Alice J. is glimpsed in Nathaniel L. Champlin’s undated Super 8 film of fishing boats at MacMillan Wharf. [Posted by Andrea Champlin / Facebook / My Grandfathers Provincetown, 27 November 2019] Sharpened by A.I.
Updated on 31 August 2026 | Alice J. — a 26-ton, 50-foot-long fishing vessel built in 1937 — is almost certainly the namesake of Alice (O’Grady) Joseph (1925-2004), the town librarian. Her husband, Capt. Anthony Edward Joseph (1924-2018), was the skipper of Alice J. They lived at 119 Bradford Street, which they purchased in 1948.
Anthony was a Provincetown native, the son of Antone Joseph, a trap fisherman who was naturalized in 1960, and Louise (Perry) Joseph. Anthony’s mother had been brought here in her infancy from São Miguel in the Açores. Upon graduating from Provincetown High School in 1942, in the depths of World War II, Anthony enlisted in the Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s last great counteroffensive, in the winter of 1944-1945.
“Anthony was a fisherman which, as Provincetown people know, is not a job but a way of life,” his obituary said. “He fished the East Coast from Maryland to Maine during his lifetime, and knew every working detail of most of the working draggers in Provincetown. His friend, the late Alfred Silva, who built models of the Provincetown fishing fleet, would often discuss details of each of the boats with Anthony while he was constructing his models.”1
After retiring from fishing, Joseph cared for his wife and attended the parking lot at St. Peter the Apostle Church.
In memoriam
• Alice (O’Grady) Joseph (1925-2004)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 106826591.
• Anthony Edward Joseph (1924-2018)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 106826575.
1 “Anthony E. Joseph, Veteran, February 15, 2018,” Currentobituary.