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Give a Gift that Keeps on Giving
Please help by making
a tax deductible year-end gift to the Annual Fund.
Three Ways to Give:
1. Online
It's easy, fast, and secure. Donate Now!2. By Mail
Send checks payable to
Maine Historical Society (memo: Annual Fund).3. By Phone
Call the development office at (207) 774-1822 and make your gift today. |
Celebrate the Season with MHSclick each listing for more informationHoliday Hours: Mon-Sat, 10-5
Sundays 12-5.
12/16 closing at 4.
12/24 closing at 2.
12/31 closing at 2.
Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
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Spotlight On:
Hannah Russell For many years, Hannah Russell has played an important role in making the Longfellow House look beautiful for the holiday season. A talented and committed gardener and artist, Hannah creates flower arrangements that are festive, period-appropriate, and just plain gorgeous. She has been active at MHS in many capacities. A former trustee, she has served on the Collections Committee and the House and Garden Committee. Make note of the wonderful flowers next time you visit the Longfellow House, and think of Hannah.
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Season's Greetings!
This month is full of hustle and bustle at MHS with an exciting array of holiday activities and programs. It is also the time of year when we reach out to our friends in hopes of securing support for the MHS Annual Fund.
Giving to MHS makes good things happen. It provides new learning experiences for school kids, new support for historical organizations throughout the state, new tools for researchers, and new ways for a world-wide public to understand and enjoy the history of Maine.
And there is much more to come--with your continued help! One of the best ways to support all aspects of our work is to make a gift to the 2010-2011 Annual Fund. If you can make a contribution during this calendar year, it would be a tremendous help.
With best wishes for the holidays,
Richard D'Abate Executive Director
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Stories from Maine Memory Network
"He was bent on capturing a mountain, a wild one, and wanted our help in the momentous enterprise." - Edward Elwell in The Portland Transcript
| | Mount Carrigain Expedition, 1873 |
So begins an account of a challenging 1873 ascent of New Hampshire's Mount Carrigain by a group of avid Portland hikers who had recently formed a club to hike, study, draw, and otherwise explore the White Mountains. This new exhibit recounts that day's difficult hike and the history of the club. View the exhibit.
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With the new year, we are looking forward to another great book group. This year's theme: American historical fiction. Titles will include: The Fort, Bernard Cornwell's new novel featuring Peleg Wadsworth and the Penobscot Expedition; The Big Sky, A.B. Guthrie's classic of the West; As the Earth Turns, Gladys Hasty Carroll's upbeat portrait of Maine during the Depression; and Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann's recent novel about New York City in the 1970s.
 | | Colliers Victory in Penobscot Bay, 1779 |
The group will meet Tuesdays at 7pm in the MHS lecture hall: February 22, March 22, April 26, and May 24. Register now: space is limited and the group fills quickly! Details and registration.
Facilitator Larissa Vigue Picard can be reached at lvpicard@MaineHistory.org.
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From the Collections
The Dave Astor Collection is Ready to Go!
| | Dancers, Dave Astor Show |
Library staff just finished processing a wonderful new addition to the collection: the Dave Astor Papers. The collection contains items related to his career, his work in the Jewish community, and his professional life, with emphasis on his local teen music television program, The Dave Astor Show. See details about the collection here, and look for related programs and items on Maine Memory Network soon!
If you are a fan of MHS on facebook, check out the Dave Astor photo album we have posted there!
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Featured Program
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Longfellow Family Christmas
| | Family Scene, Godey's Lady's Book, 1850 |
Join us for a family holiday celebration. Tour the Wadsworth-Longfellow House to learn how the Longfellow family and children of the era celebrated emerging nineteenth-century Christmas traditions. Create holiday ornaments, crafts, and cards. Sing carols, play games, and listen to poems and stories. Arts and craft activities are free and open to the public. Purchase of tickets required for house tours. More...
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Bill's MythbustersFact Checking with William David Barry, Maine Historian Extraordinaire
CLAIM: St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, was first seen by Mainers in Thomas Nast's cartoons in the 1860s.
REALITY: Yes and no. On January 3, 1863, Harper's Weekly published a cartoon by Thomas Nast of a jolly Santa entertaining the Civil War troops. This was an introduction to the first fully equipped "modern Santa." However, the evolving figure of St. Nicholas was emerging by the 1820s. The earliest Maine visual I am aware of is a woodcut for Henry F. Skerry's jewelry shop in the Bangor Directory of 1851. There, St. Nicholas appears thin and dark-bearded, but he is dropping into a chimney with a bag of toys, his sleigh and reindeer nearby. This woodcut was roughly based on Robert Robert's work which appeared in the New York Mirror in 1841 (pictured above). It was Saint Nick--but not quite the Santa we know today.
Bill Barry can be reached at rdesk@mainehistory.org.
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HOLIDAY SALE
Bring this coupon to the MHS Museum Store in Portland, or use the coupon code "HOLIDAY" at our online store and receive 20% off this classic hardcover book, regularly priced at $12.95.
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A Christmas Story set in Massachusetts in 1620, First Christmas of New England was first published in 1876 as part of a collection of short stories by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Available now in this special edition with illustrations by Joseph Crawhall.
Offer expires December 31, 2010
Discount not valid without coupon or coupon code.
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Maine Historical Society 489 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 (207) 774-1822
MHS e-Connection is your online source for news and events at MHS, e-mailed monthly
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