Dave Rancourt started as a hand sewer in shoe factories and eventually worked his way up to owning a small business. He discusses the department of hand sewing and what it was like to manage employees there. To read the transcription, scroll past the first two...
Ed Koss was a shoemaker who worked in various factories in Central America. He recounts his job in the shoe industry, and how he went from working in Maine to running factories in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He also discusses how globalization has changed the...
Ann Bousquet was born and raised in Lewiston. In her interview, she talks about the differences between Lisbon street in the 1920s to now and what it was like growing up in a big family. She shares her experience working in the mills first starting as a spot cleaner,...
Jeannine Roy was a shoe worker in Lewiston as a stitcher in the shoe shops. She discusses what she did there and the shops that she worked at. She also discusses places in Lewiston and her family’s immigration to Maine.
Betty Dutil worked at shoe mills starting at the age of 16. She discusses the community at the shoe mills, how work was completed and pay was earned, as well as the evolution of the shoe mills and their departure from Maine.
