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MORNINGS ON MAPLE STREET VOLUME TWO |
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Mildred Griffith, Page One |
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Mildred Griffiths, 9 Pleasant
St., 13 yrs. old. A regular packer in Blanchard's Sardine Factory. Makes $1.00 to $2.00 a day. Sometimes works until midnight.
Location: Eastport, Maine, August 1911, Lewis Hine. "My dad had one picture of her as an adult, but it was interesting to see
one of her as a young girl. My wife thinks she was very pretty." -Richard Knowles, grandson
of Mildred Griffith
According to the Sanborn Insurance Map Co, there were eight
fish cannery companies operating in Eastport in 1911. Seacoast Canning had six separate locations. The canneries covered slightly
less than a mile along the coastline facing the Bay of Fundy. The bustling port city had a population of about 5,000 residents.
Nearly every family had at least one member who either worked at the canneries or did commercial fishing. Hiram Blanchard
& Sons, the cannery where Mildred worked, was located at the corner of Warren and Madison Streets, just a few blocks north
of downtown Eastport.
The cannery would have been about a 15-minute walk from
Mildred's house at 9 Pleasant Street, which was in the south end of the city. That house is no longer there, but a large Victorian
house at 11 Pleasant Street still stands. I walked around the area, and it appears that Mildred is standing near the shore
just south of Pleasant Street, and the house at 11 Pleasant Street is the one behind her right shoulder. That would mean that
the next house to the right, the one over her left shoulder, would have been where she lived. Some records indicate that her last name was Griffiths, not Griffith, but her birth
certificate confirms that there was no "s" at the end of her name.
In the photograph, she is wearing nice clothes, and a necklace,
hinting that perhaps Hine took the picture on a Sunday. The other girl, who is only partially revealed, is apparently not
a sister, because her only two sisters were 12 and 13 years older than she. Mildred was a lovely girl, and this is a beautiful
photograph. Sadly, I would soon learn that her mother had already died when she was photographed, and Mildred lived only 31
years. Continue with story, including interview with Mildred's grandson |
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