Emigration and immigration -- Maine

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

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1186 Alice R. Stewart, interviewed by John Myers, May 9, 1978, Orono, Maine. 6 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ brief cat. Stewart talks about the Stewart family and its emigration from New Brunswick to Linneus and Whitneyville, Maine, subsistence farming and potato farming. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 1245, 41 min.

Abstract NA3728 Aniko Fulep, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, May 16, 2005, in Fulep’s home, Hampden, Maine. Fulep talks about being born in Hungary in 1971; coming to the United States in 1996; emigrating from Budapest, Hungary to Maine; benefits of rural Maine compared to life in Budapest; view of Maine people compared to most American people; learning English in Hungary; life during the fall of Communism in Hungary; adjusting to American culture; speaking English around children vs. speaking...

Abstract NA4205 Annia Warner, interviewed by Darlene Metcalf-Bergeron, February 22, 2008, in her house in Bangor, ME. Warner, age 48, talks about her early life in Costa Rica (CR); her family; moving to San José; meeting a Maine family; visiting ME on vacation; meeting her future husband and staying; the scarcity of Costa Rican immigrants; her parents’ reaction to her staying; becoming pregnant; getting married; her husband and two sons; learning English with Mr. Rogers; raising her sons bilingually;...

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1696 Antoinette Boucher, interviewed by Steffan Duplessis and Mark Silber, December 15, 1980, Lewiston, Maine. 19 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ trans. French. Boucher talks about her life as a Franco-American and her family history. Text: transcript. Recording: T 1817 3/4 hour.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Abstract

1694 Cecile Boisvert, interviewed by Steffan Duplessis, Marcella Sorg, and Mark Silber, winter 1981, Lewiston, Maine. 38 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hr. w/ handwritten trans. French. Boisvert talks about her life as a Franco-American. Text: handwritten transcript. Recording: T 1815 1-1/4 hour, French.

Abstract NA3725 Delia Michaud, interviewed by Pauleena MacDougall, June 21, 2005, at Michaud’s home. Michaud talks about being born in San Juan, a province of Argentina; coming to the United States in 1970; living first in Houston, Texas and then moving to Maine; cultural differences between Argentina and the United States; struggle of switching over from speaking Spanish to speaking only English; first experiences with Maine winter; highlights of Argentinean culture; family life in San Juan;...

Abstract 1202 Don Mitchell, interviewed by Roger Mitchell, his son, in 1976. Series of interviews about Mitchell senior's life and work as a woodsman and farmer formed the basis of Northeast Folklore XIX: "I'm a Man That Works." See also: NA 2008. Recording: C 0001 - C 0019 19 hours, CD 0341 - CD 0373, CD 0386 Text: 1240 pp. transcript Photos: P 5822 - P 5837, P 5858 - P 5873 C 0001 Side 1: Topics covered include a log jam breaking loose; winter shoveling while working at the Hunt Company; working at...

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1187 Edgar and Ruth McKay, interviewed by John Myers, May 7, 1978, Orono, Maine. 6 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ brief cat. The McKays talk about the McKay family; emigration from Nova Scotia to Boston and its social implications. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 1246 1 hour.

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 1625 Genoria Pelchat, interviewed by Margaret Lanoue, October 22, 1982, Lewiston, Maine. Pelchat talks about her childhood in early twentieth-century St. Joseph de Beauce, Canada; immigrating to Auburn, Maine in 1919; working at shoe shops 1920 to 1940; learning to speak English; food lines and shopping during the Depression; 1937 shoe shop strike; and working for elections. In the enclosed memoir, Pelchat wrote of early life at a Sisters of Charity orphanage; years of abuse by her father...

Abstract 1625 Genoria Pelchat, interviewed by Margaret Lanoue, October 22, 1982, Lewiston, Maine. Pelchat talks about her childhood in early twentieth-century St. Joseph de Beauce, Canada; immigrating to Auburn, Maine in 1919; working at shoe shops 1920 to 1940; learning to speak English; food lines and shopping during the Depression; 1937 shoe shop strike; and working for elections. In the enclosed memoir, Pelchat wrote of early life at a Sisters of Charity orphanage; years of abuse by her father...

Abstract 2298 Grady sisters and Arnie Hills, interviewed by Barry H. Rodrigue, spring 1993, Augusta and Gardner, Maine. 6 pp. Tape: 3 w/no transcript. A series of three interviews concerning labor, ethnic, immigrant, and family histories of two families from Maine. C 1114 is an interview with the four Grady sisters, ages 90 thru 100, of North Whitefield, Maine. They talk about their lives and work in the shoe factories from 1915-1920. Tapes C 1115 and C 1116 are interviews with Arnie Hills...

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...

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1196 James Campbell, (1877-1981), interviewed by John Myers, May 11, 1978, Brewer, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Campbell talks about his emigration from Prince Edward Island to Brewer in 1923; Maine and his life there and here; also sings four songs. Topics include: working in a brickyard; raising cattle; farming; working on the railroad; and lobster fishing. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 1255 - T 1256, CD 0963 - CD 0965 1 1/2 hours.

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1203 James Campbell, (1877-1981), interviewed by John Myers and Art Ruston, August 4, 1978, Brewer, Maine. 8 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ brief cat. Campbell talks about emigration from Prince Edward Island; woods work; railroad work; sings several ballads. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 1261 1 hour.

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1188 Jonathan Myers, interviewed by John Myers, May 2, 1978 and May 4, 1978, Orono, Maine. 6 pp. Tape: 67 min. w/ brief cat. Myers talks about the Myers family and its emigration from the Maritimes to Orono, Maine. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 1247 67 min.

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NA1698 Josephine Morin, interviewed by Marcella Sorg and Steffan Duplessis, March 19, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. 39 pp. Tape: 1 1/4 hrs. w/ handwritten trans. French. Morin talks about her life as a Franco-American. Text: transcript (handwritten). Recording: T 1819 1 1/4 hours French.

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2352 Judge Donald Webber and Lucy Webber, interviewed by Barry H. Rodrigue March 1994, Auburn, Maine. 3 pp. Tape: 3 w/ no transcript. Judge Webber and his wife Lucy Webber talk about the Maine judicial system and legal system in the mid 20th century; Franco-Americans; and Albert Beliveau of Rumford. There is static on part of these tapes due to a malfunctioning recorder, but it can be deciphered. Text: no transcript. Recording: C 1371.1, C 1371.2, C 1372.

Abstract 1695 Juliette Filteau, interviewed by Steffan Duplessis and Mark Silber, February 19, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. Filteau discusses her childhood in Canada during the 1910s and 20s; moving to Lewiston in 1923; working in the shoe shop as a teenager; nuns and a convent in Canada; raising her daughter’s children; dates with her future husband; importance of religion and changes in Catholicism; leaving her alcoholic first husband, her catering business; opening her restaurant; dealing with drunks;...

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 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:...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

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...