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Notes from the Director
Happy New Year! There is much to look forward to at MHS in 2013, including a major Civil War initiative that will get underway this spring. We are settling into winter mode which, for many, means ski season. I'd like to invite you to a great program related to skiing, and to modern Maine history. Next week Scott Andrews and Bruce Miles of the Ski Museum of Maine will be here to give a talk on ski racing. The program will share a breakout moment: the 1971 World's Cup at Sugarloaf which marked Maine's emergence on the international race scene. I hope we'll see you here.
Best,
Steve Bromage
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Current Exhibits
Museum
Wired! How Electricity Came to Maine
Showcase Gallery
Local History/ Local Schools student artwork
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Winter Hours
Museum & Museum Store: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; closed Sundays
Brown Library: Tues-Sat 10am-4pm
Wadsworth-Longfellow House: closed for the season. Re-opens in May.
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Book Group:
Last Chance to
Sign Up!
We Are What We Ate:
A Reading & Discussion Program
Join us this January through May to explore a topic that resonates across humanity, inspiring great passion and wide-ranging opinion: food!
For more information, including a full reading list, and to register, visit our Programs page. Sign up deadline: January 11, 2013. To register, call Larissa Vigue Picard at 207-774-1822 ext. 215.
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Spotlight On
Melissa Spoerl
Museum Store Manager
Thanks to Melissa Spoerl, our Museum Store is a shopping destination for all things Maine. Melissa has been a part of the MHS family since 2000, when she completed the Portland History Docent Program. Though she started out as a volunteer, Melissa became a guide in the Longfellow House in 2000, the Visitor Services Coordinator in 2002, and the full-time Museum Store Manager in 2004. Melissa earned her degree in Retail and Visual Merchandising from Westbrook College. She worked for local clothing retailer Owen Moore as the Visual Merchandiser, before taking time off to raise her daughters. Melissa says, "As store manager, I am responsible for seeking out new products for the store--mostly with a Maine or New England focus. Maine has so many great authors and finding them and getting their books into our store is a big part of my job. Authors are always stopping by to show us their new books, and chatting with them and hearing their stories is a real treat! Keeping the store filled with interesting, relevant products is a challenge I continue to enjoy." |
As an MHS Member, you'll enjoy great benefits, including free admission to our museum, store and program discounts, access to our Research Library, and much more. Learn about membership perks online.
Friend level members and above receive free admission and other reciprocal benefits at over 600 museums nationwide.
Become a member today!
Buy memberships online, or call us at 207-774-1822. |
Support the
Annual Fund 
Visit us online to learn how you can make a difference by contributing to the MHS Annual Fund.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of our work and our place in the cultural landscape of Maine. Please contact Deborah Stone, Director of Development, at 207-772-1822 ext. 231 for further information.
Featured Sponsors
Thank you to the following corporate sponsors who made gifts to the Annual Fund in December:
* Diversified Communications
* Proprietors of Union Wharf
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Historical Image:
Play advertisement, Dixfield, 1927
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MMN #78858
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For a mere 75 cents, you and a friend could have attended the Dirigo High School Drama Club performance in Dixfield on this day in 1927. The broadside is one of a number of documents related to the town's Tuscan Opera House being digitized by a class at Dixfield High School as part of the Western Foothills Region Maine Community Heritage Project. Overseen by RSU #10, the largest school district in Maine, the Western Foothills team consists of six historical societies, two libraries, and four schools. Stay tuned for the unveiling of their MCHP website in May.
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MHS News
Details about our major new initiative on the Civil War--a collaboration with Maine Humanities Council--are now on Maine Memory. Local & Legendary: Maine in the Civil War will engage 10 Maine communities over a two-year period in examining, digitizing, and celebrating their local Civil War history. The community application process opened on January 1, 2013, with a deadline of March 1, 2013. The National Endowment for the Humanities-funded project includes public symposia. Mark your calendars for the first one, April 27, 2013, at University of Southern Maine's Hannaford Hall. Visit us online for more information, who should apply, deadlines, and more. |
January Programs
Click on the program titles for details
Tuesday, January 15, 12:00pmMaine Ski Competition: Highlights from the Past 100 Years Speakers: Scott Andrews and Bruce Miles Wednesday, January 16, 12:00pmIntro to MHS: Maine Memory Network Demonstration Facilitator: Kathy Amoroso, Director of Digital Projects Tuesday, January 22 - Tuesday, May 28, 2013MHS Book Group: We Are What We Ate Facilitator: Larissa Vigue Picard Thursday, January 24, 7:00pmDIRIGO North and South: Maine's Long and Varied Connection with the Polar World Speaker: Charles Lagerbom Tuesday, January 29, 12:00pmBook Event: Hoosh: Roast Penguin, Scurvy Day, and Other Stories of Antarctic Cuisine Speaker: Jason Anthony Featured Program  | |
MMN #76136
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Maine Ski Competition: Highlights from the Past 100 Years Speakers: Scott Andrews and Bruce Miles
Join us for an adaptation of Maine's Ski Museum's popular "fireside chats" as Scott Andrews and Bruce Miles present a two-part talk and slideshow on skiing competitions in Maine over the last century. A number of races will be highlighted, both those that were highly competitive and some that were featured at entertainment, based events such as winter carnivals. A major focus will be the 1971 World Cup, one of the pivotal events in Maine ski history. The race took place at Sugarloaf and is the subject of a Maine Memory Network exhibit project by the Ski Museum, which will be unveiled at the presentation. Behind-the-scenes at MHS New Standardized Public Programs for 2013
We are now offering four different "Intro to MHS" programs and workshops on an ongoing basis, throughout the year.
The four programs are: A behind-the-scenes Brown Research Library tour, Library Catalog Instruction workshop, Maine Memory Network demonstration, and a Museum Collections workshop.
Each program lasts between 45 - 60 minutes and is free to the general public; all that is required is email notification of your planned attendance. Full program descriptions, schedule details, and sign up information are available on our website.
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Travel with MHS
We would like to invite you to join us, along with other historical societies, on a very special Civil War cruise this spring! As America commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the epic conflict that gave America, as Abraham Lincoln put it, "a new birth of freedom," we have designed a one-of-a-kind itinerary to cities and battlefields that resonate with all students of the Civil War. Visit us online for details and to register, or download the trip brochure here.
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MHS Annual Trip 14-day Splendors of Italy: Rome, Tuscany, Venice and the Po River October 13 - 27, 2013 
This 14-day excursion explores the beauty and magic of Rome and the Chianti region of Tuscany, followed by seven days aboard Uniworld's River Countess traveling throughout Venice and the heart of Italy along the Po River.
SPECIAL INCENTIVES
* Book and deposit by January 15, 2013
and save $150/person
* Past Uniworld customers
save an additional $100/person
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From the Collections
Notes from the Archives:
Republican Convention Catalogs
While the 2012 elections and months of endless campaigning are thankfully a distant memory, I was recently brought back into the political arena when I cataloged 14 programs from Maine Republican State Conventions, from 1966 to 1996, gifts of the Maine State Library...
Click here to continue reading this blog post, written by MHS Archivist/Cataloger Nancy Noble.
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Seen at MHS
On Saturday, December 15, MHS hosted its first annual Traditional Arts Showcase. Guests delighted in the demonstrations given by Maine artists and craftspeople. Left: Photographer Cole Caswell demonstrates the use of his hand-made large format camera in making tin types. Right: Martha Kearsley of Strong Arm Bindery shows how she sews book bindings.
Left: Ruth Monsell hand-cuts a silhouette of Ansel Critchfield, as guests enjoy harp music by Laura Webb. Right: Families enjoyed watching master blacksmith Sam Smith create iron tools on his forge.
Left: Judy Warde spinning wool in the Longfellow House. Right: Tim Wilson created a pop-up oil painting studio and talked with guests about his style and training.
Members of the Maine Woodcarvers Association set up tables with various tools they use, and products in varying states of completion. Guests interacted while the woodcarvers crafted objects on the spot. |
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Museum Store
New!
Cherry Wood Shaker Boxes
These beautiful cherry wood Shaker boxes will help you get organized in the new year! Made in New Hampshire, these boxes come in various sizes with prices starting at just $45.
Available in store only.
Visit us at 489 Congress Street in Portland, call us at 207-774-1822 ext. 208, or visit our online store.
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