The record consists of a typed transcript of a taped interview conducted with Howard Potts (1900-1978) on June 16, 1975, by Frank McKelvey (1943-) and Robert A. Howard (1943-2012) of the curatorial staff of the Hagley Museum. During the interview, Potts was asked to view and comment on a series of photos taken at the yard during the time that he worked there.

Potts's responses to the photos account for the bulk of the interview and constitute a fairly detailed description of the processes involved in wooden shipbuilding and sailmaking. Potts also describes his relationship with his father, working-class life in his Poplar Street neighborhood, his attendance at night school, and his passage through the company's apprenticeship program. The records include 35mm slide copies of the images are shown to Potts during the interview, the interviewers' notes, and a digest of a second, unrecorded interview of July 23, 1975.