Don Barker grew up on a farm in Rumford, Maine, and worked in Rumford’s paper mill for 42 years. At the mill, Barker was a shop steward and, for four years, President of the union. Barker also chaired..
Don Barker grew up on a farm in Rumford, Maine, and worked in Rumford’s paper mill for 42 years. At the mill, Barker was a shop steward and, for four years, President of the union. Barker also chaired the Pulp and Paperworkers’ Resource Council (PPRC) and lobbied in Washington and Augusta on the organization’s behalf. Mrs. Barker grew up in downtown Rumford. The Barkers are raising two girls.
This interview covers the Barkers’ biographical details; childhood games; hunting and fishing conditions; Rumford’s changing population; car traffic; Rumford’s paper mill: jobs, the impact of technolo..
This interview covers the Barkers’ biographical details; childhood games; hunting and fishing conditions; Rumford’s changing population; car traffic; Rumford’s paper mill: jobs, the impact of technology, the union, and lumber supply; paper production politics: the PPRC, Total Maximum Daily Loads, jobs versus the environment, mill-sponsored children’s programs, dioxin/Cluster Rules, mill-sponsored environmental interventions, and Gulf Island Pond issues; Rumford’s relationship to the Androscoggin: waste disposal, timber transportation, employment, beauty, ice production, recreation, and real estate; Barker’s concern for the forest; and potential oral history contacts.
Copyright Bates College. This transcript is provided for individual Research Purposes Only; for all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be ob..
Copyright Bates College. This transcript is provided for individual Research Purposes Only; for all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: The Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College, 70 Campus Avenue, Lewiston, Maine 04240-6018.
