Elder Interview-James Danforth
A.2008.001.095 PP
Name/Title
Elder Interview-James DanforthEntry/Object ID
A.2008.001.095Tags
Missing, Needs Accession Sheet, Needs Location, Needs PhotoDescription
Danforth, James Lawrence Born 2/22/1948 Parents: Leslie John Danforth and Eva May (Schuyler) Danforth Maternal Grandparents: James Schuyler and Hattie (Moore) Schuyler Paternal Grandparents: John Danforth and Amy (Skenandore) Danforth He went to school at Chicago Corners and then Crystal Springs Grade School. He went to Seymour High School for high school and graduated from there. Throughout his high school years he was involved in a lot of different sports. He remembers having to pick beans, cucumbers, and corn at his grandparents’ house and at a few aunts’ houses to. His family did most of their shopping at Seymour and Green Bay. After high school he went to Milwaukee to tech school and dropped out after 6 months. His parents didn’t speak the Oneida language. He never got to meet his Grandpa Danforth. He passed away before James was born. His grandpa Schuyler did some construction work and moved some homes to different locations. He doesn’t remember his Grandpa Schuyler working outside of home. James married Joanne and had 4 children. His father worked in Detroit when James was around 2 years old. Then they moved back to Oneida when he was around 7 years old. His father worked as a U.S Paper Mill in De Pere. He was there for 40 years then retired. His mother worked doing house cleaning for different families. She became involved with the state employment company and she started working there. James got drafted in 1968. He did his boot camp in Fort Campbell Kentucky. When he finished boot camp he was sent overseas to Vietnam for 1 year. He came home after spending 3 years in the Army. His first job was working at James River for 3 years. His second job was at Pauly Cheese for 1 year. Job #3 was building houses for a man in Oneida and he worked there for 2 years. Job #4 was working for grants for school for Deputy Sheriffs Program through Outagamie County for 1 year. Outagamie hired him for Deputy Sheriff for 11 years he then retired from there at age 55. He belongs to the Oneida Methodist Church. He was hired as a police officer when the tribe started their police force. All the officers that where hired through them went to schooling in Appleton. When they first started their police force their office was at the Norbert Hill Center than they were moved to Site #2 at Community Center Building. In 1985 Brown County didn’t want Oneida to have a police force so Brown County and Outagamie County fought over the tribal police force. In 1985 there was a law suit filed against the Tribal Police Force in Milwaukee but was dismissed. The Oneida Tribal Force was finally recognized as a police service to both Outagamie and Brown County. He remembers one time when he went to school in Chicago Corners and they went across the street to Massa’s Store and taking a pair of sunglasses. He had to pay for them from his saving he had and dint get to keep the sunglasses either. He also remembers when snow banks use to be as high as the telephone lines on the polls, it use to take them more than one day to shovel back then.Recording Type
Audio/VisualCollection
Elder InterviewsCataloged By
Gerzetich, Courtney (Cottrell)Category
Digital Media, Military