Alison Guinness interviews

Alison Guinness became a student in Wesleyan University’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program in 1983. She began by studying French and English, but took some classes in the Earth & Environmental Science department. Professor Jelle de Boer received a grant from the Rockfall Foundation to study the geological resources of Connecticut, and asked her to do the part of the project on the Portland brownstone quarries. Since then, she has continued to study a variety of topics relating to the use of natural resources. At the time of these interviews, she is an archaeologist for a Cultural Resource Management firm and continues to study and educate people about the brownstone quarries. Alison Guinness has been instrumental in shaping the way we understand the Portland brownstone quarries. Her roles as a researcher, educator, and activist for preservation have helped the Portland community understand its history and resources. In the interviews, she tells stories about the history of the quarries and of her own relationship with them and with the Portland community. She asks us to pass the stories along.