America Works

Patrick Palmer, the owner-operator of Thornapple Farm and Draft Trash in New Haven, Vermont, talks about his horse-based trash collecting business with documentarian Virgina Nickerson for the Occupat…

Bill Favaro, who, with his brother Sam is the owner and proprietor of Favaro’s Rod & Reel Repair Shop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, talks with folklorist Douglas Manger about how his business developed …

Juan Salcido Sanchez, who like his father before him, works behind-the-scenes at leading racetracks throughout the United States as a groom and caretaker for elite racehorses, talks with folklorist E…

Alison Smith, founder and director of Addi’s Eats Pet Food and Supply Pantry, a food bank that assists pets and their care givers in Bismark, North Dakota, speaks with documentarians Margaret Mary Mi…

For several generations, the small town of Hugo in southeastern Oklahoma has been a “wintering over” town for family-owned circuses. Many of its residents are working or retired circus workers and ci…

As part of a larger Occupational Folklife Project on “Grass-Roots Agriculture in Vermont,” Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting, owners of Maple Wind Farm in Huntington, Vermont, talk with folklorist And…

Natalie Ameral, a port sampler in the large fishing port of New Beford, Massachusetts, talks with fieldworker Madeleine Hall-Arber about her specialized job collecting and analyzing the species, size…

Master taxidermist Sonny Amato, who has been operating his own taxidermy business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for over 50 years, talks about learning and plying his trade with folklorist Doug Manger, …

Dale Baumgartener, long-time Head Cheese Maker at the Tillamook County Creamery Association, a farmer-owned cheese and dairy cooperative, talks with folklorist Jared Schmidt for his Occupational Folk…

Phuong Mai Nguyen and her husband Amp Phettaphong, owners of the popular Indochine Café in Columbus, Ohio, came to the US as refugees and, after working a variety of other jobs, stared their own rest…

German sausage maker George Neiden, who owns and runs the Old Country Sausage Kitchen in Maple Heights, Ohio, talks with folklorist Lucy Long about learning and plying his trade – (and the delight he…

Jade Sato, the founder and owner of Minoru Farm in Brighton, Colorado, talks with documentarian Katelyn Reuther about being part of a growing movement of Asian American farmers, many of them women, w…

Emily Daniel, one of a small but growing number of female agricultural pilots – or, as they are often referred to, “crop dusters” – talks with documentarian Ellen Kendricks about learning to fly plan…

Alfred Quijance talks with documentarian Josh Wisneski for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council’s Occupational Folklife Project “Beyond the Breakwater: Gulf of Alaska Small Boat Fishermen.” He talk…

April Matson, Manager of the Pitt Stop food concession at the legendary Ransomville Speedway, a family-owned dirt track racecourse in western New York, talks with folklorist Edward Millar about her j…

David Swett, the owner of Swett’s Restaurant, a family-owned establishment and culinary landmark in Nashville, Tennessee since 1954, talks with documentarian Candacy Taylor about running an African A…

Jeremy Presar is a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service based out of the French Creek, West Virginia Post Office. Now in his sixth year as a mail carrier, he tells folklorist Emily Hilliard about…

Shanda Dunn of Lexington, Kentucky, talks with folklorist Ethan Sharp about being a Peer Support Worker as part of his larger Occupational Folklife Project “Hope for Recovery.” Shanda explains how sh…

Jobie Hill, an architect and historic preservation specialist from Iowa City, Iowa, explains how her interest in her own African American heritage led her to become an expert on the documentation, pr…

Barbara Norman, a blueberry farmer from Covert, Michigan, speaks with oral historian Anna-Lisa Cox about growing up on her family’s farm as part a larger Occupational Folklife Project documenting “Mu…