Remembering Mother Warren

Summary:

A look into the labor history of one of the world's oldest paper mills.

Website:

http://users.rcn.com/warren.javanet/SDWarrenPhotos.html

Timely on:

September: labor day

Tones:

Real, Sentimental, Sound Rich

Language:

English

Description:

Remembering Mother Warren -

 A look into the labor history of one of the world?s oldest paper mills

Remembering Mother Warren unearths the culture of an industrial community, the drama of life working for a once-great employer, and probes the meaning of workers? memories in the face of disruptive industrial change. Produced by Big Talk on WMPG, it is a 30-minute documentary that traces the labor history of the S.D.Warren paper mill in Westbrook, Maine. You?ll hear stories from generations of mill workers and managers, including Shirley Lally, a 30-year veteran who sorted reams of paper by hand, Phil LaViolette, who recalls the struggles of Warren?s Franco workers, and Howard Reiche, a former mill manager who describes the mill?s paternalism and the favoritism encountered by workers prior to unionization. Other workers tell the history of the S.D. Warren ?family,? of their experiences in the mill dating back as far as the 1920s, of the extreme heat, dangerous equipment and deadly accidents, a forgotten1916 strike, unionizing in the 1960s, and of the mill?s recent decline. University of Maine historian Charles Scontras, and University of Southern Maine economist and labor historian Michael Hillard provide analysis of the mill?s unique labor history.

?Remembering Mother Warren? is produced by Big Talk members Jessica Lockhart, Michael Hillard, and Claire Holman. Narrator: Thomas Lestage, President PACE Local 1069. Project Historians: Eileen Eagan and Michael Hillard. Additional narration by Paul Drinan.

?Remembering Mother Warren? won First Place in Public Affairs from the Maine Association of Broadcasters 2003. Sponsored by the Southern Maine Labor Council, AFL-CIO, with funding from the Maine Humanities Council.

 e-mail us at bigtalk@maine.rr.com

New to PRX?

Learn More | Sign Up