The Lewiston Franco-American Festival. The Lowell (Ma.) ethnic Festival. The second annual Old Town (Me.) Franco-American Festival featuring storytelling by Bill Gangon [sic], music by Simon St. Pierre, a wood-chopping contest and an interview with a retired woodcutter from 'French Island' in Old Town. Ray Pelletier talks to two teachers about Franco-American studies in Waterville (Me.) . An overview of the arts and crafts fair in Manchester (NH).
The records of the Western Massachusetts locals and district councils of the UBCJA documents the rise of unionization among carpenters in the Connecticut River Valley since the 1880s. This collection represents a merger of separate accessions for the District Councils in Springfield (MS 110), the Pioneer Valley (MS 231), and Holyoke (MS 108), along with post-merger records for Local 108. In general, each has been maintained as a distinct series.
Oral history with the Gagnon family, part of the Franco-American community in Springfield since 1953. Topics include their participation in Franco-American activities at St. Joseph’s Church, their interest in Franco-American studies, and what nationality means to them, as people with roots in America, Canada, and France.
Collection includes statutes and by-laws, minutes, administrative records, correspondence, financial records and receipts, scholarship records, publications, records of programs and events, and artifacts and ephemera.
Interview includes discussions of: family political and social views; boarding school; Boston College and religion; Bowdoin College; growing up in Waterville, Maine; John H. Reed; Office of Economic Opportunity; Labor Department; Opportunity Industrialization Centers of America; minimum wage laws; marriage to Betsy Carpenter; Ken Curtis; James Longley; confirmation process; tripartite commission on labor; Jimmy George; 2000 election; Republican control of Maine politics; Muskie as politician; recent jobs; Jane and Ed Muskie as friends; Ed Muskie’s temper; first meeting of Jane Gray and Ed Muskie; Muskie’s early political positions; Don Larrabee; Muskie’s final years; arguments with Muskie; property tax; and Muskie’s effect on the balance of political power in Maine.
Interview includes discussions of: family background; Waterville community and education; Colby College; campaigns with Ed Muskie; dinner parties with the Muskies; community perceptions of Muskie; conversations with Ed Muskie; personal career and family life; Muskie’s political work for Waterville and Maine; and local environmental effects.
Interview includes discussions of: political, cultural, and economic dynamics of Old Orchard Beach, Maine; Office of Price Stabilization (OPS); first encounter with and impressions of Muskie; 1960 presidential election; Public Utilities Commission (PUC); Archives bill; Hildreth- Clauson debate; being a congressional aide to Peter N. Kyros, Sr.; Anderson bill; value of political contacts; AARP; and the Saco Bay Planning Commission.
Interview includes discussions of: family and personal background; Waterville, Maine community; meeting her husband, Charlie; various jobs; first impression of Ed Muskie; driving with the Muskies; picture with the Queen Mum; Secret Service parties; Washington, DC in 1968; Marjorie Hutchinson; William Loeb/Manchester incident; Muskie’s Washington staff; Charlie’s involvement with Muskie; Alice’s relationship with the Muskie family; Muskie’s later years in office; Muskie’s temper; and Muskie’s legacy.
Interview includes discussions of: Waterville law practice; 1954 Maine gubernatorial campaign; 1957-1958 Muskie’s second term as governor; urban planning and development; Democratic Party in Maine; community history of Lewiston; first industrial park in Maine; Bates Mill textiles; ethnic intolerance (specifically involving Francos) in Portland, Boothbay Harbor, and Lewiston schools (Irish v. French tensions); Model Cities program; Robert Couturier; Goulet’s wife drove Longley’s Winnebago during 1974 gubernatorial campaign; and Goulet was Frank Coffin’s right hand man when he lost gubernatorial race in 1960.
The interview includes discussions of: Bates College; track; Muskie’s roommate Joe Biernacki; the Navy; Muskie presenting an award to Gautier; Muskie leading a parade in Auburn; the Democratic Party in Maine; differences between Lewiston and Auburn (L/A); “Loiston”; local students at Bates; tension between Bates and L/A; similarities between Bates and a teacher’s college; the percentage of Bates from L/A; the division between men and women at Bates; the Depression affecting everyone; cars on Bates campus then and now; Auburn as being Republican, and Lewiston as being Democrat; the postmaster as a political appointment; the ten point preference in civil service; the changing position of postmaster; 1974 political issues; 5 cent deposit on aluminum cans; teachers’ salaries; the influence of Kiwanis, Exchange, and Rotary in the 1950s; the Bates transition from conservative to liberal and the possible influence of war.
Interview includes discussions of: F. Harold Dubord’s relationship with Ed Muskie; his parents’ political backgrounds; Knights of Columbus; playing saxophone to save money in high school and college; China Lake; parental influences on Richard and Robert Dubord; the 1954 campaign; Waterville political and ethnic make-up in the 1930s; Colby’s move from downtown to up on the hill; election between Joe Jabar and Spike Carey; fishing with Don Nicoll; qualities of Ed Muskie; Frank Coffin; Maine’s progression from an extremely Republican state to more Democrat with Muskie and Coffin; and playing golf with Muskie.
Interview includes discussions of: Muskie mayoral race in Waterville, Maine; politics in Waterville in the 1930s and 1940s; Waterville, Maine community during the 1930s and 40s; Franco-Americans in Waterville; different ethnic communities in Waterville including Francos, Lebanese, Syrian and Irish; problems with environmental legislation in Maine; overall changes in Waterville over the last 60 years; 1972 Republican Convention in Augusta; personal impressions of Muskie; Waterville mayoral elections of 1970; Louis Jalbert; Veterans Committee; Ken Curtis; James Longley; Urban Renewal Projects; and anecdotes about Ed Muskie.
This interview includes discussion of: growing up in Waterville, Maine, in the mid-twentieth century; immigrant cultures in Maine; lower middle class experience in Waterville; the Mitchell family; Robbie Mitchell’s personality; Hollingsworth & Whitney; George Mitchell as a young man; George Mitchell’s dating; Bowdoin and Colby Colleges; participation in the Democratic Party; the Orloff family; activities at the Boys and Girls Club; memories about various members of the Mitchell family; tennis; growing up as first generation Americans; George Mitchell’s current activities; and local political activity.
