Interview with Larry Palmer
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Date of Interview
7-10-2004
Duration of Audio File
Audio File 1 -- 01:20:58; Audio File 2 -- 01:21:02
Interviewee
Larry Palmer
Age
Born approximately December 28, 1937, 66 at time of interview
Gender
Male
Birth Place
Patten, Maine
Residence
Patten, Maine
Occupation/Work History
Mr. Palmer worked most of his life as logger/woodcutter, most likely from the late 1950s until around 2000. He also spent 8 years in Connecticut working as a blue collar employee at a tire factory.
Role
Union
Mill or Principal Employer
Logging contractor Carroll Gerow of Patten Maine
Mill Location
Aroostook County industrial forestland
Keywords
Palmer was an important participant in the Maine Woodmen's Association (MWA) statewide strike of 1975. His close friend Wayne Birmingham was President of the MWA. The interview includes an account of the strike, descriptions of logging work, and the fall out of the strike and MWA's activities during its ensuing existence as a small organization that survived the strike's defeat.
Description
Palmer was an important participant in the Maine Woodmen's Association (MWA) statewide strike of 1975. His close friend Wayne Birmingham was President of the MWA. The interview includes an account of the strike, descriptions of logging work, and the fall out of the strike and MWA's activities during its ensuing existence as a small organization that survived the strike's defeat.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hillard, Michael G. PhD, "Interview with Larry Palmer" (2004). Maine Woodman’s Association Strike of 1975. 15.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/maine-woodsmans-strike/15
Comments
Palmer was a close friend and associate of Wayne Birmingham, President of the Maine Woodmen's Association from 1975 through 1980. He, his "boss" Gerow, and Birmingham formed a small crew of friends who logged together from 1974 into the 1990s. They also were key activists who helped to organize what became the MWA in 1975 months before the fall strike that year. A crucial segment of the interview is an account of he and Birmingham's seven year stint (1967-1974) stint in a Connecticut tire factory. They experienced being members of a strong and combative union, and brought the lessons of this experience back to Maine and applied them in organizing the MWA and conducting the strike. Palmer's interview is important because Birmingham had passed away in the 1990s, years before the author began interviewing about the MWA.