Jim Crook Collection

jim crookAbout Jim Crook

Jim Crook's family homesteaded English Camp in 1875 shortly after the Pig War when Jim was just about one year old. Jim lived out at English Camp until his death at age 93 caring for the land and the people on it. Jim Crook’s spirit of ingenuity and resourcefulness represent a way of life highly valued and still practiced on our island. He was an inventer, farmer, carpenter, brother, and neighbor. If something needed doing, he did it. If something needed building, he built it. If something needed inventing, he invented it. By many accounts he was a bit of a curmudgeon. A little gruff and rough with the softest heart you can imagine. He may be most well known for the carder he invented, but he is most remembered for his kind and generous soul.

About the Collection

Items in the collection include photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, equipment, clothing, bowling balls, audio interviews, and video. Highlights are the audio recordings of islanders Jim Cahail, Al Sundstorm, and Jerry Jameson talking about their memories of Jim Crook, and an audio recording of Jim Crook reading his poem "My Life Story".