We Exist Series 4: Audio

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  Reverend Albert Jackson and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson on Leisure (Interview Excerpt)

  Maureen Elgersman Lee

  Reverend Albert and Clemmie Jackson

  Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

  
  

  Interviewer: “Okay. Good. Are there any events in Lewiston and Auburn's history that stand out in your memories? Some people talk about when, um, Mohammed Ali came to fight in Lewiston. Is that something that, ah, either stands out in your memory, or is that something that still people talk about?”

  Rev. Jackson: “Actually, when, ah, um, ah, um, Cassius Clay, as that was his name at the time.” Interviewer: “Right.” Rev. Jackson: “It was in the '60s. He actually put Maine on the map. And, ah, ah -- and -- and that's, ah, about the only -- actually event that I – I can really, ah, ah, acquaint myself to thinking.”

  Interviewer: “Mmmhmm.”

  Rev. Jackson: “And, um -- and -- and he was here and -- and it brought various people from -- from all over -- all over the, um, ah, United States just to come here to Lewiston and Auburn -- just to see Lewiston and Auburn.”

  Interviewer: “Okay. So were you living here when that took place?”

  Rev. Jackson: “I was living -- I was living here then.”

  Interviewer: “So you remember that?”

  Rev. Jackson: “Yes.”

  Interviewer: “Very clearly?”

  Rev. Jackson: “Mmm. Very clearly.”

  Interviewer: “Okay. Did you -- did you go -- did you see it?”

  Rev. Jackson: I was -- I was there.

  Interviewer: “Were you there? Okay. Great. Well, then –”

  Rev. Jackson: “I didn't have a chance to go inside the, ah, building -- I was there though.”

  Interviewer: “Oh.”

  Rev. Jackson: “But it was, ah -- it was so crowded. Ah, people, you know -- but I did -- I did -- I experienced that -- that highlight at that time. I can get -- get into the building but I was -- I was on the outside.”

  Interviewer: “Okay. What did it feel like?”

  Rev. Jackson: “It was very exciting. It was -- it was something that -- that Maine wasn't, you know, accustomed to and -- and everything was just -everyone's excited and the people, you see, that they interviewed. Some people working with their cameras and they were flashing and people were excited. And it was just an exciting event at that time.”

  Reverend Albert Jackson (born in Slabfork, Virginia; age 61; lived in Maine for 43 years) and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson (born March 1948 in Marengo County, Alabama; age 55; lived in Maine for 3.5 years)

  Full-Length Interview: Home is Where I Make It: Jackson, Rev. Albert and Clemmie Jackson

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  Mr. Richard Terrence on Leisure (Interview Excerpt)

  Rachel Talbot-Ross

  Interviewer: Rachel Talbot-Ross

  Interviewee: Mr. Richard Terrence

  Interviewer: "It sounds like you’re spent a great deal of your time in Gorham, but while you were living in Portland, was there anything particular about neighborhoods you were living in? Did you socialize with your neighbors?"

  Mr. Richard Terrence : “Yes. More so in Portland, than in either Gorham or South Portland, and that was because my children were growing up in Portland at that time. So their interactions usually bring interactions. Usually get involved. But I was very busy in Portland, too. I was trying to finish college up and also start my first full-time job with the government, with CETA, so I didn’t have a lot of time to interact. But one of the things that I do is I sing and I do theater. I did a lot of that. And so I did interact with the communities based on singing arrangements and doing theater.”

  Interviewer: "Was your wife working at this time as well?"

  Mr. Richard Terrence “She was working at Fairchild Semiconductor, and she’s been there like about 25 years. So the whole time I was going to school and the kids were growing up she’d work nights. I’d go to school in the days. That’s basically how we did.”

  Interviewer: "What’s one of your favorite performances? Do you remember? What sticks out?"

  Mr. Richard Terrence “A couple of them. I did Showboat. I did that twice: I did it back in the early 70s and then I just did it 3 years ago. I did it 3 years ago for the Lyric Theater. And I’m proud to say I’ve come a long way. I was given a professional contract this last time. Brunswick Music Theater signed me to a professional contract. As life would have it, you know, I had the choice of leaving my job or going to Broadway – a chance I’ve been waiting for all my life – and the timing wasn’t right.”

  Interviewer: "Tough decision."

  Mr. Richard Terrence : “Tough decision. And I did The Wiz, which is one of my favorite shows. Did that twice. I’d say Showboat and The Wiz were my favorites.”

  Interviewer: "And they, that was touring just locally?"

  Mr. Richard Terrence “Lyric Theater I did Showboat and The Wiz. And then I did, I’ve done all three, the local theater: Lyric, Portland Players. And then we reprised The Wiz again at a small theater in Salmon Falls, Maine.”

  Interviewer: "Now The Wiz is a Black…

  Mr. Richard Terrence “Yes, it’s a Black version that Dianna Ross and Michael Jackson did.”

  Interviewer: "So were there enough Black players?"

  Mr. Richard Terrence “It never was. They were never able to cast enough. And that was, that was the fun part of it: that interacting with the other actors. The white actors really tried hard to create those roles and it was great to be able to help them kinda reprise the roles.”

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  Reverend Albert Jackson (born in Slabfork, Virginia; age 61; lived in Maine for 43 years) and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson (born March 1948 in Marengo County, Alabama; age 55; lived in Maine for 3.5 years)

  Full Length Interview: Home is Where I Make It: Jackson, Rev. Albert and Clemmie Jackson

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  Mr. James Mathews on Leisure

  Maureen Elgersman-Lee

  Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

  Interviewee: Mr. James Mathews (age 59; born 1941 in Portland Maine; married with five children; lived in Maine all his life – lived in South Portland for over 26 years)

  Mr. James Mathews: “Well, basically I would say that we all try to get together. Say we go down to Connecticut to my son's house and fellowship with his family. My daughter and her family would go down also. And they would come up here And Christmas is usually held over at our house because we seem to have at the moment the largest space and it was easier to get everybody together at our house, where we live now. We go to my daughter's house for Thanksgiving and other special days and fellowship over there and so on, and just generally have a good time. So we travel to the various homes, you know. Since I live in South Portland, my daughter lives in Portland, and my son lives in Connecticut, we're closer together. And then my daughters will come up from either Florida or Norfolk and they'll visit in the summer, or one of my daughters came back home for Christmas. So we do a lot of getting together.”

  Original Recording – (26:54-28:25) “...I believe that for my parents the big tradition at the time was getting together on Fourth of July, and going up to Sebago Lake. And we would all meet. At one time we would all meet at the church I belong to, Green Memorial AME Zion Church on Munjoy Hill. And when I first started going as a child, the church would rent a bus and we would go up there, to Sebago Lake, and all picnic together. And everybody came from far away, Washington, D.C., and other parts of our family would all come together. And that used to be the big day where everybody would get together and it was quite a 'to do.' And then as people either moved away or things started getting crowded at the lake or whatever, for me personally, the tradition kind of went by the way side. We wouldn't go to the lake, but we may see everybody up on Munjoy Hill where the Fisher family lived. We would all congregate up there and then we'd go up for the fireworks that they had on the promenade and like that.”