Oral history

Abstract NA4414 Dr. Franklin “Frank” Brooks, interviewed by Sandra Wachholz, January 31, 2017. Dr. Brooks talks about his background; about coming out as a gay man in 1978; recognizing his need for a Ph.D. while studying with Richard Steinman, a faculty member at USM; Richard Steinman’s courses; his dissertation “Transgender Behavior”; being active in LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) causes; the country’s time of radical social action, social change and social justice; having a private...

Abstract

NA4546 Dr. Nicholas Smith, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, August 24, 1999, in his home at 34 Beech Drive, Brunswick, Maine, about his experiences doing anthropological field work. Text: No transcript. Recording: mf206_na4546_220.01A, mf206_na4546_220.01B, mf206_na4546_220.02A. Time: Restrictions: No restrictions. Time: 02:08:55.

Abstract NA3124 Dwight Andrew, interviewed by Martha A. Timothy, February 29, 1984, and February 1, 1985, at Andrew’s home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Andrew, born in Littleton, New Hampshire on October 15, 1900, describes Littleton school; Heseltine School; Portland; preserving food; Center’s Store; varieties of apples; Dr. Albian; Sebago barrels; waterglass formula; The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour Church; Farmer’s Club; movies and activities at church; gas lights to electric;...

Scope and Contents MF167.1 consists of interviews conducted by Edward D. "Sandy" Ives on Prince Edward Island between 1969 and 1970, as part of his work to document the folk songs of Prince Edward Island, specifically the songs “made by” Joe Scott, Larry Doyle, and Larry Gorman. Material included in this collection served as source material for Ives’ later publications, Lawrence Doyle: The Farmer-Poet of Prince Edward Island (1971); Larry Gorman: The Man Who...

Abstract NA3140 Edward J. Norris, interviewed by Martha A. Timothy, August 8, 1988, Portland, Maine. Norris, born March 21, 1908, recalls growing up in Portland; the Million Dollar Bridge; Delano Park; Fort Williams; DuPont factory; Sticky River; Sebago Lake; Oddfellows Block; Woodford’s Town Hall; Leland School; Longfellow School; Lincoln Junior Academy; Deering High School; Exeter and MIT; Woodfords Corner; Nason’s Corner; the Poor Farm; the Porteous Mitchell Store. Text: 13 pp. partial outline....

Abstract NA3150 Elizabeth Ring, interviewed by Martha Timothy, April 5, 1984, Portland, Maine. Ring, born 1902 in Orono, recalls family history; growing up; taught in Plymouth, New Hampshire; Depression; University of Maine at Orono; founding Greater Portland Landmarks, Inc. and Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums; having major influence on Maine Historical Society; Maine Travel Course and Maine Department of Education; being a Fellow in Economics and Politics at Bryn Mawr; receiving...

Abstract NA4425 Elizabeth Szatkowski and Leslie Richfield, interviewed by Barry Rodrique and Sandra Wachholz, March 21, 2017, at the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) School of Social Work. Szatkowski speaks of growing up in poverty in Washington County, Maine and being part of the Upward Bound program through Bowdoin College, believing in social equality from a very early age and experiencing frustration over inequities in the world which eventually lead her to a career in social work and working...

Abstract NA3128 Elizabeth Thomas Soule Chapman, interviewed by Lucia P. Smith, October 2, 1984, Foreside, Maine. Chapman, born April 16, 1914, talks about the house; her parents William and Mary Thomas; live-in help; Cyril Durante was butler; pony stable on Chadwick Street; two attics; two cellars; chauffeur; governess Annie Mundy from England; plant room; small garden with fountain; pony carts; took ponies to Waynflete; decorating the house with real greens for Christmas; Miss Chrisfield and...

Abstract NA3724 Eric Li, interviewed by Elizabeth Hardink, June 5, 2005, at his home, Bangor, Maine. Li talks about bieng born in Hong Kong, China; living there until he was 8; comparison of Chinese and American cultures; favorite foods; came to the United States with his father around 1989; lived in New York; moved to Madawaska, Maine when he was in sixth grade; father owns Chinese restaurant in Madawaska named Tang’s Palace; comparison of city life in New York and Hong Kong; discrimination toward...

Abstract NA3125 Eva O. (Curtis) Bowering, interviewed by Barbara Switzer, April 3, 1984, at Eva’s home in Sebago Lake. Bowering, born on December 25, 1908, talks about sea captain grandfather’s days at sea; grandmother’s hard life in Harpswell; singing hymns in evenings; mother; maternal grandfather (bookkeeper for Portland-Rochester Railroad Company); Scotland, England, and Belgium; neighborhood growing up; Baby and cherry tree; Harry Marr (Portland’s Fire Chief); neighborhood Catholics, Jews,...

Abstract NA3155 Evelyn F. (Littlefield) Watson, interviewed by Margaret M. Crane, March 8 and May 8, 1984, Portland and Peaks Island, Maine. Watson, born June 16, 1893, recalls her youth in Portland; attending the Monument School; Marada Adams School; Portland High School and Gray’s Business College; James Bailey Automotive; Munjoy Hill; moved to Peaks Island in 1955; Flu Epidemic of 1918; Congress Street Methodist Church; Community Building on Peaks Island; trolleys on Munjoy Hill; Ladies’ Aid...

Abstract

NA4428 Florence Young, interviewed by Sandra Wachholz, February 27, 2017. Young discusses her work with Joe Kreisler and her involvement with the sheltering movement in Portland, Maine. Young graduated from the USM School of Social Work in 1983. Young discusses her attraction to work in the realm of social justice. No transcript. Text: 11p. Recording: mfc_na4428_01. Time: 00:31:54

Abstract

NA3146 Francis Charlotte (Wilson) Peabody, interviewed by Helen W. Munro, October 17, 1984, Portland, Maine. Peabody, born April 18, 1903, in Washington, D.C., recalls childhood; Episcopal Church; remembers epidemic; northern Pueblo Indians; Girl Scouts; Rockefeller Foundation; 1973 restoration of Portland home; SPNEA. Text: information sheet; 7 pp. index. Recording: C 1010 90 minutes.

Abstract 3078 Frank Heller, interviewed by Jamie Moreira, September 20, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Heller speaks about his birth on June 20, 1939, in Queens, New York City; serving as a director of public policy, alcohol and drug education, and Headstart; moving to Maine; consulting; opening an organic bakery; employees Patty Dyera, Bruce, and Peter Lynn; bread recipes; medieval black bread; Milwaukee rye; Parkview nutritionist Helga Bloomquist; Jacques Gallila of Hushahar...

Abstract 3069 Glenn Dewitt, interviewed by James Moreira, September 22, 2002, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Dewitt speaks about his involvement with MOFGA; moving from West Pennsylvania to Dresden, Maine; his career in the Navy; his uncle’s pig farm in Pennsylvania; working at the Bath shipyard; raising rare breed and meat chickens naturally; naturally versus unnaturally raised livestock; free-ranging versus caging practices; his involvement with the Common Ground Fair; working as an...

Abstract NA3137 Greta Kerr, interviewed by Bertha C. Gulliver, March 26 and 29, 1984, and April 13 and 21, 1984, Portland, Maine. Kerr, born on June 6, 1890, recalls, in great detail and descriptive phrase, life in Portland: South Portland Bridge; Victoria Mansion; Constance Southworth home; Cutler House; Cutter House; Talbot House; Dyer House; Mussey House; Swett Mansion; Rufus Deering home; Rufus Deering Lumber Yard; High Street Bridge; Keating House; O’Brian’s Antique Book Store; Vice Consul...

Abstract NA3154 Harvey E. Wallingford, interviewed by Vaun E. Born, March 12 and 29, 1985, South Portland. Wallingford, born August 4, 1893, in Alfred, Maine, recalls growing up; moving to Portland in 1916 with wife Sarah; Boston and Maine Railroad (retired 1958); recalls youth on Alfred farm; 1918 Flu Epidemic; Riverton Park; Cape Elizabeth Casino; Keith’s and Jefferson Theatres; Union Station; Cliff Island; Portland and Rochester Railroad and the Inter-urban to Lewiston; colony of Shakers in...

Abstract NA4424 Heather Stultz and Penny Collins, interviewed by Barry Rodrique and Sandra Wachholz, January 26, 2017, in Falmouth, Maine. Collins is one of the founding partners of Adoption Partners of Maine. Stultz is the Managing Director of Adoption Partners of Maine. The pair speak about how they met and began working together; the importance of networking skills in the field of adoption; and how the UMS program prepared them for the field of social work and adoption. No transcript. Text: 9 p....

Abstract NA3148 Helen Hartley Pease, interviewed by Bertha C. Gulliver, May 8 and June 1, 1984, Peaks Island, Maine. Pease, who summered on Peaks Island from the age of 10 on, describes Peaks Island; Gem Theatre’s all-women orchestra; Great White Way; Pilgrim three-decker; the boardwalk; the Boston and Maine Railroad; Beacon Camp for Girls; Vassar College; Andy England’s Shop; Sebago Lake; Swampscott car ferry; Methodist Church; Fort on back shore; Blackman’s farm. Text: 4 pp. index; 1 pp. field...

Abstract NA3133 Helen Teresa (Allen) Dwelley, interviewed by Martha A Timothy, May 10, 1984, Portland, Maine. Telephone interview. Dwelley, born on September 15, 1900, talks about being a 10th generation French Canadian; growing up Catholic and poor; moving to Portland in August 1915 at 15; the YWCA; Porteous; Hebert boarding house; Stroudwater canoe house; Riverton boat house on the Presumpscot River; Flu Epidemic of 1918; Fort Devens; Armistice; National Biscuit Company; marriage in 1922; son in...

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NA3144 Hilda Libby Ives Palmer, interviewed by Didi Stockly, March 22, 1984, Cumberland Center, Maine. Palmer, born May 29th, 1909, recalls growing up in Portland, Community Chest (United Fund); Carrol Street School; Butler School; Waynflete Academy and Dobbs and Wheelock; Sebago; Portland vaudeville. Text:15 pp. index, partial transcript, partial written notes. Recording: C 1011 90 minutes.

Abstract NA3729 Iolanta Biderman, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, February 14, 2005, Pauleena’s office at UMaine, Orono, Maine. Biderman talks about living in the U.S.S.R. until she was 4 years old; living in the Ukraine and Kazakhstan with relatives; Kazakhstan culture; moving to Moscow at 17 to go to college; Soviet turmoil and the effect on Russians in Latvia in 1989; working for a shipping company in Latvia; Russians being removed from Latvia; meeting her U. S. husband in Latvia through the...

Abstract NA3147 Isabel K. Pease, interviewed by Margaret M. Crane, March 8 and 20, 1984. Pease, born November 9, 1900, recalls childhood; changes in neighborhood; Coyle Mansion; Nathan Clifford Grammar School; Deering High School; Smith College (1922); Westbrook High School; Harvard; Riverton; Cape Elizabeth casino; Woodfords Church; State Street Church; Smith College; Portland Symphony Orchestra; Middlebury College. Text: information sheet; 14 pp. index with field notes. Recording: C 1030, C 1031...

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NA4426 James “Jim” Tierney, interviewed by Barry Rodrigue, October 30, 2016, at Brunswick, Maine. Tierney discusses how he entered the field of social work and becoming the Regional Director of the Portland, Maine office of the Department of Human Services right out of graduate school, at a time when social services programs were accelerating in growth. Recording: mfc_na4424_01A & mfc_na4424_01B. Time: 01:03:48

Abstract 3063 Jean English, interviewed by Anu Dudley, September 21, 2002, Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. English talks about moving to Lincolnville, Maine in 1985; looking for and buying tillable land; farm budgets based on the Nearings model; having children; growing nursery crops for FEDCO; the specifics of growing bayberries; moving from farming to writing as a primary source of income; volunteering with MOFGA; becoming editor of the MOFGA newspaper; how the MOFGA newspaper has changed over...

Abstract 2630 Jean Hay Bright, interviewed by James Moreira, September 24, 2000 at the Common Ground Fair. Hay talks about her farm in Dixmont where they grow organic pick-your-own raspberries; her previous farm in Blue Hill; what inspired her to move to Maine in 1971; farm years in Maine during the 1970s without electricity or plumbing; her emergence into the organic farming market in the 1980s; her friendship with Scott and Helen Nearing; preparing her Dixmont farm to grow organic produce;...

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NA3153 Jennie E. (Means) Thompson, interviewed by Carol C. Norris Foord, March 8, 1984, South Portland, Maine. Thompson, born in 1892 in Nebraska, talks about being sent to Maine at 7-8; brought up by grandparents; attending Dana Hall Preparatory School in Wellesley, Massachusetts; attending Waynflete School; Flu Epidemic of 1918. Handwritten partial notes. Text: information sheet; 16 pp. index with selective transcription and notes. Recording: C 1009 90 minutes.

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NA4418 Anne Heros, interviewed by Sandra Wachholz, December 21, 2016. Heros speaks about the creation of the Center for Grieving Children in Portland, Maine and issues faced in getting financial and other support from the City of Portland for multicultural social work programs. Recruiting volunteers to work with the Center from students in the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) School of Social Work. No transcript. Recording: mfc_na4418_01A & mfc_na4418_01B. Time: 01:01:10

Abstract 3066 Jill Breen, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, September 22, 2002, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Breen talks about the choice to move to Troy, Maine, instead of Vermont in 1972; the attraction of organic farming as a way of life; apprenticing on a vegetable farm; moving to St. Albans, Maine; becoming a midwife; financial hardship; apprenticing as a means of learning a trade; the “Birth Tent” at the Common Ground Fair; isolation from the local community in Central Maine;...