Arnold Jarmak
In 1974, over the objections of many people across Cape Ann, the Fishermen’s Institute on Duncan’s Street in Gloucester was razed as part of Urban Renewal. In 2019, photographer Arnold Jarmak gave the Cape Ann Museum a suite of 10 black and white photographs he took as the building was being razed. The images capture the final days of the imposing brick structure’s existence and some of the faces of the retired fishermen that the organization served during its final months in operation.
The Gloucester Fishermen’s Institute was founded in 1892 to provide shelter, a warm meal and friendship to fishermen working out of the port. In terms of the number of men served, the Institute was at its height during late 1890s and early 1900s when seamen flooded the port. As Gloucester’s fishing industry constricted during the first half of the 20th century and government supported social agencies grew, the Fishermen’s Institute fell out of favor. By the 1960s, it was clear that the organization was no longer carrying out its original mission and that their aging building was too much for them to care for. Despite last minute lobbying to save the building, it was taken down. The Institute continued to provide services to fishermen for several more years, but not housing. The long copper sign and the pair of lamps that once graced the façade of the building are also in the Cape Ann Museum's collection.
Jarmak was in his early 20s when he came to Gloucester, in search of new surroundings and his path in life. What he found was an old city that was changing quickly. He landed a job with Capt. Joe Novello, taking the fishing vessel Lady of Good Voyage from Gloucester to Honduras and ultimately stayed on Cape Ann for three years. Of his time in this city, Jarmak says that it “enabled me to step out of my skin and grow into a new one.”
