Molly Graham interviewed Captain Salvatore ‘Sam’ Novello on August 2, 2019, for the Strengthening Community Resilience in America’s Oldest Seaport Oral History Project. Captain Novello was born in 1943 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he has lived all his life.

Santos Tebalan is from Guatemala and now works in New Bedford painting fishing industry boats. Tebalan shares information about his early years in America, his current work as a boat painter and his thoughts on the future of the fishing industry.

This oral history was produced in 2017 as part of the Workers on the Waterfront Oral History Project conducted by New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center with funding from an Archie Green Fellowship provided by the Library of Congress.

Sarah Broadwell is a female fisherwoman from Montauk, Long Island. She is of European American ethnicity. Broadwell was born in Denville, New Jersey, and spent her childhood visiting her grandparents in Sag Harbor, Long Island. She has been working in Montauk for five to six years and has built a close-knit community with fellow fishermen, who she considers as her family. Despite being small in stature, Broadwell is known for her hard work and dedication to her profession. She has a strong sense of respect and boundaries, and is not afraid to assert herself when necessary.

Sarah Fortin describes herself as “a Jane of all trades.” She’s now 29 and has been working at Reidar’s since she was in high school, first starting part time after school to learn specific skills, and then went full time and has been there ever since.

Sarah Garcia is the Community Development Director and Harbor Planning Director for the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Sarah Garcia was interviewed to document the experience of Gloucester, Massachusetts in completing an economic assessment to better understand the economic contribution of waterfront activities. Ms. Garcia discusses the history of Gloucester, the long standing polarization around waterfront issues, and the harbor planning effort which included the economic assessment.

On September 12, 1977, Sarah May Taylor was interviewed at her home on Barley Neck Road in East Orleans, Massachusetts, for Tales of Cape Cod. Taylor, born in Eastham, Massachusetts, on March 22, 1890, recounts her life on Cape Cod, focusing on her family's farming traditions, her father's work in the Coast Guard, and her own experiences in domestic and farm labor. Taylor discusses her family's farming practices, including vegetable cultivation and dairy production, highlighting the labor-intensive nature of early 20th-century agricultural life.

Sarah Schumann is a commercial shell fisherwoman in Rhode Island. She currently targets underutilized shellfish species such as razor clams and periwinkles. She tells how she began her commercial fishing career.

Sebastian Ayala is a forty-three year old foreman at the Norpel plant in New Bedford.  He has been working at the Norpel plant for almost fifteen years, working his way up to a foreman position. In this interview Sebastian describes coming to New Bedford from El Salvador and his work at Norpel, including various positions in the factory as well as safety concerns.

Molly Graham interviewed Sebastian Parisi on August 31, 2019, for the Strengthening Community Resilience in America’s Oldest Seaport Oral History Project. Sebastian Parisi was born in 1940 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Both sides of Parisi's family emigrated from Italy, and many of his ancestors and relatives worked in the fishing industry.  He graduated from Gloucester High School and worked as a mechanic for cars and diesel boats.   Parisi served as an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force from 1960 to 1964.

On September 30, 2019, Molly Graham interviewed Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken for the Strengthening Community Resilience in America’s Oldest Seaport Oral History Project. Sefatia Romeo Theken's grandparents immigrated to Gloucester in the 1940s.  Many of her relatives worked in the fishing industry in Gloucester.  Mayor Romeo Theken was married to a commercial fisherman and worked as a fish packer at Gorton's and later for the Addison Gilbert Hospital.  After her husband died, she began to get more involved in the Gloucester community and advocating for fishers.