Spinner: People and Culture in Southeastern Massachusetts, Volume V

Spinner V is the latest addition to the award-winning Spinner series. It contains 12 beautifully woven tales with historic photographs and original illustrations.

Drawing on oral history, old newspapers and family scrapbooks, "Judgment Day" brings back the days of New Bedford's colorful Mayor Edward C. Peirce, who was convicted of gambling related crimes. It is the story of a man who reached the pinnacle of success, only to be brought down by the opposing forces of his time. In "Between Heaven & Hell," witness the devastation and resolve in the Flint neighborhood when Fall River's cherished Note Dame Church burned to the ground in 1982.

Spinner has uncovered two extraordinary journals of local and international interest, each with it's own reflections on war and America. In "Unforgettable Days," Natalie Kaplan recounts her girlhood in Russia, her work as a young nurse in the Red Army, and her emigration to New Bedford. "The Fall River Nanny" is the diary of a young Englishwomen, Annie Ward, who came to America in 1914 to work in the house of a mill owner. Her bittersweet journal recalls the romance and gaiety of Fall River, but is laced with anguish as her homeland and her loved ones are drawn into World War I.

Two area institutions remind us of the strength and character that can be developed as a result of childhood struggles. In "At St. Mary's Doorstep," Raymond Rivard tells about his teenage years as a resident of St. Mary's Home for Children in New Bedford. "Children of Sol-e-Mar" is a fond recollection of life at a South Dartmouth hospital for crippled children in the days before penicillin.

In "Heritage Harvest," the culinary Worlds of the Indians and settlers mix, bringing us the johnnycake, the clambake and more. A special feature, "Milton Silvia: As I Saw It," showcases a treasury of photographs taken during Milt's long career with The Standard-Times. In "Trolley Days," pictures and personal accounts bring back city streetcars, while "The Progress of Bloomerism" tracks the coming of the new fashion in the 1850's. Finally, "Rum Running in Westport" tells what life was like in Westport during Prohibition.

This is the world of Spinner: words and photographs, oral history and journals. It is a world we all have in common as human beings.