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Roger Verreault

Born in Lewiston, Maine on December 12, 1926, to Canadian immigrant parents, Roger Verreault served two years in the Army after high school before returning home to join his brother at the Lewiston Machine Company. Together with several of his brothers, they built...

Pauline Labbe

Pauline Labbe was born in Lewiston in 1942. Her mother had worked as a doffer at Hill Mill, and her father worked in the shoe industry. Labbe joined her mother working at Hill Mill after graduating high school. She discusses the presence of French-Canadian culture...

Norm Perreault

Norm Perault was born and raised in Lewiston, where his father worked at the Bates Mill as the supervisor for the boiler room. Norm started work at the Bates mill at 16, but left shortly after to become a lumberjack. A supervisor for the Hill Mill later made a bet...

Irene Harvey

Irene Harvey was born and raised in Lewiston in Little Canada. In 1960, when Harvey was in her teens, she left school to begin work in order to contribute to her family. She soon followed in her father’s footsteps, and began working in the shoe factories alongside...

Ernest Lamontagne

In 1918, when Ernest Lamontagne was two years old, his family moved from French Canada to Lewiston to work. Lamontagne talks about growing up in Lewiston, describes his family life, and his experience working at Bates Mill.