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Today is the 3rd annual "Global Day of Giving," and this year, the Maine Historical Society is participating! #GivingTuesday is a movement that celebrates and encourages charitable activities, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy.
It's that time in the holiday season, after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to celebrate the selfless side of you, by supporting your favorite nonprofit. We hope that we are your favorite nonprofit -- that our programs, events, services, and exhibitions add value to your life you can't get anywhere else. We invite you to show that support on this day of giving.
How can you participate with MHS?
For a limited time, Family Membership purchases or higher will receiving a $10 off pass for one adult ticket to the Portland Stage's performance of A Christmas Carol running through December 24, 2014.
Mention #GivingTuesday in the "How did you hear about us?" box to receive your pass. Become a member now and start taking advantage of our member benefits!
We thank you for your support! Please share your reason for giving with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #GivingTuesday! |
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What's Happening at MHS this week
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It is officially the holidays around here at MHS! Our campus is decorated, the Wadsworth-Longfellow House is open for special holiday tours, and our store is full of delightful gifts for everyone on your list! We are offering many exciting programs, with something happening almost daily. Visit us online for details.
Tuesday - Lecture, Portland's Irish in the Civil War, 12:00pm Wednesday - Shop locally in our Store Holiday Bazaar Thursday - MHS Members Party, 5-7pm (RSVPs required in advance); Holiday tours of the House, 12 - 5pm (Thursday - Sunday). Friday - First Friday Art Walk, 5-8pm. Saturday - Blacksmith Demonstrations, 11-3pm. The Children's Hour 3-4pm. Sunday - Pianist David Maxwell plays the 1843 Chickering Piano during House Tours at 1pm and 2pm.
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 We hope to see you at this month's First Friday Art Walk. On Friday, December 5 from 5-8pm, come hear the Deering High School carolers, get warm by a fire, and snack on roasted chestnuts in front of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House. Enjoy free admission to our galleries and the House (a twice a year occasion!).
While you're here, check off gifts from your list at the MHS Store and Holiday Bazaar. |
A Diary, A Pirate Ship, and a Damn Great Story
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Please excuse the "pirate language" but this is one damn great story, if you ask us!
In December of 2013, the staff at the Brown Library received a research request from Gregory Flemming. Flemming was writing an article about whaling on Martha's Vineyard, and by using our online library catalog identified an 18th century diary in our collections that could be beneficial to his research. Jamie Rice, Director of Library Services, corresponded with Flemming and provided scans of the William Homes diary (Coll. 1424).
On Sunday, November 30, 2014 Flemming published an article in the Portland Press Herald, and credits much of his research on a story about a pirate attack in 1722 to this diary. Here's an excerpt:
"The capture of a Nantucket whaling sloop that day would prove to be the deadliest, marked by the sickening brutality that defined the pirate captain Edward Low. And some of the shocking details from the attack emerge from a surprising source in Portland. Tucked away in the archives of the Maine Historical Society is a fragile, leather-bound diary kept in the early 1700s by the Rev. William Homes, a minister from the village of Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard. The Homes diary is a bit of a mystery - after all, how did the journal of a minister from Martha's Vineyard end up in Portland? But the diary also provides an incredibly rare look back at reaction to the vicious pirate attacks that threatened coastal New England 300 years ago."
Continue reading this story online here. |
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THE BUZZ: Longfellow & Dickens at MHS
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Portland Press Herald Staff Illustration by Michael Fisher
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Yearning for Those Old Familiar Faces
"These classic chestnuts of American and English literature remind us of happy times and bring us optimism. We dwell on their power of redemption, conversion and hope. But we sometimes forget that the characteristics they share are the difficult contexts from which they sprang." Portland Press Herald writer Bob Keyes recapped many of the holiday events happening in the Portland area and found a common theme: nostalgia.
"These events pull the strings of nostalgia - or at least our sense of what nostalgia is supposed to be," said actor Andrew Harris of the Portland Stage Company. Harris will be portraying Dickens on December 11 at our Evening with Longfellow and Dickens.
From Dickens to Longfellow, the scenes of Christmases past are all around us this year. We hope you'll come share in stories of figgy pudding with us as we, too, reminisce a Victorian holiday season. Read the full article here.
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| All our programs and events are listed online, visit us for details. |
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Tuesday, December 2, 12:00pm
Lecture: Portland's Irish in the Civil War
Speaker: Matthew Jude Barker
Location: MHS Lecture Hall
Free and open to the public.
This lecture relates to the exhibition Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War.
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Friday, December 5, 5:00 - 8:00pm
First Friday Art Walk
Wadsworth-Longfellow Open House
Deering High School Carolers
Lincoln exhibition in the Brown Library
Late Night Shopping in the Holiday Bazaar
Free and open to the public. |
Saturday, December 6, 3:00 - 4:00pm
The Children's Hour: Weekly Story & Craft Activity for Kids
For kids ages 4-9 and their caregivers. We're reading Lucy's Christmas by Donald Hall, and making a holiday craft. Location: Meet at the MHS Store, 489 Congress Street, Portland. Free and open to the public. Details online.
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Gallery & Store
Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm, Sunday 12pm - 5pm
December 24 (closing at 2pm), closed December 25, and December 31 (closing at 2pm).
Brown Library
Wednesday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm
Closed for the holidays December 21 - January 6.
Wadsworth-Longfellow House
Through December 28: Holiday tours offered Thursday through Sunday on the hour 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm, and 4:00pm.
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VINTAGE MAINE IMAGES ONLINE SALE
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Give the gift of history with vintage prints!
Shop online for more than 26,000 images, including the 1924 Portland Tax Records. Buy an image of your home or office from all Portland neighborhoods and Casco Bay islands.
Get 20% off when you order five products or more! MHS members receive 10% discounts on their total orders.
HOLIDAY SALE
$5 off prints in sizes: 8x10, 11x14, 13x19
$2.50 off prints size 5x7
Shop online at www.VintageMaineImages.com.
Psst...Did you know that for every purchase of an image contributed by a partnering historical society, library, school, or museum we send a check for 50% of the profit to that organization for local history preservation projects throughout Maine? Feel good about shopping this holiday season with MHS, a Buy Local member.
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MEMBERSHIP GIFTS WITH FLAIR
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 For each gift membership purchased before December 31, we'll send a special welcome package that includes a 1920s Vintage Maine Images Postcard Set and an MHS pin.
Membership Benefits include invitations to parties, trips, openings, and special programs, shopping discounts, free admission to the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Brown Library, and galleries, subscriptions to the Maine History journal and other publications, and much more.
Buy Gift Memberships by calling Laura at 207-774-1822 ext. 216.
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MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
489 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
207-774-1822
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The MHS e-Connection is your online source for news, exhibitions & events.
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Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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