MF 048 Penobscot Bay Islands Interviews

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 048 Penobscot Bay Islands interviews

Number of accession: 7
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1975
Time period covered: late 19th and 20th centuries
Principal interviewers: John Bannon, Lisa Schneider
Finding aides: catalogs
Access restrictions: none
Description: A series of interviews with residents of the Penobscot Bay Islands. Interviewees discuss local history; economic aspects of island life; food supplies; summer people; fishing; farming; sail, steam, and motor boats; health care; and schools. Specific islands discussed include: Hog Island, Pond Island, Western Island, Pickering’s Island; Eagle Island, Opechee Island, Bear Island, and Butter Island.

NA0990 Clara Orcutt (b. 1884), interviewed by John Bannon, summer 1975, at her home in Stonington, Maine. Orcutt discusses life on Hog Island, Pond Islands, and Western Island in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries: farming; raising sheep and cattle; seine and weir fishing; boat building; summer people who visited; entertainment; schooling. Text: 17 pp. transcript/index. Recording: T 0990 – 0993 CD 0639, CD 2019 – 2021 3 1/2 hours.

NA0991 Captain Erland Quinn, interviewed by John Bannon, summer 1975, Camden, Maine. 16 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Captain Quinn talks about Eagle Island. Text: 10 pp. catalog. Recording: T 0994 – T 0997 / CD 0848, CD 1194 – CD 1195 1 1/2 hours.

NA0992 Lem Robbins, interviewed by John Bannon, summer 1975, Ellsworth, Maine. 8 pp. Tape: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Robbins talks about Opechee Island; buildings; work; transportation; history. Text: brief catalog. Recording: T 0998 / CD 1196 – CD 1197 1 1/2 hours.

NA0993 Wolcott Hardie, interviewed by Bannon, John, summer 1975, Deer Isle, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ brief cat. Hardie talks about Bear Island. Text: 4 pp. brief catalog. Recording: T 0999 / CD 2018 1 hour 4 minutes.

NA0994 Vida Sylvester, interviewed by John Bannon, summer 1975, Deer Isle, Maine. 6 pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Sylvester talks about Eagle Island. Text: 4 pp. brief catalog. Recording: T 1000 – 1001 / CD 2045 2 hours.

NA0995 Abby Weed, interviewed by Lisa Schneider, summer 1975, Little Deer Isle, Maine. 9 pp. Tape: 1 3/4 hrs. w/ brief cat. Weed talks about local history of Butter Island, Bear Island, Eagle Island. Text: 5 pp. brief catalog. Recording: T 1002 – T 1004 / CD 0850 – 0851.

NA0996 Laura Brown, interviewed by Lisa Schneider, summer 1975, Stonington, Maine. 12 pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Brown talks about Eagle Island. Text: 8 pp. brief catalog. Recording: T 1005 – 1008 / CD 2049 – 2050.