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Mr. James Mathews interview clip

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Title:

Mr. James Mathews interview clip

Creator:

James Mathews; Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Date Created:

2001-03-31

Description:

James Mathews was born at Maine General Hospital in Portland, Maine, in 1941. He had four siblings; his father, Oscar Mathews, Jr., was a cook for the railroad that ran between Portland and Boston, and his mother, Llewena Hill Mathews, was one of the first graduates of the Gorham Normal School. His father’s family emigrated from Nova Scotia. As a child, he lived with his aunt and uncle in South Portland; the family moved to another home in South Portland when the state took their home to build I-295. Mathews graduated from Portland High School in 1960, and graduated from Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute with an associate’s degree in electronics. He worked for AT&T for thirty seven years. He married Lorene Mathews and had five children. At the time of the interview, he had been a member of the NAACP for thirty five years, serving as the president in the early 1970s, and was an active member of the Green Memorial AME Zion Church. He discusses raising children, family traditions, and what makes the Portland African American community special.

Subjects:

Education Employment Firefighting Family

Location:

Portland, ME

Latitude:

43.65830234

Longitude:

-70.25811361

Source:

University of Southern Maine, Elgersman-Lee, Maureen and Mathews, James (2001). Home Is Where I Make It Oral History Project. 4.

Type:

Sound

Format:

audio/mp3

Digital Commons URL:

https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/aa_hiwimi/4