Tales of Cape Cod

  • Collection DOI:
    Principal Investigator:
    Louis Cataldo
  • The Tales of Cape Cod Oral History Collection consists      of interviews of life long residents of all the towns in  Barnstable County conducted between ca. 1972-1978. Louis Cataldo, then president of the Tales of Cape Cod board, oversaw the project, staff included Franklin S. Klausner, Roland Barabe, David J. Boudreau, Charles H. Hodgson and Renee Magriel, and interviewers included Betty W. Richards, Lee Anne Sullivan and William Pride. Interviewers asked older Cape Residents about changes    in transportation, the arrival of electricity and telephones, their memories of school, holiday celebrations, foodways, family histories and more. Residents shared stories and anecdotes about summer people, the fishing and   cranberry industries, agriculture, local businesses, the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, Prohibition, race relations, economic change, major storms and much    more.  For more information, contact the William Brewster Nickerson Archives in the Wilkens Library at Cape Cod Community College: http://www.nickersonarchives.org/ 

Interviewee Collection Sort descending Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Dudley Winthrop Hallett Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1902, Mr. Hallett describes his childhood experiences from 1907-1909 while vacationing in South Dennis, Massachusetts. He also describes his experiences living as a summer resident in Silver Beach, North Falmouth, Massachusetts from 1910 to the 1920. He describes the costs of rentals and food in 1907, his experiences with Captain Howard Kelley family in South Dennis; his great uncle Joyce Taylor in Hyannis who was a prominent realtor and business man; Mr. Hallett's life as a child and teenager in Silver Beach, North Falmouth and the affluent neighbors who were summer residents.

William Pride Falmouth, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Mildred B. Paine Tales of Cape Cod

Part 1: Born in 1893, Mrs.

Renée Magriel Harwich, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Marjorie Hamblin Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1899, Mrs.

Susan Shaw Marstons Mills, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Eleanor Small Tales of Cape Cod

Eleanor Small interview with Tales of Cape Cod, November 17, 1977. Born in 1909, Ms. Small describes her ancestors from Harwich. Her grandmother was related to Jonathon Walker, of "the branded hand" who married an Indian woman and went down south to help the slaves. He was captured and branded for helping slaves escape. She lived on the Cape with her grandmother and recalls several stories of local residents. She recalls the great Dennisport fire and Dr. Ginns block burned. Also remembers Ernie Cole, the blacksmith in Harwich Port and the Catholic church in Harwich Center burning.

Renée Magriel Chatham, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
John Bonnell Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1892, Bonnell describes his experiences living on Cape Cod  including bullraking, digging clams, and tautog fishing; transportation to the Cape by train, early automobiles and motorcycles; early electric lights and kerosene lanterns; dentistry on the Cape in the early 20th century; Billingsgate Island; rum runners, and being the captain of a charter fishing boat.

Betty Richards Orleans, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Donald E. Higgins Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1904, Dr.

Susan Shaw Cotuit, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Simeon L. Smith Tales of Cape Cod

Part 1: Born in 1908, Mr. Smith tells us that he is a fifth generation Simeon. He is 69 and lives in Eastham. His grandfather built the Orleans post office and owned several houses in the area. Mr. Smith was born at Whalewalk Farm, a local landmark in Orleans. He remembers his grandmother's story of his grandfather told to deposit an unwanted family of cats on Simpson's Island where he had corn fields. At the end of the day he found they had left the  island and gone back to the mainland.

Betty Richards Eastham, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Mary Carreiro Tales of Cape Cod

Mary Carreiro interview with Tales of Cape Cod, May 15, 1978 in Provincetown, MA.  Born in 1903, Mary recalls how her father came to Provincetown as a stowaway on a fishing vessel from the Azore Islands and working off the cost of passage after he was brought to the customs office.She describes Provincetown before World War I.  Tells of trains and boats coming to Provincetown in the summer and the large boat the Dorothy Bradford carried 1200-1300 people.  She tells of her first jobs at 13 where she was paid $1.50 per week washing silverware and glasses at the Atlantic house.

Betty Richards Provincetown, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
L. Thomas Hopkins Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1889, Mr. Hopkins describes his experiences growing up in Truro, Massachusetts.  He was the 6th of 8 children and was delivered by a midwife.  At 88 he attributes his longevity to good genes and cod liver oil.

Betty Richards Truro, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Helen F. Snow Tales of Cape Cod

Mrs. Snow was born in Orleans in 1896.  She is a Mayflower descendant from Nicholas Snow who came on the ship Ann to Plymouth in 1623 and who married ConstanceHopkins who came on the Mayflower as a child.

Betty Richards Truro, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives