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MF 019 “Foxfire Bicentennial”
Interviews
Number of
Interviews: 4
Dates When Interviews Were Conducted: 1975
Time Period Covered:
Principal Interviewers: Colleen Colby, Mary Ann Shopshire,
and Melody Richardson
Finding Aides: brief index
Access Restrictions: videotape for in-house use only.
Description: Four interviews conducted in Maine as part of
the Foxfire Bicentennial Project. This was a nationwide project
sponsored by Reading is Fundamental (RIF), and coordinated by Eliot
Wigginton, founder of Foxfire, of interviews with elderly people about their lives and
their hopes and fears for the future of the nation, as part of the
celebration of America’s Bicentennial. The project resulted in the
publication of a book entitled “I Wish I Could Give My Son a
Racoon,” in 1976. The three interviews conducted in Maine
focused on farming experiences, hunting and trapping, and making
maple syrup. Also included is a videotaped interview with Mary
Turner, which was televised in 1976 on Channel 10 (WCBB).
1052 Ireland, Florence. Summer 1975. Maine: West Peru. 3 pp.
Tape: 1 hr. No cat, or trans. Interview with Mary Turner, 72,
by Mary Ann Shopshire and Melody Richardson, about her life and
experiences as a self-sufficient farm wife. Foxfire Bicentennial
Project. T1058 - T1060
1053 Ireland, Florence. Summer 1975. Maine: Rumford Point. 7
pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ brief cat. Interview with Mr. & Mrs. Wilder
Kimball and his sister Evaline Kimball, by William Gates,
about farming, oxen, hunting and trapping. Foxfire Bicentennial
Project. P969 - P976, P980 - P982. / T1061 - T1062
1054 Ireland, Florence. Summer 1975. Maine: Fryeburg. 8 pp.
Tape: 1 hr. w/ brief cat. Interview with Florence Baker, 90,
by Colleen Colby, about early life, work, farming, making maple
syrup. Foxfire Bicentennial Project. T1063
1642 Ireland, Florence. Spring 1982. Maine: West Peru. 4 pp.
Tape: Video, 1/2 hr. No cat. Interview with Mary "Grammie" Turner,
made for showing on Channel 10 (WCBB) in 1976. RESTRICTED. V-43
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