- Playing
- Remembering Mother Warren
- From
- jessica lockhart
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
More from jessica lockhart
Ralph Nadar challenges court in Maine
(00:13:45)
From: jessica lockhart
Interview with Nadar Attorney Oliver Hall
Homelessness Marathon- Hour 6
(00:59:55)
From: jessica lockhart
What Is Mental Health and How Do We Get It?
Homelessness Marathon Hour Five - It's all about the money
(00:59:58)
From: jessica lockhart
5th hour of the 14 hour Homelessness Marathon broadcast
Homelessness Marathon Hour Four - What should Kansas City Do?
(00:59:33)
From: jessica lockhart
The police chief answers questions about why he demolished a tent city.
Homelessness Marathon Hour Three - What Makes Homeless People Die?
(00:59:59)
From: jessica lockhart
3rd Hour of the Homelessness Marathon- healthcare & homelessness
Homelessness Marathon Hour One- Homeless Families
(00:59:58)
From: jessica lockhart
Homeless Families on the first hour of the broadcast
Homelessness Marathon Hour Two - Homeless in Kansas City
(01:00:00)
From: jessica lockhart
Homeless in Kansas CIty
Odyssey of the Mind
(00:05:36)
From: jessica lockhart
A group of senior citizens provide a surprising twist on a kids competition
Working in a Paper Mill
(00:04:30)
From: jessica lockhart
Paper workers reflect on their life in the mill
Deep Brain Stimulation
(00:24:40)
From: jessica lockhart
Going inside the operating room with a man having brain surgery for Parkinson's disease.
Piece 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
2 Comments
|
Review of Remembering Mother WarrenBetween 1880 and 1900 there were 23,000 labor strikes in this country. Amazing how quickly we came to take the 8-hour day for granted. Things change. This is a melancholy portrait of what was once one of the most progressively run mills in the country. It microcosmically conveys numerous aspects of North American labor history. Corporate America does not want you to think about labor history, trust me on this. That right there makes this worth airing. The program flows like a steady river – no big bells and whistles – just real stories about a mill where the conditions could be hellish, the life hard, but the company looked out for you. A labor historian posits that the workers remember the company fondly because their employers “offered genuine concern, loyalty and security instead of always putting profits ahead of people.” But the Warren family sold the mill to an out-of-state corporation. The narrator, members of whose family had worked at Mother Warren for over 100 years, is by now working elsewhere. In this year of “values,” his words should be heard: “I hope that someday, somehow, we can get employers back to the values that Mother Warren stood for. That the most valuable asset is the employee.” Well, we can dream, can’t we? |
Broadcast History
Aired September 2003 as a labor day special on Maine Public Radio, WMPG, WBUR, and 8 other community stations across country.
Transcript
Transcript:
Remembering Mother Warren:
-Labor history of one of the world?s oldest paper mills.
Actualities: ?They called it Mother Warren? (Howard Reiche, Nancy Greep, others)
Host-Tom Lestage:
Being a paper worker is not just a job; it?s a way of life. Hi, my name is Tom Lestage, and I?ve worked at S.D. Warren for 21 years. My father and grandfather, and my six uncles all worked at S.D. Warren. When Samuel Warren ran this facility, it was a family-orientated business. Working at the mill is like being part of a family, but like any family, it could get complicated and ugly. In the next half hour, you?ll hear more stories about Mother Warren. Let?s hear first from Harley Lord, Shirley Lally, and, Barry Kenney, who all combined put in a century at the mill:
Actualities: ?I worked the set-up for 10 years and that?s 4 to midnight and the get up is midnight to 8.?...
Read the full transcript





Kate McMillan
Posted on July 16, 2010 at 11:03 AM | Permalink
Pretty good.
I love hearing stories about work environments 'back in the day.' The stuff that was tolerated... alcohol, leaving work, racism, sexism, even having sex at work, wow.