Jeremy Presar is a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service based out of the French Creek, West Virginia Post Office. Now in his sixth year as a mail carrier, he tells folklorist Emily Hilliard about his 70-mile route, delivering to 600 mailboxes, the challenges posed by animals, weather and being bi-racial in a largely White area as well as the pride he takes in working for America’s “vital lifeline.”

Shanda Dunn of Lexington, Kentucky, talks with folklorist Ethan Sharp about being a Peer Support Worker as part of his larger Occupational Folklife Project “Hope for Recovery.” Shanda explains how she overcame her own complicated past and struggles with substance abuse to train and now, to work alongside clinicians as a counselor for others recovering from substance abuse disorders.

Jobie Hill, an architect and historic preservation specialist from Iowa City, Iowa, explains how her interest in her own African American heritage led her to become an expert on the documentation, preservation, and repurposing of slave dwellings throughout the United States. She talks about her training and professional experiences as an architect and what inspired her to document more than 700 structures built by enslaved African Americans. The interview was conducted by documentarian Sarah Filkins as part of her Occupational Folklife Project on “Women Architects.”

Barbara Norman, a blueberry farmer from Covert, Michigan, speaks with oral historian Anna-Lisa Cox about growing up on her family’s farm as part a larger Occupational Folklife Project documenting “Multigenerational African-Descended Farmers of the Midwest.”

Leah Chase, chef and owner of the legendary Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans talks with documentarian Candacy Taylor in her bustling restaurant for the Occupational Folklife Project “The Green Book: Documenting African American Entrepreneurs.” More than just a James Beard award-winning eating establishment, Dooky Chase’s has served patrons that range from Presidents to Civil Rights leaders and celebrities to Louisianans in search of great food – and explains why she had to slap President Obama’s hand when he tried to put hot sauce on her gumbo.

Jerry Bransford, a seasonal tour guide at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park, tells folklorist Brent Bjorkman how his family’s multi-generational history with the cave led him to become a guide after retiring from a successful corporate career. Members of his family began working as cave guides in the 1830s. Like many of the early guides, they were African Americans and through their knowledge, they became local, national, and even international celebrities, despite being enslaved. He also talks about how his family’s relationship with the Cave was abruptly severed in 1941, when it became a US National Park and all African Americans workers were dismissed; and his wish to make sure today’s park visitors learned about the important contributions his family, and other African Americans cave workers, made in the exploration and development of this celebrated natural wonder.

Marcus Wimby, Director of Haugabrooks Funeral Home in Atlanta, Georgia, talks about his work and career. For more than 90 years, Haugabrooks has been a mainstay of Atlanta’s African American community. Mr. Wimby – a relation to Ms. Geneva Haugabrooks, the dynamic woman who founded the multi-generational business in 1929 -- was interviewed by documentarian Candacy Taylor for her Occupational Folklife Project “The Green Book: Documenting African American Entrepreneurs.”

Damon Walker, a “luthier” or string instrument maker in Durham, North Carolina, talks about his work making and fixing double or ‘upright’ basses with folklorists Katy Clune and Julia Gartell as part of their Occupational Folklife Project “Fixing, Mending, Making New: North Carolina's Repair Professionals.” Mr. Walker – or “Dr. Bass” as he is widely known in the business – explains how his love of music and woodworking combined with years of formal apprenticeship at an atelier led him to became of the very few African American luthiers in the United States.

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with the independent professional wrestler Seymour Ray – a respected athlete who is widely known by his professional name: “Ray Idol.” He was interviewed at his home in Bristol, Tennessee, by folklorist Delainey Bowers as part of her project documenting “Independent Professional Wrestlers in Central Appalachia.”

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with Dr. Susan Morelli, a neonatologist and geneticist who works in Provo, Utah. She was interviewed by folklorist Lisa Gabbert as part of a larger project on “Doctoring,” which documents the training, daily routines, work environments, personal motivations, occupational folklore and humor of contemporary American physicians.

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with Mike Williams, a dirt track auto racer at the famed Ransomville Speedway in western New York. He was interviewed at his home on the Tuscarora Nation by folklorist Edward Millar from the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University.

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with Rosemarie Francis-Primo, a home healthcare aide in Brooklyn, New York. She is a proud member of Domestic Workers United, an advocacy organization that represents Caribbean, Latina, and African nannies, housekeepers, homeworkers, and caregivers in metropolitan New York.

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with Joyce Godbout, a dairy farm manager or herdsperson for the Vincent Farm in Burke, New York. She was interviewed for the Library by folklorist Jill Breit as part of the Library’s Occupational Folklife Project documenting “Dairy Farm Workers in New York's North Country.”

This is AFC staff folklorist Nancy Groce and this America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview with grocery store cashier Luann Miller, who over the past three decades has worked just about every job there is in the grocery business – from shelf re-stocker, to cashier to bagger. When interviewed by folklorist Deborah Fant for the Washington State Workers project, Miller was working at Thriftway, a locally-owned unionized grocery store in West Seattle, Washington.

This America Works episode features excerpts from a longer interview Tina Moore Braimah, a Certified Nurse Midwife and the founder of Sankofa Birth and Women's Care in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was interviewed by folklorists Josephine McRobbie and Joseph O'Connell as part of their Occupational Folklife Project on “Midwives, Doulas, and Birth Workers,” which documented the training, daily routines, experiences, rewards and challenges of birth workers in diverse communities and occupational settings throughout North Carolina.

Interview with cement plant worker Jude Bejarano, who was interviewed by historian Vyta Pivo as part of a project documenting the occupational culture of Cement Workers in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley is considered "the birthplace of the American cement industry.”

West African immigrant Komla Ewu tells oral historian John McKerley about how he left a prestigious but unprofitable teaching career in his native Togo to pursue the American dream. He talks about how he raised the funds needed to pay his way to the U.S., how he found work on the “picnic line” in a giant Midwestern meatpacking plant – (one of America’s most grueling jobs)—and how grateful he is to be an American worker.

Bill Hatch, a farmer, winery work and the owner of Zephaniah Farm Vineyard in Leesburg, Virginia, explains to folklorist Kim Stryker how he transformed his multi-generational family milk and beef farm into a successful winery – and why he loves being part of the wine industry. “Nobody ever asked me about milk and what vintage it was and how did you make it? Nobody ever said: ‘I love your milk!’ but in the wine business, people say: ‘I love your wine!’”

Thomas Sink, who is better known to his many fans as “Popcorn the Circus Comic,” is interviewed by oral historians Tanya Finchum and Juliana Nykolaiszyn as part of their AFC-sponsored Archie Green Fellowship to document traveling circus workers who for decades have “wintered over” and settled in and around Hugo, Oklahoma. Popcorn talks about how, for more than thirty years, he entertained people, young and old, throughout the Midwest. He speaks about his love of his profession, the rush he would get when audiences applauded his routines, and how his pride of being part of the circus community was balanced by the hardships and challenges of being constantly the road.

Kira Fobbs, an elementary school teacher who has devoted her life to teaching 3rd and 4th graders and Special Ed students in the schools of Madison, Wisconsin, is interviewed by folklorist Mark Wagler. Teaching is one of America’s largest professions, yet the voices of classroom teachers are rarely heard. Proud of her own heritage--which includes African American, Swedish and German-Jewish ancestors--she is an innovative, enthusiastic and dedicated teacher. She speaks poignantly about how her personal experiences have helped shape her teaching career.