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Notes from the Director
I've read a couple of interesting articles in the past several days regarding new initiatives that are helping contemporary audiences connect with history. The first was in the Washington Post last week, and described efforts at Mt. Vernon to rebuild George Washington's original whiskey distillery. The other article was in Preservation Magazine, and describes efforts at the Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, NY to open a 350-year plantation to the public, through farming, music, and education. Let us know if you've read a particularly rich article lately that brings history alive for readers who may not otherwise be immersed in it. We'd love to share it on our Facebook page and via other social media. -Steve Bromage
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Current Exhibits
Museum
Wired! How Electricity Came to Maine
Lecture Hall Gallery
Maine Things: Recent Museum Acquisitions
Showcase Gallery
Local History/ Local Schools student artwork
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April Hours
Museum & Museum Store: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; closed Sundays
Brown Library: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Wadsworth-Longfellow House: Closed for the season; re-opens on May 1.
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Spotlight On
Robin Neely,
MHS Volunteer
Robin Neely has been a volunteer at MHS for 18 months, working under the supervision of registrar Holly Hurd-Forsyth. She labels collection material with accession numbers, enters information about the item into the museum catalog database PastPerfect, photographs new acquisitions, and occasionally creates custom storage boxes.
Robin is a stained glass conservator, and before moving to Maine was the Project Manager for Greenland Studios in New York City--the premier stained glass conservation studio in the country. Robin has a private conservation studio, where she focuses on conserving stained glass windows for churches, colleges, museums, and libraries (her clients include the Victoria Mansion, Maine State Museum, and Museum of Fine Art, Boston).
Robin recently completed a project where she recorded 236 tools from the 90-year-old business A.M. Laing and Sons Gilders and Picture Framers. "As a conservator I work with hand tools, so I really enjoyed working with this collection," Robin notes. "I really enjoy volunteering at MHS because I am strengthening my professional museum skills, plus the staff here is so appreciative of the time volunteers give."
Robin and her husband, John, bought a distressed house in Cumberland Foreside and enjoy the challenges of renovation, such as stripping five rooms of old wallpaper. They live with their cat, Governor Percival Baxter.
Robin is our guest blogger this month and you can read her article in our From the Collections section of this e-connection, or on our blog.
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Support the Annual Fund
Make your online gift here.
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. |
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MHS Wish List
MHS has a few much-needed items on our " Wish List." Can you help? Continue reading on our blog post for more information. |
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.
Become a member today!
Buy memberships online, or call us at 207-774-1822. |
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Online Exhibit:
George F. Shepley: Lawyer, Soldier, Administrator
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Col. George F. Shepley, ca. 1861 MMN #78949
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Our country is in the midst of a four-year sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War. Mainers are particularly focused on 2013 because 150 years ago this July was the iconic Battle of Gettysburg, during which Maine's own Joshua Chamberlain, and the men he led, made history at Little Round Top.
Plenty of other Mainers made their mark in significant ways during the War, including the subject of this new online exhibit, created by Maine Memory Network Curator Candace Kanes. Portland resident George Shepley achieved renown as a lawyer and as U.S. Attorney for Maine when, at age 42, he formed the 12th Maine Infantry and went off to war. He became military governor of Louisiana early in 1862 and remained in the military for the duration of the war.
The document-rich exhibit includes nine separate slideshows of Shepley's role in the war, including military issues, requests from and about soliders, Louisiana and Maine politics, slavery, and Shepley's post-war life.
Meanwhile, there's much more to come on the Civil War throughout the year--including a day-long symposium on April 27 (details below) and This Rebellion, a new MHS museum exhibit opening on June 28.
Visit this exhibit online.
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MHS News
MHS Annual GalaYou are invited to the Mad Hatter Affair, our annual fundraising gala and dinner-dance on Saturday, May 4 at The Woodlands in Falmouth. This is going to be a great night--please come and show your support! We'll sip cocktails, dance to the popular Tony Boffa Band, watch the Kentucky Derby live from Churchill Downs, bid on some exciting auction items, and much more. This year we're honoring Merton Henry, the 2013 Maine History Maker. Details online.
Register Now for the Civil War Sesquicentennial Symposium Don't miss the only broad-based
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Theater professor and living history performer Richard Sautter addresses a crowd as Civil War-era thespian James Murdoch. Sautter is one of the speakers at the April 27 Civil War Symposium.
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statewide conference on the Civil War in Maine this year. Maine Historical Society and Maine Humanities Council are co-hosting this day-long event at USM's Hannaford Hall featuring national and Maine-based speakers, and breakout sessions on topics like Civil War-era medicine, theater, literature, and photography. "Local and Legendary: Maine in the Civil War" community grantees will be announced at the event. Read on for registration details. |
April Programs
Wednesday, April 3, 12:00pm Intro to MHS: Library Catalog Instruction Facilitator: Jamie Kingman Rice, MHS Research Librarian Wednesday, April 3, 1:00pm Intro to MHS: Tour of MHS Library Tour Guide: Nicholas Noyes, Head of Library Services *This program is FULL. To reserve a spot in the July tour, send us an e-mail. Thursday, April 4, 7:00pm Off and On the Grid Speaker: Baron Wormser, Former Maine State Poet Laureate Friday, April 5, 5:00 - 8:00pm First Friday Art WalkThursday, April 11, 7:00pm Maine Historical Society and Maine Public Broadcasting Network presentMPBN Community Films Screening: Reveil...Waking Up FrenchWednesday, April 17, 12:00pm Intro to MHS: Museum Collections: Recent Acquisitions and PastPerfect Online Facilitator: Holly Hurd-Forsyth, MHS Registrar Thursday, April 18, 7:00pm Co-sponsored by the Beatrix Farrand SocietyBeatrix Farrand: Private Gardens, Public LandscapesSpeaker: Judith Tankard Thursday, April 25, 6:30pm Electrifying Maine: The Central Maine Power ExperienceModerator: CMP Line Trainer Nick Vermette Saturday, April 27, 9:00am - 4:00pm In partnership with the Maine Humanities CouncilLocal & Legendary: Maine in the Civil War Sesquicentennial Symposium
Featured Programs
Thursday, April 4, 7:00pm
Off and On the Grid
Speaker: Baron Wormser
Former Maine State Poet Laureate Baron Wormser kicks off National Poetry Month and reflects on his 20+ years in Maine living without electricity--and his reasons for returning to life "on the grid." The experience was the subject of his memoir, The Road Washes Out in Spring: A Poet's Memoir of Living Off the Grid. This presentation is part of an ongoing series of talks related to MHS's current museum exhibit, Wired! How Electricity Came to Maine. Click for more info. Thursday, April 18, 7:00pm Beatrix Farrand: Private Gardens, Public Landscapes Speaker: Judith Tankard
For Maine Historical Society's annual Olmsted Lecture, landscape historian and preservation consultant Judith Tankard, author of Beatrix Farrand: Private Gardens, Public Landscapes, presents a talk on Farrand's life, work, and influence. Farrand was one of America's most celebrated landscape architects, renowned for her private gardens, many of which were located in Maine. Click for more info.
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Sign Up Now!
Genealogy Research Trip to Boston
 When: Thursday, May 16, 7:30am - 8:00pm What: Join MHS for a day of genealogical research at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS).
Registration: Required by Monday, May 6. Fee*: $35 for MHS members; $45 for non-members. To register, please call 774-1822.
*Does not include admission to NEHGS Library (NEHGS Members: Free; non-NEHGS members: $15).
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From the Collections
The Laing Collection:
A Golden Age in Portland Art
Ten years ago when the contents of the 90-year-old Portland business, A. M. Laing and Sons Gilders and Picture Framers, came up for auction, Maine historian Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. called it "one of the last links to a really golden age in Portland art."
Fortunately this link to Portland's art past was donated to MHS by Donald E. Laing. Laing and Sons's tool boxes filled with chisels, knives and hammers, gilding tools, metallic powders, pages of gold leaf, paint brushes and palettes, along with decades of account books, trade catalogs, and artist files are now in the collection of MHS.
Click here to continue reading this blog post by Robin Neely, Volunteer & Stained Glass Conservator/Consultant.
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Seen at MHS
Local History Local Schools Celebration
On Wednesday March 27 we hosted a Local History Local Schools celebration. The partnership program, based on the current museum exhibit, involves in-classroom visits from MHS educators as well as a trip to the museum, research and art-making, and a family celebration displaying student work in the museum at the project's culmination. Students from Wentworth School in Scarborough learned about electricity and created art in the style of graphic novels on themes around electricity and power. |
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Museum Store
April is National Poetry Month
Read, recite, or write your own poems, and get inspired by wearing this Longfellow Quote T-Shirt!
$16.95
In store and online.
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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