Stories from Maine Memory Network 

Historical Item: Margaret Chase Smith Supports the Jimmy Fund 

In 1953, Margaret Chase Smith supported the Jimmy Fund through a donation to her Skowhegan neighbor Colin Quinn. Read more about this image.

This week marks the final push to bring the MHS Annual Fund home. We hope you can help.  

Mainers, including former Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith, have a long tradition of supporting community needs and causes near to their hearts.

In 1948, the Jimmy Fund was created following a visit by members of the Boston Braves baseball team to a young Maine cancer patient named Einar Gustafson. The Jimmy Fund is now closely identified with the Boston Red Sox. (Come on, Red Sox, hold on!) In the case of the Jimmy Fund, contributing included financial donations, volunteering, and helping raise awareness.

Those are the dynamics that help MHS thrive, too. This week our focus is on the financial piece. The Annual Fund provides essential support for all MHS activities.  

Can we count on you to help us meet our goal?

Please consider making a gift online to the MHS Annual Fund.  

Coming Soon: Mark Your Calendar  

Tuesday, October 4, 12pm    

Book Talk: Our Game Was Baseball    

Presenter: John Hodgkins, Author  

Get in the mood for the World Series with this wonderful new memoir of growing up with the Temple Townies in the 1940s and '50s. Our Game Was Baseball follows A Soldier's Son, Hodgkins' poignant memoir of his childhood in Temple, Maine during World War II. Hodgkins interviews former team members, recounts his own passion for the Townies, and explores the central role the Townies played in the life of this western Maine community.  

Friday, October 7, 5-8pm

First Friday Art Walk: Two Fabulous Fashion Exhibits 

Thursday, October 13, 7pm 

Book Talk: Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light  

Presenter: Jane Brox, Author

Saturday, October 15, 1-4pm 

Maine Home Movie Day with Northeast Historic Film 

Legendary filmmaker Ken Burns knew he'd have to turn to Maine to conduct research for his newest project, the documentary Prohibition, since the Pine Tree State is where it all began.

"How to Vote" from MHS Coll. 2093, Charles Burden Temperance collection.

Burns' production team visited MHS in 2009 and secured rights to use 14 images from our collection in the film, including the photo at left.  

This card informing Maine citizens how to vote to keep their towns as Anti-Saloon territories is featured in the documentary trailer below.   

Prohibition airs in three parts on PBS and MPBN on October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Check local listings for air times.   

Watch the trailer for Prohibition here.

MHS Annual Trip: 2012   

13 Days on the Imperial Waterways of Russia