Outside of the sheds, work was still dangerous. Workers were crushed, injured, and combusted. Jack gives us a tour of the abandoned quarries, which he punctuates with bittersweet memories and reflections. He tells a joke about a trick laid-off workers used to get a meal. In the end, Jack just wants to be able to get by.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Jack Gills, Derrick Operator (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Richard Gaiotti

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

SOUND & MUSIC CREDITS

Hear the full episode on Friday, May 29, 2020.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

If work couldn’t be found in the formal job market, people would find or make work for themselves in the informal market, which is often criminalized. During the heydays of the granite industry, widows of deceased workers supported themselves and their families by running boarding houses or making and selling food, wine, and spirits. Melicenda makes Italian dinners for the wealthier residents of Montpelier, but she does so at great risk. She lives in constant fear of the police raiding her home.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Melicenda Bartoletti, Cook and Caterer (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Jenny Blair

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

THEME SONG CREDIT

IMAGE CREDIT

"Lady in the Kitchen". Vermont Historical Society. https://www.flickr.com/photos/vermonthistory/5654179468/in/album-72157626574378436/. CC BY-NC-ND

SOUND & MUSIC CREDITS

Hear the full episode on Friday, May 22, 2020.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Families wanted better, longer lives for their children than what the granite industry could offer. Palmira’s father was furious when she was dating a stone carver. Their family had endured a hard journey to America from Santander, Spain in search of better lives. And it did seem like they were moving up in the world when Palmira landed a job as a switchboard operator. But, Palmira had dreams of becoming a teacher. During the Depression, however, it was hard to see a future beyond being a switchboard operator.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Palmira Fernandes, Switchboard Operator (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Weiwei Wang

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Part of the Labor Radio Network (laborradionetwork.org)

The “John Henry” song at the beginning of our show is from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Used courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity.

Music: "Ai, ama! Gaztian nintzanian dama". From the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Association for Cultural Equity.

Hear the full episode on Friday, May 15, 2020.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Machines and automation have been putting people out of work for some time, and the Depression is no exception. But, not long ago, there was an industrial boom that required massive amounts of labor - which is why Donegal, a Scottish man, and his family came here. A man could move from job to job as he pleased. But the work wasn’t easy. Working in Barre's granite industry was dangerous. Many workers died before they reached their 40s. Granite carvers had it the worst. The best carvers, the “artists”, died faster than they could be replaced.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Donegall, Stone Carver (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Greg Hooker

Sound & Music Credits

Music: “Canción de canteros”. From the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.  Association for Cultural Equity.

Music: "Failte Rudha Bhatairnis​". From the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Association for Cultural Equity.

Sound Effect: "Ambience, Machine Factory, A." by InspectorJ. From freedsound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Garden Shovel" by Roulaine. Free freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Paper_Shuffling_Crinkling_Crisp" by bewagne. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Wall Clock Ticking" by straget. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Waves » Crowd in a bar (LCR)" by Leandros.Ntounis. From freedsound.org. CC BY

Pat used to live in a small Irish village run by one rich man. One day, this rich man stopped giving work to Pat’s father -- and told his rich friends to do the same -- in response to a false, salacious rumor. Without any prospects in their homeland, Pat's family came to the United States when Pat was seven. As a young man, he kept remembering a beautiful silk umbrella owned by the rich man’s wife in Ireland. He wanted to buy one for his own mother. After trying his luck in many different jobs, he ended up repairing umbrellas for a living.  But unlike the rich men, there is no umbrella that can protect Pat from the storms of misfortune.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Umbrella Pat, Umbrella mender (1930s, Federal Writers’ Project interview)

Guest performer: Noel Reyes

Sound & Music Credits

Music: "Streetlife Silentfilm” by Lobo Loco. From Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-ND

Sound Effect: "Animal world » Day in polish countryside - birds, dog"  by tom_woysky. From freesound.org. CC BY-NC

Sound Effect: "BELLS, BEEPS, SIGNALS recordings » 01112 church bells 3" by Robinhood76. From freesound.org. CC BY-NC

Sound Effect: "farmland » farmland February NL SHORT 130228_00" by klankbeeld. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Foley » Chains 2" by freemaster2. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Foley » RainUmbrella" by HerbertBoland. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "New Foley Sounds- by Allan K Zepeda » Rocks Falling No-Reverb Edition 16 Bit. Foley Sound" by ALLANZ10D. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Puke/Vomiting" by Joao_de_Deus. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "Rocks » rocks1" by mystiscool. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sound Effect: "sound_design_excerpts » Janitor's Bedroom Ambience" : CC BY

Sound Effects: "Vehicles » farm sowing machine 2" by soundmary. From freesound.org. CC BY

Sarah has found work in Barre, but it’s not originally what she wanted to do with her life. As a diversion caseworker, she has seen people in Barre struggling with poverty, and how our systems and social safety net often fails them. Poverty here is particularly challenging and isolating because it is a rural state. We as a society have failed many individuals. People should not have to struggle and work so hard to survive.

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Oral history transcript to be performed: Sarah Miller, Diversion Case Manager (2017, original)

Guest performer: Jennifer Gagnon

Sound & Music Credits

Music: “Symphony of Bells” by Abishai. From the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-ND

Sound Effect: "Animal world » Day in polish countryside - birds, dog"  by tom_woysky. From freesound.org. CC BY-NC

Sound Effect: “Country Ambience” by CastleofSamples. From freesound.org. CC BY

Barre, VT was once called the “Granite Center of the World." Quarries wide and deep gave rise to an industry that promised to bear the task of immortality. Granite of exquisite quality augured not only exceptional monuments and memorials but exceptional lives for generations to come -- free from the privations of the old country -- or so it was thought. 

This is an independently produced show. Please consider supporting En Masse on Patreon.

Sound & Music Credits

Music: "16/9" by Circus Marcus. From the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC

Music: "Ambient Piece #4 (02-13-2017)" by Abishai. From the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-ND

Music: "Ambient Piece #1 (12-25-2016)" by Abishai. From the Free Music Archive. CC BY-NC-ND

Music: "Mε Πιάνουνε Ζαλάδες" by Caligine. From the Free Music Archive.  CC BY-NC-SA