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/ 

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Interviewee Collection Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
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 Atlant

 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
Elsie Chadwick Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1903, Ms. Chadwick describes her experiences growing up on Main Street in the village of Osterville. She describes the stores on Main Street in 1912; her school experiences at grammar school, Hyannis high school and two years at the State Normal School. She relates her experiences at holidays and describes Dr. Higgins, who had the first automobile in town.

 Frank Rudd Osterville, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Louise H. Kelley Tales of Cape Cod

Part 1: Born in 1907, Mrs. Kelley talks about her ancestors first on her father’s side and then on her mother’s side.

 Renée Magriel Dennisport, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Heaton Vorse Tales of Cape Cod

"It's expensive to live down here now and so, for that very reason, many of the artistic groups have gone to Truro and Wellfleet and further down the Cape."

 Betty Richards Provincetown, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Bernard Collins Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1896, Mr.

 Frank Rudd Eastham, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Beatrice M. Lapham Tales of Cape Cod

Born in 1898, Mrs.

 Frank Rudd Marstons Mills, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Robert A. Welsh Tales of Cape Cod

Track 1:  Born in 1903, Mr. Welsh, a retired judge, describes his experiences growing up in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  He talks about how is father became a lawyer and judge in Provincetown.  He describes his youth and life in Provincetown in the early 1900’s, his experiences with the artist Charles W.

 Betty Richards Dennisport, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
Kenneth Coombs Tales of Cape Cod

"So many things go with the people, and you think they’re going to live forever, and they’re gone, and you never know what they do know."

Ernestine Gray Mashpee, MA The William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives
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