MF 015 Curran Family Homestead Project

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 015 Curran Family Homestead Project

Number of accessions: 18
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1996
Time period covered: early to mid-20th century
Principal interviewers: Tosca DeVito, Megan Foreman, Dena Winslow York, Shawna Chesto, NAncy Dudley, Barbara Sumner, Robin Fre, Melissa Johnson, Angela Herbert, Brandon Portwine
Finding aides: transcripts
Access restrictions: none
Description: A series of student interviews done for Edward D. “Sandy” Ives’ class focused on the Curran Family Homestead, a living history museum in Orrington, Maine. Interview topics include: memories of Alfred, Eddie, and Catherine Curran; dairy farming in East Orrington during the first half of the twentieth century; MA Crook and Sons Hillside Dairy; relationship between the Kimball family and the Currans; swimming in the Fields Pond in the summer; tobogganing on the Curran property in the winter; a genealogy of the Curran family; growing up in Orrington and spending time on the Curran farm; daily management of the farm; food preparation during the winter; an ice house; farm livestock; making alcohol during prohibition; working on the Curran farm; Alfred’s younger years; farming practices; life in Orrington in the early part of the 1900s; the layout of East Orrington in the 1920s – 1930s; East Orrington’s saw mill; and the Audubon Society.

NA2441 Elizabeth Cook, interviewed by Tosca DeVito for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 23 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Cook talks about dairy farming in East Orrington during the first half of the twentieth century; MA Crook and Sons Hillside Dairy. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1522.

NA2442 Joanne Kimball, interviewed by Tosca DeVito for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 23 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Kimball talks about the relationship between the Kimball family and the Currans; swimming in the Fields Pond in the summer; and tobogganing on the Curran property in the winter. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1523.

NA2443 Dickie Crawford, interviewed by Megan Foreman for AY 425, fall 1996, Holden, Maine. 30 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Crawford, who lived next door to the Curran family since 1945, talks about playing as a boy in the barn and swimming in Field’s Pond with other children in the area. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1524.

NA2444 Joann Wicks and Eulalia Harriman, interviewed by Megan Foreman for AY 425, fall 1996, Maine. 23 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Wicks, Bangor, talks about her childhood playing in the Curran family farm; shares a genealogy her husband made on the Curran family. Also included are three copies of photographs of the Curran farm and Curran family members. Accession also includes notes from an unrecorded conversation with Harriman, in Orrington, Maine. Harriman talks about growing up in Orrington and spending time on the Curran farm. Text: 18 pp. of notes, photo copies, and transcript. Recording: C 1525.

NA2446 Carolyn Clark, Mary C. Fernald, and Lawrence D. Fernald, interviewed by Dena Winslow York for AY 425, fall 1996, Hampden, Maine. 57 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Clark and the Fernalds talk about information and genealogy relating to the Curran family; the daily management of the farm. See NA 2447 for first interview with Carolyn Clark. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1526.

NA2447 Carolyn Clark, interviewed by Dena Winslow York for AY 425, fall 1996, Hampden, Maine. 52 pp. Tape: 2 w/ transcript. Clark talks about her memories growing up next to the Curran farm; stories about everyday life on the farm and Alfred Curran. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1527 – C 1528.

NA2448 Sherman Hinks, interviewed by Shawna Chesto for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 26 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Hinks talks about his life living near the Curran farm and working there; food preparation during the winter; an ice house; farm livestock; and Alfred and Catherine Curran. Included also are 12 original photographs taken by the interviewer and a diagram of tools drawn by the interviewee. See NA 2449 for follow up interview with Sherman Hinks. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1529. Photos: P 7766 – P 7777.

NA2449 Sherman Hinks, interviewed by Shawna Chesto for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 11 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Follow up interview from NA 2448 of Hinks. Hinks talks about life on the farm during the winter and education for farm boys at the turn of the century. See NA 2448 for journal and catalog, photographs and drawing. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1530.

NA2450 Brian and Anna MacLeod, interviewed by Shawna Chesto for AY 425, fall 1996, Brewer, Maine. 25 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. The MacLeods talk about making alcohol during prohibition and their relationship with the Curran family. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1531.

NA2451 Michael Goodman, interviewed by Nancy Dudley for AY 425, fall 1996 Bangor, Maine. 17 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Goodman, whose family had a camp on Field’s Pond and spent every summer there during the 1940s – 1980s, talks about his relationship with the recollections of Alfred and Catherine Curran. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1532.

NA2452 Nancy Raich, interviewed by Nancy Dudley for AY 425, fall 1996, Thorndike, Maine. 15 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Raich talks about her time as a “handy hand” for Alfred and Catherine Curran until their deaths; anecdotes about life on the farm and of Alfred’s younger years. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1533.

NA2453 Benjamin Goldberg and Bennett Steward, interviewed by Nancy Dudley for AY 425, fall 1996, East Orrington, Maine. 36 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Interview mainly with Goldberg and some with Steward. Goldberg talks about his youth following Alfred Curran around the Curran farm; farming practices; where things were on the Curran farm. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1534.

NA2454 Abigail Williamson, interviewed by Barbara Sumner for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 24 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Williamson talks about life in Orrington in the early part of the 1900s; the layout of East Orrington in the 1920s – 1930s; her relationships with her neighbors; her role during World War II; East Orrington’s saw mill and dairy farming. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1535.

NA2455 Jim Kearns and George Chapman, interviewed by Robin Fre for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 62 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Kearns and Chapman talks about life on the Curran farm; how they felt about Catherine Curran and her brothers Alfred and Eddie; their feelings regarding the Audubon Society. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1536.

NA2456 Nancy Raich, interviewed by Melissa Johnson for AY 425, fall 1996, Unity, Maine. 24 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Raich talks about her time as a handy hand on the Curran farm; her chores around the farm; and stories about Alfred Curran’s youth. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1537.

NA2457 Evans Hart, interviewed by Angela Hebert for AY 425, fall 1996, Orrington, Maine. 18 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Hart talks about his memories of the Curran family and farm and his own life stories. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1538.

NA2458 Florence Smith, interviewed by Angela Hebert for AY 425, fall 1996, Bangor, Maine. 29 pp. Tape: 2 w/ transcript. In two interviews, Smith talks about the Curran family and farm; her relationship with the Currans; what they were like; and what the farm was like. Text: transcript. Recordings: C 1539, C 1540.

NA2459 Morris Cronkits and Lucille Cronkits, interviewed by Brandon Portwine for AY 425, fall 1996, Brewer, Maine. 32 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. The Cronkits talk about Alfred and Catherine Curran in their later years and their own lives. Text: transcript. Recording: C 1541.