824, c0825, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4350 L. S. English, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, August 29, 1990, Wilmington, DE. Audiofile: c0826, c0827, 2 hrs. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4351 George Friesleben, interviewed by Morgiana Halley, undated, location unidentified. Audiofile: c0828, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4352 William Peter Kaiser, Jr., interviewed by Morgiana Halley. 1981, location unidentified, SIU Steward. Audiofile: c0829, 1 hr. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4353 Jack A. Holt, interviewed by Morgiana Halley. December 2, 1981, location unidentified. Audiofile: c0830, 90 min. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4354 Michael Orlando, interviewed by Morgiana Halley. June 26, 1981, location unidentified. SIU/Atlantic Fishermen's Union. Audiofile: c0831, 90 min. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4355 Daniel A. Zeller, interviewed by Morgiana Halley. November 17, 1981, location unidentified. SIU. Audiofile: c0832, 90 min. Restricted. No relase on file.

NA4356 Ruel Nathan Lawrence, interviewed by Morgiana Halley. September 14, 1979, New York. PQ17. Audiofile: c0833, 90 min. Restricted. No relase on file.

Existence and Location of Originals

Located at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress: AFC 2012/047 https://lccn.loc.gov/2013655211.

Related Materials

An Ethnography of Marine Convoys of World War II Dissertation by Morgiana P. Halley, BA (UCLA, 1967), MA (MUN, 1989). Department of English Language and Linguistics, University of Sheffield, October 1995.

Materials Specific Details

Audio files are the primary source material. Transcriptions are the transcriber's best effort to convert audio to text, but should be considered secondary to the audio.

Title
Guide to the Morgiana Halley Projects
Status
Digital Objects Available
Author
Amanda Marden
Date
April 2018
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English.

Repository Details

Part of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History Repository

Contact:
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207.581.1686