MF 052 “Remnants of Our Lives: Maine Women and Traditional Textile Arts” Project & Exhibit

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 052 “Remnants of Our Lives: Maine Women and Traditional Textile Arts” Project & Exhibit

Number of accessions: 46
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1991 – 1992
Time period covered: 20th century
Principal interviewers: Teresa Hollingsworth
Finding aides: some transcripts
Access restrictions: none
Description: “Remnants of Our Lives: Maine Women and Traditional Textile Arts” was an exhibition, sponsored and curated by the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History in collaboration with the Hudson Museum, the University of Maine’s anthropology museum within the Maine Center for the Arts. The exhibition celebrated the skills, talent, and creativity of fifteen Maine women, representing the state’s diversity of folklife communities, through a selection of textile objects, narrative texts based on oral history interviews with the artists, photographs, and interpretive panels. The exhibit focused on the theme of rites of passage, a motif which resonates through all of the narratives that were collected during the field research phase of the project; the textiles were presented as aesthetic expressions of life status changes. The project’s advisory panel included University of Maine faculty, outside professionals associated with textiles and folk arts, as well as two traditional artists who contributed to the selection process.

Note: The exhibit (1992) included a campus presentation of a film called “Songs of Wool: Vena Tipton’s Hooked Rugs.”

Tapes: C 0909 – C 0958, C 0965 – C 0980
Photos: P06906-P07114, P07219-P07235, P07241-50

2259 Betty Billings, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, June 21, 1991, Stonington, Maine. Billing talks about learning in a one room schoolhouse; learning to knit; boiled wool mittens; knitting socks with four needles; selling her sweaters; buying yarn; fishermen’s sweaters; aran sweater patters; her husband and sons’ work as fishermen; wristers; knitting doll clothes; Barbie Dolls; building nets; raglan patters; knitting with her children. Text: 27 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0918 / CD 2058 (45 min.) V 0179 and V 0180 (VHS). Photos: P 6906 – P 6907, P 6918 – 6923, P 7032, P 7058 – P 7071, P 7074, P 7077, P 7079 – P 7114, P 7219 – P 7235, P 7241 – P 7250. Slides: S 1685 – S 1697, S 1736 – S 1963, S 1994 – S 2032, S 2051 – S 2201, S 2215 – S 2483

2690 Gloria Martin, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth in Old Town, Maine, April 2 and 3, 1991. First interview talks about her mother, Jessie Madden; picking and canning berries in the summer; the braided rugs and quilts Jessie made; knitting; her work with Vogue Dolls; her children and grandchildren; working for credit and collection agencies as a woman in the 1950s. In the second interview she talks about her experience growing up; going to school in a one room schoolhouse; going to high school in Old Town; Christmas/holiday celebrations; fur trapping; hunting with her father; running hunting camps for tourists; May baskets; lunch box socials; religion; the woodchuck she raised that ended up appearing on the television show Captain Kangaroo; afghans; tatting and crochet; home remedies; her children; and some rugs her mother made. Text: 64 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0909 – C 0910 / CD 2059 – CD 2060 2 hours.

2691 Lois Bartlett and Marjorie Freeman, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, April 15, 1991. Bartlett and Freeman, of West Rockport, Maine, talk about rug hooking. Text: 34 pp. partial transcript. Recording: C 0911 – C 0912, C 0955 – C 0956 / CD 2061. Photos: P 6953 – P 6961, P 7063 – P 7064.

2692 Prudence Billings, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, May 2, 1991. Billings, of Brewer, Maine, talks about knitting, tatting, and crocheting. Text: 34 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0913 / CD 2062 45 minutes.

2693 Beeuw van Kuiferen, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, May 6, 1991. Van Kuiferen, of Stetson, Maine, talk about bobbin lace-making. Recording: C 0914 / CD 2063.

2694 Lelia Case and Ella Patterson, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, May 8, 1991. Case and Patterson, of Embden, Maine, talk about quilting and rug hooking. Text: 34 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0915 / CD 2064.

2695 Holly Seagraves, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth June 20, 1991. Seagraves, of Owl’s Head, Maine, talks about hooked rug; the Sands Frost rug from the 1870s that she restored; family history; quilting; and Civil War era diaries and letters. Text: 28 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0916 25 minutes.

2697 Winifred Lanek and Laverne Dixon, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, June 20, 1991. Lanke and Dixon, of Owl’s Head, Maine, talk about hooked rugs. Text: 36 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0917.

2698 Ella Petterson, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, July 3, 1991. Petterson, of Skowhegan, Maine, talks about knitting and quilting; growing up in Maine, putting herself through school; working at the Redington-Fairview hospital; her husband and family; the textiles in her family’s home growing up; home-sewed clothing; the socks and mittens her mother used to knit; scrap bags; embroidery; the church craft fair and charity work for the church; Remsen blankets; quilting clubs. Text: 38 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0919 1 hour.

2699 Caroline Porter Kier, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 1, 1991. Kier, of Port Clyde, Maine, talks about rug hooking and braiding; discussion of family; her father’s adventures in the Arctic; her father’s paintings; creating patterns to hook; the frame she uses; where she gets her materials; how to clean rugs; selling her rugs. Text: 32 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0920 40 minutes.

2700 Fannie Parritt, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 21, 1991. Parritt, of South Gouldsboro, Maine, talks about MSCM rugs and crocheting; in C92l there is discussion of growing up on Ironbound Island; knitting and crocheting as a child; quilting; learning to sew for her stepdaughters; the Seacoast Mission and the Sunbeam; a mission woman named Mrs. Peaslee; her church activities; writing religious themed poetry and songs; her laser eye surgery; when she and her husband were baptized; learning to paint; religious visions; factory work at Stinson’s and Snow’s; boarding elderly ladies at her house and getting her nursing license; the fire that gutted her current home. C 922 contains discussion of the Girl Reserves and the Boy Scouts; the Seacoast Mission; crocheting dolls; crocheting roses; the bride and groom doll sets she makes for people that are getting married; her son’s band; teaching her children to sew and crochet; teaching neighborhood girls to cook, crochet, sew and sing; playing music at nursing homes; her friends and Bible study group. Text: 73 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0921 – C 0922 1.25 hours.

2701 Eva Labonte, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 13, 1991. Labonte, of Lewiston, Maine, talks about Franco-American needle work; her heritage, samplers; her early family life; being Catholic; her married life; sewing clothes for her children; teaching her children needlepoint; homemade Christmas; a portrait of Jesus; blending needlework colors; petit point stitching; teaching classes out of her home; her mother’s artwork; Franco-American quilting ; embroidered half sheets. Text: 26 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0923 45 minutes.

2702 Angie Jordan, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 30, 1991. Jordan talks about crocheted dolls; her family; the textile work her mother did; rag dolls; quilting; rug hooking and braiding; teaching Fannie Parrot how to crochet dolls; making stuffed animals; knitting; and wedding dolls. Text: 21 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0924 35 minutes.

2703 Elizabeth Bergh, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, September 17, 1991. Bergh, of Chebeague Island, Maine, talks about knitting; Chebeaque Island; Bergh’s native country, Norway; her family; the Norwegian army in which her father was a colonel; the lending library her mother started when she was young; Ladies Aid; craft fairs; quilting; knitting; embroidery; fundraising by raffling quilts; knitting and sewing in Norwegian schools; many different types of fishermen’s mittens and traditional patterns; sweaters; Bergh’s career as a nurse; vacationing in Maine; Bergh’s mother using a top crook; European (also known as Continental or German) vs. American knitting; four needle knitting; lap rugs; wristers; Trondheim, Norway. Text: 94 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0925 – C 0926 1 hour 20 minutes.

2704 Augusta Scott, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, October 30, 1991. Scott talks about crocheting; family; dating in the early 1900s; the Grange; her home and neighbors; her husband’s work on the Great Lakes; crochetwork she’s had in fairs; raffling her work to raise money for various causes. Text: 31 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0927 50 minutes.

2705 Cecile Levasseur, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 7, 1991. Levasseur talks about needlework. Text: 32 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0928.

2706 Helen Schumejko, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 8, 1991. Schunejko, of Richmond, Maine, crocheting and needlework. Text: 31 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0929 – C 0930.

2707 Irene Baker, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 20, 1991, St. Francis, Maine. Baker talks about knitting. Text: 17 pp. paper. Recording: C 0931.

2708 Izy Thibodeau, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 21, 1991, St. Francis, Maine. Thibodeau talks about quilting. Text: 16 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0932.

2709 Dorothy Kerr, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth January 27, 1992 in Millinocket, Maine. Recording: C 0933.

2710 Margaret Williams, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, January 27, 1992, Millinocket, Maine. Williams talks about quilting and knitting. Recording: C 0934.

2711 Ann Baker, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, February 17, 1992, Coopers Mills, Maine. Baker talks about quilting. Text: 18 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0935.

2712 Nadine Boddy, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, February 24, 1992, Millinocket, Maine. Boddy talks about quilting. Text: 17 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0936.

2713 Edith Wilbur, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, March 6, 1992, Dexter, Maine. Wilbur talks about knitting. Text: 20 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0937.

2714 Beda Spooner, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, March 11, 1992, New Sweden, Maine. Spooner talks about knitting. Recording: C 0938.

2715 Bertha Voisine, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 20, 1991 and May 6, 1992, Fort Kent and Fort Kent Mills, Maine. Voisine talks about braided rugs. Text: 10 pp. Recording: C 0939, C 0940, C 0969. Photos: P 7007 – P 7017, P 7073.

2716 Joan Dana, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, September 12, 1991 & May 7, 1992, Peter Dana Point, Maine. Dana talks about Native American beadwork and beadworking. Text: 26 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0941, C 0946. Photos: P 7033 – P 7045, P 7075 – P 7076.

2717 Maila Korsman and Miko Stone, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, February 27, 1992, Monson, Maine. Korsman and Stone talk about Finnish knitting. Includes newspaper articles. Follow up interview with Korsman, June 30, 1992, Monson, Maine. Korsman talks about Finnish knitting. Text: newspaper articles. Recording: C 0942, C 0974. Photos: P 6945 – P 6952, P 7062.

2718 Earg Neur, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, July 9, 1992, Portland, Maine. Neur talks about Buddhist Tongs. Recording: C 0975.

2719 Gladys Gooding, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, May 6 1992, Presque Isle Maine. Gooding talks about knitting and quilting. Text: 7 pp. paper. Recording: C 0944. Photos: P 6979 – P 6989, P 7067.

2720 Wanda Kimbrough, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, November 7, 1991 & April 7, 1992, Auburn, Maine. Kimbrough talks about crewel and needlework. Text: 35 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0945, C 0950. Photos: P 7046 – P 7054, P 7078.

2721 Charles Merrifield and Edith Merrifield, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, July 17, 1992, West Rockport, Maine. The Merrifields talk about net making. Recording: C 0976.

2722 Rosalie St. Pierre, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, October 22, 1991, Kents Hill, Maine. St. Pierre talks about crocheting and knitting. Follow-up interview June 28, 1992, Kents Hill, Maine. St. Pierre talks about crocheting, knitting, and embroidery. Text: 40 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0947, C 0973. Photos: P 7023 – P 7031.

2723 Gail Cousins, Kelly Saunders, and Edna Grindle, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, January 10, 1992 & April 30, 1992, Brooksville, Maine. Cousins, Saunders, and Grindle talk about knitting. Text: 7 pp. paper. Recording: C 0943 – C 0948. Photos: P 7018 – P 7022, P 7055 – P 7056.

2724 Marguerite Gosbee and Noelle Loupier, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, July 26, 1991, Harmony, Maine. Gosbee and Loupier talk about quilting. Follow-up interview with Gosbee, July 23, 1992, Harmony, Maine. Text: 7 pp. paper. Recording: C 0949, C 0977. Photos: P 6936 – P 6944.

2725 Diana Christakas, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, July 23, 1992, Bangor, Maine. Christakas talks about Greek needlework. Recording: C 0978. Photos: P 6997 – P 7006, P 7072.

2726 Carolyn Brown, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, February 17, 1992, Jefferson, Maine. Brown talks about wedding gowns. Follow-up interview April 06, 1992, Jefferson, Maine. Brown talks about wedding gowns. Text: 9 pp. paper. Recording: C 0951, C 0972. Photos: P 6908 – P 6917, P 7057.

2727 Beth Corey-Smith, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, January 23, 1992, March 9, 1992 & April 9, 1992, West Gardiner, Maine. Corey-Smith talks about quilting. Text: 36 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0952 – C 0954. Photos: P 6924 – P 6935 , P 7060.

2728 Jennifer Sapiel, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 4 and 6, 1992, Indian Island. Bapiel talks about Penobscot beadwork. Recording: C 0979 – C 0980. Photos: P 6990 – P 6996, P 7068 – P 7070.

2732 Barbara Merry Boulter, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, April 15, 1991 & April 28, 1992, Knox & Swanville, Maine. Boulter talks about rug hooking. Text: 41 pp. total: 30 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0957 – C 0958. Photos: P 6962 – P 6978, P 7065 – P 7066.

2734 Richard Waldron, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, May 7, 1991, Spruce Head, Maine. Waldron talks about net making. Recording: C 0965.

2736 Irene Bartlett, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, June 28, 1991, Islesford, Maine. Bartlett talks about rug braiding. Recording: C 0966.

2737 Gladys Gooding and Doris Rose, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, August 9, 1991, Presque Isle, Maine. Gooding and Rose talk about family textile. Recording: C 0967.

2738 Edna Grindle, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, October 8, 1991, Brooksville, Maine. Grindle talks about knitting. Recording: C 0968.

2740 Brother Arnold, Sister Francis, and Sister Meg, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, February 11, 1992, Poland Springs, Maine. The Brother and Sisters talk about Shaker textiles. Includes 5 page article from Shaker Quarterly. Text: 5 pp. article. Recording: C 0970.

2741 Susan Philbrook, interviewed by Teresa Hollingsworth, June 29, 1992, Stonington, Maine. Philbrook talks about net knitting. Recording: C 0971 / CD 2454.