December 8, 2014
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT MHS THIS WEEK?
In addition to our many holiday programs, we have a few very special events happening this week, including the book launch of the much-anticipated
Historical Atlas of Maine, and a celebration of student art work in our newly-appointed student gallery. 

For those in the holiday spirit, our campus is festively decorated, the Wadsworth-Longfellow House is open for special holiday tours, and our store is full of delightful gifts for everyone on your list! 

Tuesday, December 9, 12:00pm
Book Launch & Lecture: Historical Atlas of Maine
Presented in partnership with University of Maine's Canadian-American Center, History Department, and Humanities Center

Reflections on Editing the Historical Atlas of Maine: A Scholarly Epic with speaker Dick Judd 

After 15 years of extensive research, the Historical Atlas of Maine presents in cartographic form--maps, paintings, graphs, and text--the historical geography of Maine from the end of the last ice age to the year 2000. Organized in four chronological sections, the Atlas tells the principal stories of the many people who have lived in Maine over the past 13,000 years. 

 

A reception and book-signing follows the presentation. This event is free and open to the public. 

 

WEATHER NOTICE: Despite the forecast, we are planning to hold this program as scheduled. If you are concerned about weather conditions affecting the program, please call us tomorrow at 207-774-1822 or check our website, Twitter, or Facebook pages.

 

Read the Portland Press Herald article Fifteen years in the making, new atlas tells Maine's story with masterful depth, visuals. 

 

Read the Bangor Daily News article, From ice age to digital age, 'Historical Atlas of Maine' complete after 15 years of work. 

 

Read the Working Waterfront article Historical Atlas of Maine tells stories of 13,000 years of inhabitants.

 
Thursday, December 11, 7:00 - 8:30pm
Performance: An Evening with Longfellow & Dickens
Portland Press Herald staff illustration 
by Michael Fisher

NEARLY SOLD OUT!

BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE NOW.

 

Ever wish you could sit in on an intimate conversation between two literary giants? Here is your chance! Join us for a festive evening of conversation, poetry, stories, and reminiscences with longtime friends Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Charles Dickens. How did their friendship begin and grow? What writings might they have shared with one another? What did Dickens think of Maine? And what were the origins of A Christmas Carol, anyway? Might Longfellow have had something to do with that? 

 

Portland Stage Company members Daniel Noel and Andrew Harris bring Longfellow and Dickens vividly to life in this special performance. This event is presented in partnership with Portland Stage Company. 

Tickets must be purchased in advance: $12 MHS members, $15 non-members.

Buy tickets online at http://longfellowdickens.bpt.me or call Larissa Vigue Picard at 207-774-1822 ext. 215. 

 

In the recent Portland Press Herald article, Yearning for Those Old Familiar Faces, Portland Stage actor Andrew Harris, who will portray Charles Dickens, refers to our event in his quote "These events pull the strings of nostalgia - or at least our sense of what nostalgia is supposed to be." 
Friday, December 12, 5:00 - 7:00pm
Local History Local Schools Celebration
Students in third, fourth, and fifth grades from Portland's Hall Elementary School present the results of their two-month long Local History Local Schools units of study based on the current MHS exhibition, Home: The Longfellow House and the Emergence of Portland. 

We are excited to announce that we have transformed the King Conference Room into a gallery space dedicated to student projects! On Friday, student work--including Longfellow House models, dioramas, and hand-drawn postcards--will be on display and a short presentation and reception will take place in the Shettleworth Lecture Hall. Please join us to congratulate these students on their hard work!


Local History Local Schools involves in-classroom visits from MHS educators as well as a trip to the MHS gallery and Wadsworth-Longfellow House, research, art projects, and a family celebration displaying student work at MHS at the project's culmination. 
Saturday, December 13, 12:00 - 3:00pm
Blacksmithing Demonstrations

 

Sam H. Smith is a Master Blacksmith and founder of the Portland Forge. His mission is to retain the craft of blacksmithing using traditional methods, and to educate the public about the importance of what blacksmiths do. With hammer, tongs, and an anvil over open flame, Sam will demonstrate blacksmithing while engaging his audience with personal methodology and history of the art.


Location: Wadsworth-Longfellow House front lawn. This program is free and open to the public. Sam will also be at MHS on Saturday, December 20, from 12 - 3pm. His products will be available for sale during the demonstrations.
Saturday, December 13, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
The Children's Hour

Children ages 4-9 and their caregivers are invited to celebrate reading and literature with an hour-long program called The Children's Hour. This week's program begins with a read-aloud of the book Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett, and is followed by crafting reindeer ornaments.

This is a free program, but please e-mail Kathleen at  kneumann@mainehistory.org if you plan to attend. 
Sunday, December 14, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Piano Music in the House

During the 1:00pm and 2:00pm holiday tours of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, hear renowned pianist David Maxwell play traditional holiday music on the 1843 Chickering piano in the parlor. Tour tickets may be purchased in the MHS Store. 


Dr. Maxwell holds degrees in piano and organ, and has taught at Western Illinois University and the University of Southern Maine, and has served as Minister of Music at State Street Church, UCC, in Portland since 1981.
Thursday - Sunday, 12:00 - 4:00pm

Glad Tidings: The Merry Friendship of Longfellow & Dickens
Holiday Tours of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House

This holiday season, Maine Historical Society explores the friendship between the man who is said to have "invented America" and the man who is said to have "invented Christmas"--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Charles Dickens. 


Guests who tour the house will learn about Longfellow and Dickens, and the enduring effects of A Christmas Carol on our modern understanding of the holiday. Guided tours will also feature new holiday decorations designed by the Longfellow Garden Club, and the display of vintage dining flatware, crystal, and china. Visitors will enjoy stories about Christmas cooking, Dickens's visit to Portland, and the Longfellow family Christmas traditions. 

 

Guests will have the opportunity to have fun with "Scrooge Selfies" and kids can participate in a A Christmas Carol themed scavenger hunt.


 

Also on view in the House is the mini-exhibition, Affectionately Yours, Charles Dickens, featuring an original letter written by the famed English author. 

 
HOLIDAY HOURS
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. 

Visit us online for a calendar of Celebrate the Season events!
VINTAGE MAINE IMAGES ONLINE SALE

Give the gift of history with reproduction prints!

 

Shop online and browse 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. 

 
MEMBERSHIP GIFTS WITH FLAIR
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. 
EXHIBITIONS

 

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. Lecture Hall 

Wholesome Habitations: Architectural Collections of the Maine Historical Society 

 

Showcase Gallery 

Remembering Our Visit: Souvenir China and Mementos of the Longfellow House

 

Brown Library, Second Floor Reading Room

Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War  

 

Wadsworth-Longfellow House

Affectionately Yours, Charles Dickens

This special exhibition is included in holiday tours of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, November 28 - December 28. 
STAY CONNECTED
Visit our blog

Like us on Facebook   Follow us on Twitter    Find us on Pinterest
 


MHS WEBSITES


MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
489 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
207-774-1822

The MHS e-Connection is your online source for news, exhibitions & events. 

Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.