Herbert Graham, Bertha Veeder Hill, & Peggy Clark Kelley
Oral History Collection - Fishing and Fisheries
This collections contains recordings of interviews with Woods Hole residents and visiting scientists, as part of the Woods Hole Historical Museum’s Oral History Collection. For more information, visit: woodsholemuseum.org.
National Capital Contracting
On July 28, 1975, Elsa Keil Sichel interviewed Dr. Herbert Graham, Bertha Veeder Hill, and Peggy Clark Kelley for the Fishing and Fisheries Oral History Collection at the Woods Hole Library in Massachusetts. The interview was part of a historical conversation series at the Woods Hole Library, focusing on the history of the Fisheries. The main topic is the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in Woods Hole. The first speaker is Peggy Clark Kelley. She speaks of her grandfather, Edward Linton, who came to Woods Hole with Director Spencer Baird in 1882 when Linton was a student at Yale. She discusses why Woods Hole was chosen for the site of the Fisheries lab and the interaction with local businessmen. Peggy's memories of her childhood include trips on collecting boats. Dr. Graham became Director in 1951. He reviews the founding of the three Woods Hole scientific institutions: the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), the Fisheries, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution-WHOI. The Fisheries and MBL were originally summer labs. The Fisheries became a year-round lab in 1947. The Victorian Fisheries buildings were demolished in 1957-58; a new lab opened in 1960, and a new aquarium in 1961. The main function of the Fisheries in his time was with the problems of commercial fisheries as well as environmental concerns. Mrs. Hill came from a seafaring family, originating on Cuttyhunk. Her father was a captain for the Fisheries boat Phalarope, and her uncle John Veeder was a captain for the MBL collecting boat Cayadetta. They discuss the early Fisheries buildings and boat basins, residence halls, and social life.
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