Born in Portland, Maine, on February 9, 1931, Edwina Foster moved to Auburn as a baby. She began working in the mills in 1947 at the age of 16 after she quit school. She worked in the Continental Mill and the Bates Mill, as well as other various textile mills in...
Born in Lewiston on November 28, 1955, Dennis Chamberlain describes the process and modern innovations of brick making through recalling his father’s brickyard and his own work at Morin Brick.
This episode shares the story of Claudette Jalbert, who began working at the Bates Mill just months after graduating high school. In the converting division, she helped cut rolls of cloth. Jalbert recalls the dressy attire of the office mill workers, who often dressed...
Born on December 24, 1924, Anita Levesque moved from Quebec to Lewiston in September 1946. Anita, along with her brother and sister, worked in the card room in the Bates Mill. Levesque shares her story of living in Lewiston’s Franco-American community, working in the...
This episode shares the story of Lemay, born in Lewiston in 1934 to Canadian immigrant parents deeply tied to the mills. Leaving school after eighth grade, she began weaving at the Hill Mill at the age of eighteen before moving to the Bates Mill, where she worked in...
