b. Galveston, TX on December 17, 1898
d. Galveston, TX on November 22, 1976
In the fall of 1972, Dan Traverso Sr. reminisced about his life through questions from his grandson, Daniel Traverso III, and Lon Taylor, who at the time was a historian at the University of Texas and later became curator of Southwestern History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Taylor was especially interested in the details of how longshoremen known as cotton screwmen loaded ships around the turn of the century and how they were paid. The Brotherhood of Cotton Screwmen was the second oldest union in Texas, and though much of the history of the organization was documented, Taylor wanted to know details of the work itself. Dan Sr. had been a cotton screwman as a young man, as had his father Peter Traverso, Jr. and his grandfather, Daniel Sheppard who immigrated to Galveston after serving in the Union Navy during the Civil War and had been a member of the Brotherhood since the 1870's. Sheppard's membership in the Brotherhood helped secure places in the union for his son-in-law and grandson.
In this audio, Daniel Traverso, III and Lon Taylor are visiting Dan Sr. at Danny Jr.'s. house in Galveston. They ask "Big Dan" about his life in Galveston at the turn of the century, during the First World War, and through the "Roaring Twenties" when Galveston was a wide open resort town and more.
Also present and sometimes heard in the background are Daniel Traverso III's wife, Edwina Fredlund, and Danny Jr.'s wife, Della Traverso.
Disc 1, track 1
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Disc 1, track 2
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Disc 2, track 3
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Disc 2, track 4
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