Pepere Donat Bourassa as an overseer in the Manomet Mill
Description:
'My grandfather worked in the mills when he was a boy, getting paid 4 cents per hour. Through hard work and education, he worked his way up to overseer. I liked the way how this photo depicts how the women carried the slack when the men went world War I. Grandfather got a deferment because the mill bosses needed his expertise as the production switched over to the war effort. Donat Bourassa was born in Durham Sud in 1881 and came to New Bedford by train around 1886. He began working in the mills, but he did educate himself. He went to the textile School on Purchase Street at night. He met my grandmother at the Sacred Heart Church. They married in 1906 at the same church. Her maiden name was Anna Gonneville. Her parents were prominent in the French-Canadian Community. They owned a grocery store in the South End on County Street. Pictured: Donat Bourassa (second row, far right).'
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