Vivian Milligan's Story
Vivian Milligan is a community elder and community historian.
This is her story...
"I would not trade my childhood for nothing in life. I grew up in a brown shingled house, we had no running water, we would have to go down into the woods and to the springs to carry buckets and jugs of water. We did not have electricity. We had to use the outhouse which was so far away from the house. My dad died in 1989…Thank god he liked to take pictures because if you watch Mann v. Ford the original footage is from my dad’s 8mm from when they were bringing those trucks in there with that stuff. That’s my dad’s originals that I let them use for Mann v. Ford. We did not have telephones, we did not have TV, we depended on kerosene lamps for light, and we didn’t have a gas stove. We had one stove that was a wood stove that provided heat and that was where you did your cooking. See, because where we live is like a circle and we’re all family, and the good thing is, we can sit and tell you everybody who lives in this house, every single house. Who you can trust, who not to trust, this and that and whatever. I feel that we are a very unique group of people. When Ford Motor Company used to bring the contamination, they also brought wiring. It was copper wiring and lo and behold, we took that back to the junkyard and you could make a good amount of money. That’s why everybody was there and they wasn’t thinking about the chemicals from the truck. Everyone was reaching to grab some wires so that they could try to survive...And as they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So me, in my backyard, what’s left of Peter’s Mine, is all the structures and the remnants of that are there. And it’s so nice and accessible for our guys to go hunting because it is really nice there. I love it. Everybody says “move.”Here’s what I say: I been there that many years, alright? If I’ve withheld all that contamination, and I move to Texas, is it gonna disappear? So, what’s the point. What I’m saying is I’ve been here, I withheld it, I’ve been through the worst of it.
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Title
Vivian Milligan's Story
Vivian Milligan is a community elder and community historian.
This is her story...
"I would not trade my childhood for nothing in life. I grew up in a brown shingled house, we had no running water, we would have to go down into the woods and to the springs to carry buckets and jugs of water. We did not have electricity. We had to use the outhouse which was so far away from the house. My dad died in 1989…Thank god he liked to take pictures because if you watch Mann v. Ford the original footage is from my dad’s 8mm from when they were bringing those trucks in there with that stuff. That’s my dad’s originals that I let them use for Mann v. Ford. We did not have telephones, we did not have TV, we depended on kerosene lamps for light, and we didn’t have a gas stove. We had one stove that was a wood stove that provided heat and that was where you did your cooking. See, because where we live is like a circle and we’re all family, and the good thing is, we can sit and tell you everybody who lives in this house, every single house. Who you can trust, who not to trust, this and that and whatever. I feel that we are a very unique group of people. When Ford Motor Company used to bring the contamination, they also brought wiring. It was copper wiring and lo and behold, we took that back to the junkyard and you could make a good amount of money. That’s why everybody was there and they wasn’t thinking about the chemicals from the truck. Everyone was reaching to grab some wires so that they could try to survive...And as they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So me, in my backyard, what’s left of Peter’s Mine, is all the structures and the remnants of that are there. And it’s so nice and accessible for our guys to go hunting because it is really nice there. I love it. Everybody says “move.”Here’s what I say: I been there that many years, alright? If I’ve withheld all that contamination, and I move to Texas, is it gonna disappear? So, what’s the point. What I’m saying is I’ve been here, I withheld it, I’ve been through the worst of it.
Vivian Milligan is a community elder and community historian.
This is her story...
"I would not trade my childhood for nothing in life. I grew up in a brown shingled house, we had no running water, we would have to go down into the woods and to the springs to carry buckets and jugs of water. We did not have electricity. We had to use the outhouse which was so far away from the house. My dad died in 1989…Thank god he liked to take pictures because if you watch Mann v. Ford the original footage is from my dad’s 8mm from when they were bringing those trucks in there with that stuff. That’s my dad’s originals that I let them use for Mann v. Ford. We did not have telephones, we did not have TV, we depended on kerosene lamps for light, and we didn’t have a gas stove. We had one stove that was a wood stove that provided heat and that was where you did your cooking. See, because where we live is like a circle and we’re all family, and the good thing is, we can sit and tell you everybody who lives in this house, every single house. Who you can trust, who not to trust, this and that and whatever. I feel that we are a very unique group of people. When Ford Motor Company used to bring the contamination, they also brought wiring. It was copper wiring and lo and behold, we took that back to the junkyard and you could make a good amount of money. That’s why everybody was there and they wasn’t thinking about the chemicals from the truck. Everyone was reaching to grab some wires so that they could try to survive...And as they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So me, in my backyard, what’s left of Peter’s Mine, is all the structures and the remnants of that are there. And it’s so nice and accessible for our guys to go hunting because it is really nice there. I love it. Everybody says “move.”Here’s what I say: I been there that many years, alright? If I’ve withheld all that contamination, and I move to Texas, is it gonna disappear? So, what’s the point. What I’m saying is I’ve been here, I withheld it, I’ve been through the worst of it.
Creator
Lydia Zoe and Diana Randjelovic
Source
Our Land, Our Stories (2022)
Date
2022
Files
Citation
Lydia Zoe and Diana Randjelovic, “Vivian Milligan's Story
Vivian Milligan is a community elder and community historian.
This is her story...
"I would not trade my childhood for nothing in life. I grew up in a brown shingled house, we had no running water, we would have to go down into the woods and to the springs to carry buckets and jugs of water. We did not have electricity. We had to use the outhouse which was so far away from the house. My dad died in 1989…Thank god he liked to take pictures because if you watch Mann v. Ford the original footage is from my dad’s 8mm from when they were bringing those trucks in there with that stuff. That’s my dad’s originals that I let them use for Mann v. Ford. We did not have telephones, we did not have TV, we depended on kerosene lamps for light, and we didn’t have a gas stove. We had one stove that was a wood stove that provided heat and that was where you did your cooking. See, because where we live is like a circle and we’re all family, and the good thing is, we can sit and tell you everybody who lives in this house, every single house. Who you can trust, who not to trust, this and that and whatever. I feel that we are a very unique group of people. When Ford Motor Company used to bring the contamination, they also brought wiring. It was copper wiring and lo and behold, we took that back to the junkyard and you could make a good amount of money. That’s why everybody was there and they wasn’t thinking about the chemicals from the truck. Everyone was reaching to grab some wires so that they could try to survive...And as they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So me, in my backyard, what’s left of Peter’s Mine, is all the structures and the remnants of that are there. And it’s so nice and accessible for our guys to go hunting because it is really nice there. I love it. Everybody says “move.”Here’s what I say: I been there that many years, alright? If I’ve withheld all that contamination, and I move to Texas, is it gonna disappear? So, what’s the point. What I’m saying is I’ve been here, I withheld it, I’ve been through the worst of it.,” Our Land, Our Stories, accessed April 20, 2024, http://our-land-our-stories.libraries.rutgers.edu/items/show/229.
Vivian Milligan is a community elder and community historian.
This is her story...
"I would not trade my childhood for nothing in life. I grew up in a brown shingled house, we had no running water, we would have to go down into the woods and to the springs to carry buckets and jugs of water. We did not have electricity. We had to use the outhouse which was so far away from the house. My dad died in 1989…Thank god he liked to take pictures because if you watch Mann v. Ford the original footage is from my dad’s 8mm from when they were bringing those trucks in there with that stuff. That’s my dad’s originals that I let them use for Mann v. Ford. We did not have telephones, we did not have TV, we depended on kerosene lamps for light, and we didn’t have a gas stove. We had one stove that was a wood stove that provided heat and that was where you did your cooking. See, because where we live is like a circle and we’re all family, and the good thing is, we can sit and tell you everybody who lives in this house, every single house. Who you can trust, who not to trust, this and that and whatever. I feel that we are a very unique group of people. When Ford Motor Company used to bring the contamination, they also brought wiring. It was copper wiring and lo and behold, we took that back to the junkyard and you could make a good amount of money. That’s why everybody was there and they wasn’t thinking about the chemicals from the truck. Everyone was reaching to grab some wires so that they could try to survive...And as they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So me, in my backyard, what’s left of Peter’s Mine, is all the structures and the remnants of that are there. And it’s so nice and accessible for our guys to go hunting because it is really nice there. I love it. Everybody says “move.”Here’s what I say: I been there that many years, alright? If I’ve withheld all that contamination, and I move to Texas, is it gonna disappear? So, what’s the point. What I’m saying is I’ve been here, I withheld it, I’ve been through the worst of it.,” Our Land, Our Stories, accessed April 20, 2024, http://our-land-our-stories.libraries.rutgers.edu/items/show/229.