Mr. James Sheppard on Education and Employment

You can listen to the full interview and read a transcript HERE. James Sheppard was born in New York City in 1924, to parents who had just emigrated from Antigua. He was the eldest of four siblings. He graduated high school in 1942, and served in the Army during World War II. He worked as an aviation mechanic after the war; in 1957 he was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration as an inspector, a job he continued until he retired in 1985. He married twice, and had five children and seven grandchildren. His family moved to Westbrook, Maine, in 1971, when the FAA transferred him to work at the Portland Jetport. He was an active member of the Lions Club, and mentored local students. He discusses raising children, his family history in the Caribbean, discrimination he has faced as an African American throughout his life, Portland’s growing community of African immigrants, and cultural differences between Maine and New York City. Mr. James Sheppard on Education and Employment “My experiences raising children? Well, seeing to it that they attended school and seeing to it that they did their homework. That sort of thing. That\u27s standard I guess; regular stuff, I guess. I don\u27t know how to answer that. Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took them with us. In addition to seeing to it that they did their work at school. And they excelled, especially the one that\u27s a professor now. The youngest one gained. You know, you learn a lot. You don\u27t know anything with your first son; you get better as you have more children. By the time number five was born, we knew exactly how to channel things. And I think that\u27s why he came out number one. With my first son, I didn\u27t learn anything. [laughter] I shouldn\u27t say that; he\u27s the horticulturalist in New York.”https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we5quotes/1017/thumbnail.jp

Sheppard, James

James Sheppard was born in New York City in 1924, to parents who had just emigrated from Antigua. He was the eldest of four siblings. He graduated high school in 1942, and served in the Army during World War II. He worked as an aviation mechanic after the war; in 1957 he was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration as an inspector, a job he continued until he retired in 1985. He married twice, and had five children and seven grandchildren. His family moved to Westbrook, Maine, in 1971, when the FAA transferred him to work at the Portland Jetport. He was an active member of the Lions Club, and mentored local students. He discusses raising children, his family history in the Caribbean, discrimination he has faced as an African American throughout his life, Portland’s growing community of African immigrants, and cultural differences between Maine and New York City.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/aa_hiwimi/1013/thumbnail.jp

Mr. James Sheppard on Leisure

Interviewer: Sanela Zukic Interviewee: Mr. James Sheppard (born in New York City in 1924; both his parents immigrated from Antigua in the West Indies to Canada, then they came to the United States in 1923; moved to Maine in 1971). “But in addition to that we\u27d have lots of summer events: picnics and that sort. But that\u27s separate; that\u27s a different thing.” “Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took them with us.” “We\u27re spread out so far around, we\u27re spread out so much so that we have little reunions, little itty baby reunions. This past Christmas, my wife and I went down to Antigua, the same place where my parents were born. And while we were there we spent two weeks gathering all our relatives together, and we all got together on Christmas Day. We went down there at Christmas. I have one aunt that\u27s still alive; she was born in maybe 1915-somewhere around there. So she\u27s still alive, up there in age. And the cousins, their children. I have a lot of cousins there in the Caribbean. And we had a couple of get-togethers down there. Christmas and that. We plan to do it again this year. Whenever any of them travel to the United States, we try to set up a date where we can get together and everyone can see each other. So we do have that sort of family reunion. But they\u27re not formal. These aren\u27t things when you send letters out a some families do. They have reunions in nice, you know, rented places, ballrooms, and all that sort of thing. But we don\u27t do that.”https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we4_leisurequotes/1003/thumbnail.jp

Parenting Attitudes and Behaviors: Mr. James Sheppard

“My experiences raising children? Well, seeing to it that they attended school and seeing to it that they did their homework. That sort of thing. That\u27s standard I guess; regular stuff, I guess. I don\u27t know how to answer that. Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took them with us. In addition to seeing to it that they did their work at school. And they excelled, especially the one that\u27s a professor now. The youngest one gained. You know, you learn a lot. You don\u27t know anything with your first son; you get better as you have more children. By the time number five was born, we knew exactly how to channel things. And I think that\u27s why he came out number one. With my first son, I didn\u27t learn anything. [laughter] I shouldn\u27t say that; he\u27s the horticulturalist in New York.”https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we-exist-exhibit-audio/1007/thumbnail.jp

Mr. James Sheppard clip 1

Mr. James Sheppard (born in New York City in 1924; both his parents immigrated from Antigua in the West Indies to Canada, then they came to the United States in 1923; moved to Maine in 1971) Audio clip transcript: “Okay, my family. I have three boys and a girl. I\u27ve been married twice. And when I married the second time-I had one son the first marriage-when I remarried, my wife had a daughter, so that made two children right off the bat. And then I had three more children after her. And that comes up to five, right? They all started school in New York City. They all attended public school in New York City until I moved up here. In 1971 I moved to Maine. And they transferred to the local schools in Westbrook; they completed their school in Westbrook. They all went on to college one at a time. And finally the last daughter completed college up at Bates College a few years ago. I attended all the graduations, but I really couldn\u27t even tell you the dates. One son graduated from USM and the youngest boy graduated from MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology-in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Starting with him. He is a professor now in Alabama teaching aerospace engineering; his name is Eric. E-R-I-C. The other boy lives in Kittery, and he\u27s into marketing; that\u27s Robert. R-O-B-E-R-T. He\u27s into marketing. Unfortunately, our daughter passed away in Florida. She contracted something and just couldn\u27t handle it, and she passed away two years ago in Florida. I forgot to mention her before, that\u27s because she passed away. And I have a son in New York City who\u27s a horticulturalist-that\u27s a form of agriculture-in New York City. His name is Arthur. A-R-T-H-U-R…”https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we5audio/1000/thumbnail.jp

Family Demography: Mr. James Sheppard

“Okay, my family. I have three boys and a girl. I\u27ve been married twice. And when I married the second time-I had one son the first marriage-when I remarried, my wife had a daughter, so that made two children right off the bat. And then I had three more children after her. And that comes up to five, right? They all started school in New York City. They all attended public school in New York City until I moved up here. In 1971 I moved to Maine. And they transferred to the local schools in Westbrook; they completed their school in Westbrook. They all went on to college one at a time. And finally the last daughter completed college up at Bates College a few years ago. I attended all the graduations, but I really couldn\u27t even tell you the dates. One son graduated from USM and the youngest boy graduated from MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology-in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Starting with him. He is a professor now in Alabama teaching aerospace engineering; his name is Eric. E-R-I-C. The other boy lives in Kittery, and he\u27s into marketing; that\u27s Robert. R-O-B-E-R-T. He\u27s into marketing. Unfortunately, our daughter passed away in Florida. She contracted something and just couldn\u27t handle it, and she passed away two years ago in Florida. I forgot to mention her before, that\u27s because she passed away. And I have a son in New York City who\u27s a horticulturalist-that\u27s a form of agriculture-in New York City. His name is Arthur. A-R-T-H-U-R…”https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we-exist-exhibit-audio/1006/thumbnail.jp