Oral history

Abstract 2676 John Belding, interviewed by Pamela Dean, September 23, 2001, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Belding talks about his interest in Forestry which led him to study it in college and move to Maine; how he went from surveyor to also being a farmer; raising farm animals such as goats, cattle, pigs and chickens; selling organic produce at his farm stand starting at 1990; preparing his land in Lovell from overgrown to farm-ready; involvement in MOFGA and the Common Ground fair;...

Abstract NA3142 Josephine O’Hare, interviewed by Ann M. K. Munch, March 26, 29th & April 13, 19th, 1984, Portland, Maine. O’Hare recalls growing up in Portland; Kavanaugh School; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; parochial schools; open trolley cars to Riverton Park; Cape Cottage Park; Cape Elizabeth; Back Bay; Women’s Suffrage; Baxter Library; Portland High School; Dr. Spaulding house; Women’s Chorus of Portland; Exhibition Building; Garden Concert in City Hall; Eastern Promenade; Lewis...

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NA3141 Katherine Norris, interviewed by Carol C. Norris Foord, April 9, 1984, Portland, Maine. Norris, born June 7, 1901, and who moved to Portland when she was 9, talks about growing up in Portland; MIT; Sunshine Club; Campfire Girls; Vassar; recalls 1918 flu epidemic; catwalk on the Quebec Bridge; the St. Lawrence River. Text: 17 pp. index, partial transcript. Recording: C 1006, C 1007 90 minutes.

Abstract NA3731 Katya Begitova, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, May 11, 2005, in her home, Trenton, Maine. Katya talks about being born in Moscow; moving to Bar Harbor, Maine in 2000; difficulty of working in Maine without being able to speak English; meeting her husband while working in Maine; being multicultural as a Russian in America; struggles and strategy to learning a new language; meeting other immigrants with similar backgrounds; Russian cooking compared to American; Russian crafts;...

Abstract NA4268 Keith Burton Mink and Grace (Grinnell) Mink, interviewed by Chris Roberts at Deer Foot Farm, Appleton, Maine, Monday, March 10, 2003. Chris Roberts is the Minks' grandson. Keith Mink was born April 6, 1922, at Deer Foot Farm, and was 80-years-old at the time of this recording. Mink (1922-2010), a World War II Veteran, lived on the farm his entire life except the period he was in the service. The farm was multi-generational with Mink growing up with his maternal grandparents, Lyndon M....

Abstract 3079 Ken Horn, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, September 20, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Horn speaks about how he came to live in Maine; serving as a combat crew member of B-52s in Limestone; organic farming; how he was affected by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; the lack of information available from the Extension Service; becoming an information provider for organic farming; contacts Bob Johnson of Johnny’s Seeds and Ben Wilcox; Charlie Gould of the Knox County...

Abstract NA4423 Leslie Richfield, interviewed by Barry H. Rodrigue and Sandra Washholz. February 17, 2017. 2 cassette tape, 3 pp. index (derived from only side A of tape 1). Leslie Richfield, a faculty member in Social Work at USM. LR is from Ohio and then went to Boston University for both her undergraduate work and an MSW where her social justice concerns were encouraged. She then moved to Maine where she did her field placements, her specialty was casework because she wanted to work with kids. LR...

Abstract NA3727 Lilian Lo, interviewed by Elizabeth Hardink, April 16, 2005. Lo talks about being born in Hong Kong; spending her first twenty four years there; coming to Maine in 1981; owing Oriental Jade, a Chinese restaurant in Bangor, Maine with her husband Victor; working for a real estate business in Hong Kong; Hong Kong becoming more liberal; cultural differences in China from the 70s to the 90s; Hong Kong’s shift toward international food in recent times; Hong Kong immigrants during the 90s...

Abstract NA3717 Lily Alavi, interviewed by Maria Sandweiss, May 23, 2005, at Alavi’s home in Bangor, Maine. Alavi talks about being born in Iran; coming to the United States in 1993; her first impressions when moving to Maine; difficulties in adjusting to new culture; languages; food; Islam; celebrations and holidays; work as a real estate agent; self-identity; different cultures in Middle East; difference between American government and American people. Text: 6 pp. transcript. Recording:...

Abstract 1231 Mabel Emery and Ruth Gobeil, interviewed by Joyce Butler, August 31, 1977, Kennebunk, Maine. Emery and daughter Gobeil discuss the fires of 1947 in the Biddeford-Kennebunk area; approach of the fire near their home; trying to save possessions; explosion of their house; fire at Goose Rocks and surviving it by staying in the ocean; inability to understand why their house burned when neighbors’ homes did not; Ruth’s work at a telephone switchboard during the fire; and rebuilding. Text: 14...

Abstract NA3850 Maine's Immigrant Cultures, presented by the Maine Folklife Center at the American Folk Festival in Bangor, Maine, August 2005. Members of Maine’s immigrant communities were invited to the Maine Folklife Center Narrative Stage to talk about their culture and to demonstrate aspects of their culture such as food preparation, crafts, music, and dance. The event was sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission. Official program: "The American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront Official...

Abstract NA3719 Maria Baeza, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, March 28, 2005, in Baeza’s office, Bangor, Maine. Baeza talks about being born in Puerto Rico; growing up in Brooklyn, New York; coming to Maine over 30 years ago when she married a man from Maine; her first impression of Maine which was that there were so many white people; culture shock; rural setting after living in a large city; concern with safety; life in Puerto Rico before the age of 5 when she moved to the U. S.; difference...

Abstract NA3721 Maria Sandweiss, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, April 19, 2005, in the library at the Maine Folklife Center, UMaine, Orono, Maine. Sandweiss talks about being born in Peru; moving to Maine in 1993 with her husband; her first impressions of Maine; speaking English or Spanish with family; living in two cultures; maintaining culture of Peru; Peruvian foods; typical dinner; food cooked in the ground; pachamanca; special cultural objects from Peru; languages spoken in Peru; language...

Abstract NA3722 Maria Rave, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, April 1, 2005, at Thistles Restaurant, Bangor, Maine. Rave talks about being born in Colombia; coming to Ellsworth in 1985; moving to Bangor around 2001; being part owner of Thistles Restaurant; having two sons; language barrier at first in Maine; speaks Spanish and English; university education; difficult for younger son Santiago to adjust to school; sons graduating from Massachusetts College of Art; Santiago lives at home and manages...

Abstract 3068 Marie Hickey, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, September 20, 2002, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Hickey begins by outlining her current role at MOFGA; why she came to Maine and how she got connected to MOFGA; her involvement with the children’s area of the fair and being coordinator for 20 years; her perspective of the purpose of the Common Ground Fair; educational aspects of the fair; activities for children at the fair; future plans in the children’s area; recruiting...

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NA3145 Marion Brown Payson, interviewed by Alice Mary Pierce, January 23, 1992, Cumberland Foreside, Maine. Payson, born in Portland in 1896, talks about the Westover School and Waynflete Academy; Congregationalist Church; describes neighborhood; Red Cross in Halifax; Nova Scotia; starting a canteen at Delano Park; working in a sick house during the 1918 Flu Epidemic; Bangor Theological Seminary. Text: 25 pp. transcript. Recording: C 1019 45 minutes (incomplete).

Abstract NA4427 Mark Swann, interviewed by Sandra Wachholz, January 30, 2017. Swan is the executive director of Preble Street (a resource center agency), talks about Joe Kreisler the 1975 founder of Preble Street; social work support; Kreisler’s role as chair of the department; Preble Street getting incorporated in 1985; how it was once called High Street Resource Center; 1993 being a big year when they moved to Preble Street from a church basement; how they help with food, shower, and shelter; the...

Abstract 2674 Martha Gottleib, interviewed by James Moreira, September 22, 2001, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Gottleib talks about moving to Maine for a better education for her children; joining MOFGA out of a shared identity with its members; the Summerhill system style school her children attended when they came to Maine; meeting the Nearings; tensions between native Mainers and back-to-the-land people; early work with MOFGA; growing and selling garlic; her involvement in a...

Abstract 3072 Matthew Strong, interviewed by Anu Dudley, September 19, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Strong speaks about his experiences as an egg roll vendor at the Common Ground and Blue Hill Fairs; his history of making leather clothing and furniture; food preparation guidelines; joining the steering committee as food co-coordinator; MOFGA’s goals; fair expansion; common vendor complaints; selling his business; food vendor applications; his MOFGA involvement; MOFGA and politics;...

Abstract NA3726 Mihail Margaronis, interviewed by Maria Sandweiss, May 31, 2005, at the Bangor House of Pizza (which is owned by Margaronis). Margaronis talks about being born in Greece on the island of Aegina; coming to Maine in 1976; adapting to Maine after growing up in Greece; cultural Greek items; being a citizen from multiple countries; Greek community in Bangor, Maine; Greek national identity compared to American; Greek opinion on American government and American people. Text: 10 pp....

Abstract NA3127 Mildred A. Cameron, interviewed by Josephine P. Marr, March 29, 1984, Portland, Maine. Cameron, born at home (Munjoy Hill, Beckett Street) on March 7, 1908, talks about growing up; Fort Allen Park and Promenade; Long Island, Shailer School; Portland High School; Maine Eye & Ear Infirmary; Registered Nurse; Flu Epidemic of 1918; Mercy Hospital; Portland; entertainment in Portland; automobiles; formal education; religion; advice for the youth of today; Portland Library (Baxter...

Abstract NA3132 Mira L. Dolley, interviewed by Anne Powell, May 29, 1984, Raymond, Maine. Dolley, born October 1, 1897, talks about moving to Maine 1907; Grand Funk and Santa Fe trains; Harvey Restaurant; Longfellow School; Deering High School; Colby College; White Sisters at convent; teaching in Pittsfield; France in 1925; teaching at Deering High School; Big Belt trolley in Portland; chores in Victorian household; maids in Falmouth; Village Congregational Church; Victrola phonograph; family...

Abstract NA3718 Mohammad S. Dar, interviewed by Katherine Durbin, May 8, 2005, at the Stillwater Convenience store, Bangor, Maine. Dar talks about being from Pakistan; coming to the United States in 1983; his reasons for coming to the United States and then to Maine; arranged marriage; positive experiences; finding other Muslim families; teaching cultural values; comparison between his childhood in Pakistan and that of his children in the United States; Lahore; food and meals as a child in Pakistan;...

Abstract 2634 Mort Mather, interviewed by Pamela Dean, September 22, 2000, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Mather talks about his career as a stage manager in New York and Ogunquit, Maine; moving to Maine and becoming a subsistence farmer; relationship with local community; harvesting wheat with a combine vs. a scythe; involvement in MOFGA; spreading manure from a pickup truck and the manure pitch at the Common Ground Fair; market gardening; and his feelings about the Common Ground Fair....

Abstract NA4429 Natalie "Nat" Irene (Mink) Gushee, interviewed by Chris Roberts at her home on Sennebec Pond in Appleton, Maine, March 18, 2003. Roberts interviews his "Great Aunt Nat," age 82 (born May 3, 1920, at the Johnson-Mink Farm aka Deer Foot Farm) about growing up on family farm and living in Appleton. Gushee reviews the family genealogy, her single aunts and uncles, family entertainments, her father's disappointment that she was a girl and the importance of her brother Keith being born the...

Abstract NA3723 Norma Peters, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, May 12, 2005, at the home of Peters, Veazie, Maine. Peters talks about being born in Cartagena, Colombia; the differences between living in Panama and Colombia; differences in education; learning to speak English; marriage and children; first impressions of Maine; difficulty finding work; lived in Hampden and 6 years later moved to Bangor; teaching children Spanish; discrimination in Maine; making friends; teaching children to be proud...

Abstract NA3730 Nuam Wen "Mabel" Cen, interviewed by Elizabeth Hardink, in Mabel’s apartment, Bangor, Maine. Mabel talks about being from Canton, China and being born in 1984; differences in the Chinese and American education systems; Chinese people want to be rich; hard workers in China; prostitution is common there; Chinese dress is very modern and similar to American dress; Mabel’s family chose to come to the United States because her uncle lived here; her uncle opened a Chinese restaurant in...

Abstract NA3720 Olivia Saritvanich, interviewed by Katherine Durbin, February 18, 2005, at Saritvanich’s home, Orono, Maine. Saritvanich talks about being born in Thailand; emigrating to America with her husband; being the owner of Thai Orchid, a restaurant in Orono, Maine; immigration in the late 1970s; reasons immigrants can become citizens; immigrant-specific employment; early history of Thailand; European colonization of Southeast Asia; struggles of immigrating to America; American soldiers in...

Abstract 3071 Peggy Heigold Strong, interviewed by Anu Dudley, September 19, 2003, at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Strong speaks about moving from Connecticut to Maine; attending Bates College; MOFGA and the Common Ground Fair; working for future husband Matthew Strong at his egg roll stand; food vendors Steve Aucoin and Tom St. John; food guidelines; her experiences as craft area coordinator; past coordinator Wendy Dumont; craft area concerns, including security, parking, electricity,...

Scope and Contents

A series of thirteen interviews, totaling twenty-four hours of recordings, conducted in 1973-1974 by David Taylor under contract for the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine, with fishermen from the Penobscot Bay region. Themes include equipment used and techniques; fisheries locations, species, and extent; dangers and satisfactions of the fisherman’s life; industry economics; family and community networks. Includes some photographs.