Folklife Center Funded for Downeast Seafood Cannery Project
The Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine has received a Maine Humanities Council grant to develop an audio and slide presentation on the history and culture of the now-closed Stinson seafood cannery in Prospect Harbor.
“An Oral History of the Prospect Harbor Sardine Cannery” will be presented to the Prospect Harbor community at a reception for former workers at the plant and at events in nearby Eastport and Lubec in early 2012.
The project seeks to explore and understand the history and culture of the cannery in the larger context of the Maine’s beleaguered herring industry. Staff from the Folklife Center collected initial interviews with cannery workers in April 2010, when the cannery closed, and now can expand the interview and documentation process.
The Maine Humanities Council awarded the Folklife Center $3,000 to offset expenses for the project, slated for completion by April 2012.
“Support from the MHC will allow us to collect additional oral histories concerning the Stinson sardine canning plant at Prospect Harbor,” says Center Director Pauleena MacDougall. “The cannery was a critical part of the Prospect Harbor-area economy, and its closing is changing the nature of the community. It’s important to preserve the memories and stories about life in the cannery, which shaped the character of Prospect Harbor and surrounding towns.”
Oral histories will be transcribed and deposited at the Maine Folklife Center, in addition to the Dorcas Library in Prospect Harbor. Interviews and photos generated by the project will be used in community presentations to be scheduled at the Eastport Arts Center and at the Lubec Library. All related events will be open and free to the public.
As funds allow, a recording booth will be set up at Eastport and Lubec to gather additional stories about the sardine canning industry, using the Prospect Harbor materials as a catalyst and stimulant for further recollections, MacDougall says. Copies of the complete presentation also will be deposited at the Maine Folklife Center.
Contact: Pauleena MacDougall, (207) 581-1848