Great Cranberry Library Collection

SummaryThe Great Cranberry Library Collection consists of seven reels of film shot between 1930 and 1939. The majority of the footage shows people engaging in traditional summer activities on the island, primarily boating. The reels contain footage of the many different boats that inhabit and pass through the islands. Sailboats dominate the shots, including footage of a sailboat race, but the films also show people in motorboats, rowboats, dories, launches, schooners and even a steamer. Other activities recorded include swimming, lounging on the shore, cookouts on the beach, and exploring the islands. Notably, footage depicts lobster and herring fishermen at work and includes shots of men demonstrating the tools of their trade to a group of young boys.

Biographical/Historical NotesLloyd B. Hayes moved to Great Cranberry Island in the town of Cranberry Isles, Maine, in 1924 with his wife Rachel L. Millard shortly after they were married. Two years later, they bought a house above Spurling Cove which they proceeded to restore and renovate. In 1930, friend and fellow islander Les Rice built them a twenty-five foot launch christened Lorae. It was from this boat that Lloyd hailed President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his schooner while the president was passing by the island in 1933. Lloyd took a job in Washington, D.C., with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in the early 1930s, but the couple returned to the island often. Following their move, Rachel and a few other women ran a summer boarding house on Great Cranberry Island until the end of the 1930s. Lloyd was an avid photographer and ran a lecture series for a time at the Boston City Club.

RepositoryNortheast Historic Film

AvailabilityThe Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and UseAuthorization to reuse and/or reproduce must be obtained from Northeast Historic Film. See http://www.oldfilm.org/research for more information.