In June 1943 Antonio Milietello, the owner and oldest fisherman aboard the fishing vessel Alden, working out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and his Italian crew welcomed on deck Gordon Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) a celebrated photographer with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and Office of War Information (OWI).
Parks earned his fellowship with the FSA (later absorbed by the OWI) with a 1941 exhibition of his photojournalism of Chicago’s South Side. Parks was a civil right activists who wanted his camera to be a“weapon against poverty and racism”.
The dories pulling in their nets, seen from the mother ship’s cabin window
The nets drop fifteen fathoms deep, but a smart school of mackerel sometimes swim beneath them
The men pull their nets in and try again
Fishermen cleaning mackerel
The crew of the fishing boat Alden sending up baskets of mackerel to dock stevedores
Italian spaghetti is served after a hard day’s work. The men eat large portions, for it may be another twelve hours before they sit down to another meal
Maps of different sea routes in the ceiling of the skipper’s cabin
Men playing cards as the ship heads home with a hold full of fish
Fishermen pulling in the nets at night. They often work from sunrise to sunset without stopping
Fishermen pulling in their seining net fourty-five miles off Gay Head
A dory with men, being towed during a mackerel chase
Fishermen sitting about the deck on the first morning
Fishermen sitting about the deck on the first morning
The large dip net releasing mackerel on the deck
Ship’s cook preparing to broil freshly-caught mackerel for supper
Freshly-caught mackerel gasping and flapping on the deck
Seining boat being towed by the Alden
The bow of a dory being towed by the Alden
Engineer Pasquale Maniscoleo
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Fishermen on the boat
On board the fishing boat Alden, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Fishermen chasing a school of mackerel
On board the fishing boat Alden, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Late evening scene at sea
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Pasquale Maniscaleo, enginee
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Antonio Tiano, Italian fisherman
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Antonio Milietello, the oldest fisherman aboard
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Vito Coppola, cook
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The tattoed arm of a fisherman
On board the fishing boat Alden, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Dominic Tello, Italian fisherman
On board the fishing boat Alden, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Putting out to sea
On board the fishing boat Alden out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Vito Gioclone. Gloucester, Massachusetts
Large dip net transferring mackerel from nets to the Alden deck. Gloucester, Massachusetts
Frank Mineo, owner and skipper of the New England fishing boat Alden. Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gordon Parks, FSA/OWI photographer. 1943. Prints and Photographs Division.
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