News in brief BREWER: EASTERN FINE MILL WORKERS’ STORIES WANTED

The Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine is seeking former Eastern Fine Paper Co. workers to tell their stories and experiences about the mill for an oral history project. The purpose of the project is to document and preserve the history and culture of the mill and its workers through a series of tape-recorded interviews. The Folklife Center is looking to interview men and women who worked at the Brewer mill in any capacity. Workers’ accounts of their jobs and how they learned their skills, along with stories about the mill, its people or events that occurred in the mill, including rituals and pranks, are needed. Questions about how the workers felt about their jobs, both before and after the mill’s closing, also will be asked. The information will be included in an exhibit titled “The Writing on the Wall: The Twentieth Century Culture of a Maine Paper Mill” that will open in the Brewer mill once it is redeveloped. Afterward the exhibit will travel throughout the state so that Mainers can learn more about the culture of paper mills and the lives of millworkers. Anyone interested in making an oral history or assisting the Maine Folklife Center with the project can contact Amy Stevens at the center, 5773 South Stevens Hall, Orono 04469-5773 or by calling 581-1891.