Spinner Volume I

Spinner: People and Culture in Southeastern Massachusetts, Volume I

Spinner Publications’ cultural anthology series, beginning with Spinner: People and Culture in Southeastern Massachusetts, Volume I, records the history and culture of the cities and towns of Southeastern Massachusetts. Published in 1981 and written largely by citizen historians and students, Spinner I is the first of five volumes that uses mostly oral history, particularly from older citizens, to tell the history of the region. Through personal accounts, photographic collections, journals and diaries, Spinner books tell the story of the individual, the neighborhood, the city and the land; stories of families and their work. The authors and publishers aim to promote the arts of the region and collaboration among artists to present local history in an accurate, dramatic, entertaining way.

Spinner Publications’ first book, published in 1981, records the history and culture of the cities and towns of Southeastern Massachusetts. Written largely by citizen historians and students, Spinner I is the first of five volumes that uses mostly oral history, particularly from older citizens, to tell the history of the region. Spinner represents a handful of nationally successful publications which has produced startling results of building a record of regional cultures. Through personal accounts, photographic collections, journals and diaries, Spinner tells the story of the individual, the neighborhood, the city and the land; stories of families and their work. The authors and publishers aim to promote the arts of the region and collaboration among artists to present local history in an accurate, dramatic, entertaining way.

Southeastern Massachusetts is an area of unusual ethnic diversity, and Spinner is particularly concerned with ethnic groups, their traditions and leading citizens. If not for Spinner, the customs, skills and people’s history of regional communities would largely go unrecorded and a heritage would be irrevocably lost. Studying family history brings history to a personal level and allows us to see how people have established homes, earned a living and participated in culture, all within a shaping context of geography, urbanization and industrialism.

Stories in this volume include:

Vizinhança (Neighborhood) – First, second and third generation Portuguese Americans tell of coming to America and life in the Rivet Street neighborhood of New Bedford.

Blue Voyage – The city of New Bedford at the turn of the century described by Pulitzer prize winner Conrad Aiken, an excerpt from his autobiographical novel.

Black, White, or Portuguese? A Cape Verdean Dilemma – Mrs. Lucy Ramos discusses issues of Cape Verdean racial identity.

Cady Houle, Goat Lady of Dartmouth – The eighty-one year old Mrs. Houle tells how she cares for his sixty-six goats.

“Finest Kind” – The story of Captain Dan Mullins, Fairhaven fisherman and fleet innovator, tells of the changing styles of fishing boats and equipment from 1910 to the present.

Working the Waterfront – Portraits of men and women at work on the New Bedford waterfront.

Fish Processing – A step-by-step photographic account of processing the catch from boat to box.

The Sound of Days that are No More – Sketches of Rehoboth, Attleboro and
Seekonk done in 1848 by William Blanding, village philosopher.

Friends Meeting Houses – Photo essay on the interiors of the Dartmouth Friends Meeting Houses at Apponagansett and Smith Neck.

Yankee Thinkers: Melville, Thoreau, Emerson – Thoughts from the great Yankee philosophers who passed time and had friends in New Bedford.

The Personal Past – Photo essay and poems on dramatic events in the history of Nicholas Howland House, 1710, Dartmouth.

American Dream: Henry Howland Crapo – Historic essay on the horticulture and agriculture of this leading citizen of Dartmouth and New Bedford, later Governor of Michigan.

Lembrança – An oral history of a Cape Verdean family touching on whaling, cranberries and the history of New Bedford’s South End.

The Mule Spinner’s Daughter – The fortunes of a mule spinner’s family from 1902 to theDepression, including descriptions of Friday night amateur vaudeville and working at the Wamsutta Mill.

New Age Health – Mrs. Dolores Caton of “Down to Earth” talks about health food and women starting small businesses.

The Fighting Gauvins – A Fall River family of boxers makes it in New England amateur boxing.

Country Family – The Souzas talk about growing their own food and raising livestock in Westport.

The Lone Wolf – Angelo Novio, twenty-six years a worker for the trolley lines, talks about his work, the Car Barn and the Italian community at Weld Square.

The Restoration of the William Kempton House – The trials and rewards of restoring an old mansion.