CGP Community Stories

Items

• Folksongs of the Catskills Concert
• Louis C. Jones, 1964
  Louis C. Jones was the Lamar Lecturer at Wesleyan University in 1964. During his presentation at the university, he presented three lectures about folklife. In his first two lectures, "A Long Look Over My Left Shoulder" and "A Nosegay of Pretty Murder," Jones shares several folktales and describes their impact. In his third lecture (split into two parts), he discusses "Folk Artists as Reporters." All three lectures were recorded before an audience at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1964.
• Louis C. Jones, May 26, 1975
  This interview with Louis C. Jones in 1975 was conducted by Cooperstown Graduate student Ellen Fladger. Louis C. Jones was interviewed at his home, Pomeroy Place, in Cooperstown, New York. Mr. Jones speaks about his early life, his family and his ancestors; his connection to Upstate New York; his time as a museum professional; and his continued interest in folklife, including his focus on American ballads, specifically American murder ballads. He also discusses folklorist Harold Thompson, a colleague and close friend.
• Harold W. Thompson, c.1940
  Harold W. Thompson speaks about weather lore. He bases his lecture on his own collection of weather lore and an interview with J.J. Cassidy at the Albany Airport. Thompson discusses common weather rhymes, describing how these rhymes are either true or false for New York State weather. Thompson discusses both the weather of the state as well as the origin of the rhymes themselves. Weather rhymes discussed: “April showers bring May flowers.” “In the morning: mountains. In the evening: fountains.” “When the clouds do weave, ‘twill storm before the leave.” “Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” “A clear bright sky, a fleckless blue, breeds a storm within a day or two.” “Rain before seven, clear before eleven.” “If the moon shows like a silver shield, be not afraid to reap your field; but if she rises, halo ‘round, soon will we tread on deluged ground.” “When the dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass. When the grass is dry at morning light, look for a rain before the night.” “If there's enough blue sky to make a Dutchman a pair of pants, the weather is going to clear up.” “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky; three days wet and three days dry.” “When the fog goes up the mountain, the rain comes down the mountain.” “Onion skin, very thin: mild winter coming in. Onion skin, thick and tough: coming winter cold and rough.”
• Alice Talbot, November 21, 2008
  Born in White Plains, New York in 1923, Alice Talbot grew up in a variety of small towns and cities throughout southeaster New York. The conditions of her father's employment forced the family to move repeatedly, a total of sixteen times in as many years. She excelled in school despite the disruptions of moving, though she ultimately had to leave early to find work and help support her family. Following a series of jobs in and around New York City, Talbot enlisted in the U.S. Navy to earn necessary income and further her education in bookkeeping and accounting. Post-war employment brought Alice Talbot to Otsego County, New York, where she met her husband, established a family, and maintained a permanent home (in Cooperstown) for the past fifty-two years. The interview with Alice Talbot, conducted with a broad biographical approach, deals with situations and events from her childhood in southeastern New York to more recent experiences in Cooperstown. As such, it touches upon a variety of historical contexts. For example, her father's multiple job changes in the 1930's, which included a stint with the Civilian Conservation Corps, illustreate the difficulty of finding steady employment during the Great Depression. This search for work not only affected a family's ability to manage its finances, but also its ability to develop a sense of place, given the frequent relocations it required. Mrs. Talbot's time with the Navy (1940-1946) as a keypunch operator points to one avenue of opportunity available to enlisted women during World War II. Over 350,000 women served in the various branches of the military. Regulations excluded women from combat positions, and thus restricted their work to a variety of auxiliary functions, which ranged from clerical and administrative duties to medical and technological positions. Mrs. Talbot's computing and record-keeping tasks reflect the supportive role give to women during World War II. The connections between personal experience and larger historical moments remain largely implicit. Still, the interview offers valuable information about sense of place, educational and employment opportunities at the time, and the family dynamics experienced in childhood and adulthood. In addition, the latter part of the interview provides information about the village of Cooperstown itself. Her remarks cover the sites and daily life of Cooperstown at the time of her arrival, as well as its subsequent evolution. The town's growing baseball culture became familiar to Mrs. Talbot through her involvement with Baseball Hall of Fame activities, which resulted from her husband's former position as the Hall Director. In the following transcription, I have tried to reproduce the language and substance of the oral history interview with only basic editing for the sake of readability. False starts, repetitions, and minor injections like "um," and "ah" have been eliminated from the text, except when they might offer insight into the interviewer's thought process or the meaning of a particular remark. Inaudible words or missing words appear as bracketed text. The use of a dash (--), when it appears in the middle of a sentence, denotes a substantial pause; when found at the end of a sentence, it indicates an interruption by the other speaker. I have chosen to preserve some grammatical mistakes and turns of phrase to remain faithful to the recording.
• Marjorie Schellhammer, November 15, 2008
  Marjorie Schellhammer was born Marjorie Schielto, in Burlington, New York in 1926. It was there that she grew up with her three siblings on her family's dairy farm. In the first part of the interview she recounts rural life during the Great Depression, her experiences learning in a one-room schoolhouse, and what it was like to live and work as a single woman in Albany, New York in the late 1940s. After marrying, she ran a poultry farm with her husband, Ed Schellhammer in Burlington Flats, New York. Mrs. Schellhammer's recollections of this time include the day-to-day activities of running the farm with her husband, how they restored the farmhouse they were living in, and the stroke her husband had which was the reason they moved their family to Cooperstown, New York in the 1960s. She discusses the changes she has seen in the village of Cooperstown over the past several decades including the gradual shift from the retail and grocery shops that existed on Main Street when her family first moved to Cooperstown, to the gradual spread of baseball souvenir shops that exist on Main Street today. In large section of this interview, Mrs. Schellhammer describes a recent trip to Rome she took with both her daughters. Detailing where they stayed, the monuments they saw, along with her personal comments on the city, this material would be useful to those researching Americans in Rome. The remaining material will be useful to those seeking information on the Cooperstown Graduate Program itself. Mrs. Schellhammer, curious to know more about her interviewer, asks questions about the curriculum, housing, and the oral history process. Mrs. Schellhammer speaks clearly and deliberately and effort was made to reproduce her words faithfully. I have chosen to edit out false starts, both hers and my own, to allow for clear understanding of the statements made. I have noted the frequent laughter of both myself and Mrs. Schellhammer and encourage researchers to consult the actual recordings to experience and appreciate the tone of this interview.
• Millie Jennings, November 13, 2008
  Mildred "Millie" Jennings has lived in the area around Cooperstownm, New Your all of her life. She was born January 29, 1931. She married her husband in 1950, and had three children. They have lived in the same house since their marriage, purchasing it just before the house was demolished, and renovating it themselves over time. She is an active member of the Baptist church. During her life, Millie has worked in a range of careers, with the most prominent being the Chief Switchboard Operator at Bassett Hospital during the 1970s and 1980s. Bassett Hospital is one of the largest employers in the Cooperstown area, and at the time of Millie's employment already employed over one thousand doctors. She was elected Ambassador to the Hospital in 1992, elected by her peers. Millie also owned and operated a nursery school in her home during the years 1962 to 1969. Millie's memories range from childhood to raising her own family and working at the same time. Some of the most interesting parts of her interview concern her memories of her own family, and times in which she lived. Millie talked about games she played as a little girl, and jobs she had. She recalled Cooperstown in the time before it became an overwhelming "baseball town" in the summer. Speaking of her own children, Millie gave insight into how pregnancy and childbirth was treated in the 1960's and 1970's. Millie also spoke about her own marriage in 1950. Throughout the interview, I refer to Mildred as Millie, which she prefers. I have made some changes to the transcript where Millie has requested. But throughout my editing of the transcript, I have decided to leave in certain points where Millie named dates wrong, because that is part of her character. I also chose to mark points of laughter to help bring Millie's personality on through.
• Shirley Banta, November 4, 2008
  Shirley Banta lived her life in small-town New York. Yet she attended college in the 1940's, a rarity for women at the time, and later became a teacher. Consequently, much of Shirley's oral history revolves around her schooling. Living in Upstate New York, Shirley attended district schools before leaving for Middlebury College in Vermont. Shirley offers a series of anecdotes about her childhood and educational experiences that convey character and emotional depth rather than just bald facts. While Shirley did not see anything extraordinary in attending college in the early 1940's, only 12.2% of women between eighteen and twenty-one years of age went on to higher degrees in this era. In the 1920's, with the advent of the progressive era, educational administrators attempted to obscure "the difference between urban and rural schools and schoolchildren." However, disparities in schooling still existed, and both society and government assumed that boys attended school to develop careers while girls were seen as future wives and mothers. After World War II men expected women to return to the home in order to allow returning soldiers to reclaim their jobs and establish their families. In this light, Shirley's academic accomplishments are not necessarily unique, but at least atypical - especially considering her rural background. Shirley's college education is an accomplishment that she credits to her teachers, though her own teaching career is not something that she discussed at length. Most of Shirley's recollections deal with her schooling and everyday activities but she also touches upon more momentous changes, such as moving from town to town. While Shirley has only lived in New York, her travels have ranged from Europe to South America. Her children and grandchildren remain an important part of her life and Shirley ends the interview by discussing her current hobbies and activities. Mrs. Banta spoke evenly when telling stories despite some rather frequent pauses. I have tried to use ellipses for shorter pauses and I have inserted [pause] where I felt there was a noticeably longer pause. Some of the false starts were left in the transcription because of the tone they add to the overall narrative or times when subsequent verbs and nouns agree with the first telling rather than the latter.
• Ernie Chase, November 5, 2008
  Ernie Chase is a lifetime resident of the Cooperstown area. He was born at the Thanksgiving Home in Cooperstown in 1919 and has lived here since then. Having lived and worked around Otsego Lake for his whole life, Mr. Chase has been a witness to almost a century of change in the area. Cooperstown has changed greatly in the 89 years of Mr. Chase's life. He has been seen both growth and decline, from the opening of the Baseball Hall of Fame to the virtual loss of farming in the area. Technology has also changed significantly during his life. Mr. Chase can recall when the first tractors appeared in Cooperstown and when refrigeration was provided by iceboxes filled with ice cut from Lake Otsego. Much of this interview is concerned with the agricultural and outdoor history of the Cooperstown region. Mr. Chase's father ran a successful dairy farm three miles from town and his three sons worked on the farm. In 1938 Ernie Chase opened the first tractor store in Cooperstown, and until 1982 he provided most of the farm equiptment to the farmers in the area. Because of this business Mr. Chase possess a great wealth of information about the farming practices of this region. Mr. Chase is also a longtime sportsman and has hunted and fished in the area for most of his life. Mr. Chase's recollections is quite good considering his age. At times he has difficulty with exact dates, but is able to provide an approximation. His attention to detail in the stories he tells is excellent and provides rich insight into his life. He has hearing difficulty and in several places has answered questions that he has heard differently than were asked. I have tried as accurately as possible to portray the style of his speaking which is familiar and friendly. The listener will enjoy hearing Mr. Chase's laughter as he relates some of his funny stories.
• Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth J. Shepard
  Shotgun Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth J. Shepard. Conducted by Jean Spraker for a folklife course with Dr. Bruce Buckley.
• Robert L. Banta, November 5, 2008
  Robert Banta was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1923. After living the better part of his childhood in the City–particularly Garden City, on Long Island–he and his family moved upstate when his father bought a farm in the midst of the Great Depression. Mr. Banta and his brother worked on the family farm, not acquiring electricity until 1941. During WWII, many young men stayed on family farms to grow the food necessary for overseas troops and allies. Mr. Banta and his older brother George were among this group, remaining in their home communities and helping their family and elderly neighbors with the day to day tasks of running a farm. Since the mid-1930s, Mr. Banta has lived in several central New York communities, including Unadilla, Milford, and Cooperstown, the latter since 1956. His career has revolved around various agricultural pursuits: he was employed by Agway until the mid-1960s, when he began work for New York State Electric as a senior agriculture representative, a position he remained at until his retirement in 1986. Mr. Banta and his wife Shirley, who met as teenagers in Unadilla and married in 1946, are the parents of four grown children and four grandchildren; long after their own offspring left the house, however, the couple hosted numerous foreign exchange students (due to Mrs. Banta's career as a foreign language teacher), an activity that has inspired them to travel extensively. Since his retirement, Mr. Banta has kept busy with repair work on local farms and community buildings, is an active member of the First Baptist Church, and remains an active part of Cooperstown's social fabric.
• Douglas Deer, November 26, 2008
  Douglass Mount Deer is the minister for the First Baptist Church in Cooperstown, New York. He was born in August 9, 1951, in Southington, Connecticut, to Gordon Spencer Deer and Phyllis Shepherd Deer. Mr. Deer and his family moved several times throughout his childhood because his father was also a Baptist minister. Initially, Deer had no intention of following in his father's footsteps, but after spending time as a YMCA counselor amongst the Lakota in western South Dakota, he realized that the ministry was calling him, too. Deer first went to South Dakota during college, through a summer program with the YMCA. He worked as a camp counselor and organizer in Frazier, South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Reservation. There are eight reservations in South Dakota, all of which are occupied by members of the Sioux or Lakota. While traditional Lakota culture and religion survive on these reservations, many of the inhabitants are Christian. This is in large part due to the efforts of Christian missionaries going back to the 1800s. Missionary work continues to this day in certain parts of the state. One church that has undertaken missionary efforts not just in South Dakota, but also in other states, is the Baptist church. Douglass Deer was raised in the Baptist church and is himself a minister. Baptist ministers enjoy relationships with their congregations that are quite different from the relationships of clergy and congregation, rather than by being appointed and then ordered to a specific location by a bishop or other high level member of the clergy. This means that as long as the arrangement is mutually satisfactory. Baptist ministers may remain with a specific church community as long as they desire. Mr. Deer's interview provides a number of insights into the workings of the Baptist church and the relationship between minister and congregation. Additionally, some of his most engaging and informative stories concern the times he spent in South Dakota with the Lakota. On several occasions he offers interesting observations about how the Lakota balance their traditional beliefs and customs with their new Christian ones. This balance is exemplary of a cultural middle ground through which the Lakota have negotiated their religious identities. In transcribing the interview with Mr. Deer I had edited out vocalizations such as "um," "uh," or "like," as they were irrelevant to the content of the interview. I have however tried to preserve the rhythm of Deer's speech, which is quite rapid, by leaving in false starts and moments where he interrupts his own thought process. I have also chosen to edit out portions of myself engaging in active listening. Overall, the interview was a pleasant and light-hearted affair, so I have noted the times when Mr. Deer and I laughed about one thing or another. Unfortunately, it is impossible through a transcription to convey the emotions with which the words are delivered. As such, researchers are highly encouraged to listen to the complete audio recordings rather than relying solely upon the transcription.
• Nancy Dunn, November 11, 2008
  Nancy Dunn was born September 21, 1927 in Cooperstown, New York where she has lived almost her entire life. Every aspect of her rich life is tied to the town of Cooperstown. She spent her childhood playing alongside her future husband. She watched the town develop and evolve through the windows of the Village Library where she served as the first librarian. She stayed close to her roots as many of her friends and family moved away. According to her, the core values of her hometown have not changed over the years. She raised her family much the same way she was raised, not just in a tight family unit, but as part of a much larger community. Dunn and members of her family served their community in almost every capacity for three generations. Her work in the Village Library helped it grow from a single room in the former YMCA building to a thriving community asset that serves not only Cooperstown but four surrounding counties. By tracing the memories of her own life, Dunn illuminates the history of Cooperstown. She describes the nature of the town's traditions and how they shaped her life. Dunn not only talks about special events and holiday traditions, but also describes the day to day occurrences that went on around her. She remembers selling the summer newspaper, The Glimmerglass, on the streets of Cooperstown as a young girl, and how she played alongside her future husband during meetings of the "Mommy Club," a twice monthly social gathering of the neighborhood mothers. Dunn recollects the annual Cooperstown Firemen's Carnivals and square dances at the end of Pioneer Street and celebrating Easter dinner with her extended family at Sherry's, a local restaurant located on the corner of Chestnut and Main Streets. Using her personal copy of A History of Cooperstown by Harold Hollis to verify dates and detail, the history of Cooperstown comes alive in the words of one of its most faithful residents. Listening to Dunn's recollections brings new insight to the history of Cooperstown and the people who grew up there. Dunn's clear, concise recollections left little to be edited. Her pauses and changes in phrasing have been transcribed as closely to the original as possible to maintain her speech style.
• Jim Atwell, November 13, 2008
  Jim Atwell was born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1938. Atwell spent thirteen years as a Catholic teaching monk in the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a group of lay men who dedicate their lives to the ministry of Christian education, in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1969, after leaving the order, he took a faculty position and met his first wife Gwen Vosburgh at Ann Arundel Community College. After Gwen's death in 1989, Atwell moved north and remarired a few years later. He and his second wife, Anne Geddes-Atwell, made their home in Fly Creek raising sheep, pigs, and chickens. A writer for The Cooperstown Crier, Mr. Atwell, with Anne as designer and illustrator, compiled fifty of his columns about charming tales on small-town living into a book, From Fly Creek. Mr. Atwell was particularly interested in discussing life in rural communities and his experience with Parkinson's disease. His stories and observations of small-town living illustrate not only Fly Creek in the past and present but also a broader sense of community and neighborliness that is unique in rural areas. Recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, he describes his experience with therapy treatments, medical communities around the country, and learning to cope with disease both physically and emotionally. Fly Creek underwent vast changes during the twentieth century. In the late 1930's, the previously obvious gap between the hamlet area and the old Fly Creek village was blurring as people built new houses on small lots along the road. Visually the difference between each of the old clusters remain clear. The twentieth century emphasis on services like stores; community centers like the Grange, schoolhouse, and churches; and a push for public transportation, such as the trolley in the early twentieth century, has pulled the area together into a single entity called Fly Creek. While fast food joints and large corporations such as Wal-Mart threaten the stores and restaurants in the heard of the town today, residents from around the area are proud to call Fly Creek. Atwell's humor, warmth, and friendliness add to his celebration of community and life. I italicized words that he emphasized and included most of the small talk and laughter throughout the interview in an attempt to depict Atwell's character. Atwell is also a natural storyteller. I preserved long, run-on sentences by putting commas and periods only where there were apparent pauses in order to keep the flow of his stories intact. To truly appreciate Atwell's kind and gentle nature, researchers are encouraged to consult audio recordings and read his book, From Fly Creek.
• Howard Talbot, November 8, 2008
  Born in 1925, in New Berlin, New York, Howard Talbot has had the privilege and responsibility of working for one of the most important sports related destinations in the country. Mr. Talbot served as an accountant, assistant treasurer, treasurer, and eventually director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, beginning in 1951. His many years at the National Baseball Hall of Fame have left him with invaluable stories and experiences not only for the baseball fan, but also for the museum professional. The National Baseball Hall of Fame was started in 1939 in Cooperstown, New York, and a young Howard Talbot happened to be in the crowd. Mr. Talbot served as the director of the Hall of Fame from 1968 to 1993 and worked very hard to make the NBHOP a world-class museum. Some of his goals were to improve the museum's education program, become an accredited institution, and better the security of the collection. He also had the opportunity to interact with many legends of baseball, such as Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, and Tom Seaver, and his stories serve as reminder that these sports heroes have a human side. These stories are some of the most interesting material in the interview. While Mr. Talbot's memories about the NBHOF and the game of baseball are especially interesting, these subjects by no means define him. Mr. Talbot's recollections extend from his childhood growing up in Edmeston, New York, to his serve in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and coming back to find work and start a family in the post-war years. The answers provided in this interview show some level of familiarity with journalists and writers, which seemed to prevent Mr. Talbot from telling longer stories. This does not mean that the interview lacks detail or description, just that the interviewee regulated the length of the answers. Mr. Talbot's interview sheds light on a variety of topic and his comfort while being recorded makes him an enjoyable and useful interview subject. Shorter pauses and terms such as "um" and "uh" have been left out of the transcript, as well as the word "and" when it is used to finish a sentence. These changes have been done to increase the readability of the transcript and not take any focus away from Mr. Talbot's message.
• Albert Keck, November 19, 2008
  While Albert Keck and I were sitting in his living room at 3 Delaware Street in Cooperstown, New York, he explained to me that life is made up of happenstance. “I look at my whole life, how critical little twists and turns are. And you don't even know it, until you're looking back five years later” he said. At sixty-five years old, Mr. Keck has lived in three different cities, had five careers, raised two children, and currently has seven step-children. This insightful and philosophical oral history explores Mr. Keck's experiences as a child of two fine art conservators, a special needs teacher in the Boston Public Schools from 1966 - 86, and his 1990 move to Cooperstown to care for his dying father and mother. Albert Keck was born on May 8, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York. As a child of two fine art conservators, Mr. Keck developed a strong interest in fine art. After graduating from Erazmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, he attended Harvard College from 1961 - 65 majoring in the History of Fine Arts. Post-graduation, he made a brief stop in Newark, New Jersey working for Rabin and Krueger galleries as an art conservator. In 1966 he returned to Boston where he unexpectedly found himself working as a special needs teacher at Dearborne Middle School. Teaching quickly became his passion, as he not only taught his students reading and writing but also offered them guidance and counsel. After enjoying a twenty-year career as a special needs teacher, Mr. Keck moved to Cooperstown in 1990 to care for his sick father and mother. While tending to his parents, Mr. Keck demonstrated a strong commitment to the community of Cooperstown. With his positive attitude and strong work ethic, he has served local positions of Zoning Officer, Assessor, and President of the Cooperstown Fire Department. Mr. Keck has a Brooklyn accent. I have tried to represent his pronunciation of certain words by spelling them phonetically. Furthermore, certain actions occurring during the interview, such as the snapping of fingers or pointing to photographs are presented in italics and parentheses. Laughter is represented by the word ‘laughs' in italics.
• Homer Osterhoudt, November 11, 2008
  Homer Osterhoudt is a lifelong resident of New York's Otsego County and the Cooperstown area. Born January 17, 1918 in Oneonta, Mr. Osterhoudt grew up primarily in Phoenix Mills on his father's farm until moving into Cooperstown with his wife Marion following World War II. Working as a mail carrier in Cooperstown for more than 30 years, Mr. Osterhoudt has been around the town long enough to hold the distinction of attending every Hall of Fame Game and Baseball Hall of Fame Induction in the institutions exist, except from 1941 to 1945, when he served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He actually helped lay the foundation for the Hall of Fame building before it opened in 1939, has supplied his personal photographs of the earliest ceremonies to the Hall of Fame and has, in recent years, been an invaluable source for those interested in the transformation of Cooperstown into a baseball Mecca. Like many in his generation, Mr. Osterhoudt answered the call to serve during the War. His return home found him take a 30-year career which allowed him to be present as his town found its identity with the sport of baseball. He represents not only a figure in the constant in American life that is baseball, but also a firsthand expert on the change of the town and baseball's place in its history. Mr. Osterhoudt has enjoyed recent notoriety accompanying his experiences with the Baseball Hall of Fame, serving as a wonderful primary source for those interested in two of the Hall's key events and their change over time. His stories and photographs are treasures for many across the world who love baseball. His war experience is also quite remarkable, from his brother's involvement with Pearl Harbor, to another brother losing his life as an airborne soldier in Europe. One of the most interesting of his recollections was that he sent home a Japanese parachute, from which silk was used for his future wife's wedding gown. Without offering an introspective memory of his lifetime, Mr. Osterhoudt seemed genuinely amused at recollecting many of his memories. His stories were at many times quite matter-of-fact, but infused with his own humor and delight in retelling them. I have tried to include notation of when he, and myself as the interviewer, laughed or chuckled during a statement. I have also omitted some verbal pauses and grammatical errors that took place when Mr. Osterhoudt was talking through some of his memories.