Eastern Fine Paper Mill Project Presentations June 14
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
BREWER — The Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine will present its new DVD, “The Writing on the Wall: Stories and Pictures from the Eastern Fine Paper Mill,” on Thursday June 14 at Brewer Middle School. The event, set for 6:30 p.m. in the school’s auditorium, will also feature a BMS student presentation on the companion project, “Mill Town — The Eastern Fine Paper Company and Brewer, Maine.” The latter project, a Save Our History project funded by the History Channel, was a collaborative effort between the Maine Folklife Center and the school. Student Sonia Biswas, with assistants Anthony Jackson, Jacob Joy, Rowan Bost, Wyatt Tulloss and Olivia Cohen created the 20 minute documentary under the supervision of teacher Rich Kimball.
The DVD project, funded by the Maine Humanities Council, is a collaboration of the Maine Folklife Center, photographer and UMaine New Media professor Bill Kuykendall and the City of Brewer. It represents the culmination of more than two years of research into the history and culture of Brewer’s Eastern Fine Paper mill, which closed in January 2004. The student video project compiles historic video footage with recent interviews with former employees, a historian and retailers and city officials.
Pauleena MacDougall, Maine Folklife Center associate director, came up with the idea for “The Writing on the Wall” in 2004, following a tour of the abandoned Brewer mill.
“A few months after it closed, I toured the mill with engineer Richie Smith, Brewer’s [then] Economic Development director Drew Sachs and Bill Kuykendall,” MacDougall says. “We were especially intrigued with the signs, pictures and graffiti on the walls of the mill. As I began planning the project, I seized upon the phrase ‘the writing on the wall’ as a title for the project, partly because of the pictures and partly because many former Eastern employees said they ‘could see the writing on the wall,’ fearing that the mill would soon close.”
The purpose of the ongoing oral history project is to interview men and women formerly employed at Eastern Fine Paper to learn more about Maine’s pulp and paper industry in general, and the lives and culture of Eastern Fine Paper mill workers. Information gathered from these oral histories, coupled with historic and contemporary photographs of the mill, documents, drawings and other materials are on the DVD. MacDougall says she hopes it will become the basis of an exhibit in the future. The goal of the DVD and larger oral history project is to document the culture and history of the paper industry and its role in the community.
Designed by Adam Kuykendall, the DVD includes:
- map of the mill
- historical timeline
- historic photographs, circa 1900 thorugh 2004
- photographs of the mill’s interior following its closure
- more than 30 typed interview transcripts
- video footage from several meetings with former Eastern employees
- audio interview with David Morrison, third generation papermaker at Eastern
- glossary of terms
The presentation is free and open to the public. Students from Brewer Middle School will be on hand to talk about their experiences of learning about the paper mill and its role in the community. Copies of the DVD will be available, and refreshments served.
“We welcome everyone–former Eastern employees, students, parents, family, friends, neighbors–to come and show their support for local history and the hundreds of men and women from Eastern who, during the last century, produced some of the finest paper in the country,” MacDougall says.
For more information, please contact the Maine Folklife Center, (207) 581-1891 or the Brewer Middle School 989-8640