Shipbuilders & Maritime Laborers

Frances Williams worked as a welder in the Charlestown Navy Yard and South Boston Annex during World War II. Her oral history provides a unique perspective as to what it was like working at the Yard during World War II.

Helen Priest worked at the Charlestown Navy Yard as a sheet metal worker and time clerk during World War II.

Elizabeth Dugan worked as a tool keeper in the Charlestown Navy Yard at the height of World War II, from the summer of 1942 to January 1946.

As a marker in the supply department during WWII, Mary Doherty played an integral role in shipping at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

In 1943, 27-year-old Mary O'Brien walked into the Charlestown Navy Yard seeking employment. With her decision, O'Brien took an active role in supporting the country's efforts during World War II.

Virginia Wilder Parker worked as a welder at the Charlestown Navy Yard during World War II. Parker excelled in her craft, becoming one of only seven women employed by the Navy in Boston to be promoted to welder, second class.

Michael Finnegan was a Buffalo Soldier in the 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry. After his military career was over, he was on a steamship that was sunk by a German Submarine in 1917.

As a young boy, Michael Shiner witnessed the burning of Washington D.C. in 1814.

Louis Lee served as the staff photographer of the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company's Vancouver shipyards.

Arguably, Captain Meriwether Lewis's four-footed companion, a Newfoundland waterdog by the name of Seaman, eventually became one of the most famous members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He began his tour, however, in almost total obscurity and there he remained for more than a century.