Maine Community Heritage Project
Promoting community through the exploration of local history
The Maine Historical Society, in partnership with the Maine State Library, is excited to announce that the first eight Maine communities have been selected to participate in the Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP). The communities are: Bath, Farmington, Hampden, Islesboro, Lubec, New Portland, Presque Isle, and Thomaston.
The Maine Community Heritage Project is an innovative new program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies, and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. It grows out of the Maine Memory Network (www.mainememory.net), the Maine Historical Society’s nationally recognized statewide digital museum, and is supported by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
The Maine Historical Society received fifty applications for the program. Applications were reviewed by a panel of librarians, educators, and historians and evaluated based on the team’s enthusiasm, commitment to local partnership, and ability to complete the project. Selection of communities also took into account the geographic, economic, and social diversity of the applicant pool and overall balance of the eight teams.
Eight additional communities will be selected next spring to participate in a second project cohort that will run from June 2009-June 2010. Application guidelines will be posted in early 2009.
Project Activities and Support
Each team will participate in an intensive one-year process (June 2008-June 2009) that will mobilize their communities around the exploration, gathering, and sharing of their local history. They will also receive a $10,000 grant to support project activities. Working closely with Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library staff, they will:
- inventory local historical and cultural resources;
- digitize 100–200 historic documents, photographs, artifacts, etc. from local collections and upload them to the Maine Memory Network;
- write an illustrated online narrative that introduces key themes and topics in the history of the community (approximately 3000 words);
- create online exhibits that draw on historic documents, photographs, artifacts, oral history interviews, and/or other resources to explore specific topics in local history;
- create a new website within the Maine Memory Network that showcases and provides access to these resources; and
- come together for a community–wide celebration of their work and community's history.
The Participating Communities for 2008-2009 are:
Bath: The Bath team—a partnership between the Patten Free Library, Bath Historical Society, and Bath Middle School—will explore the history of downtown Bath and create an online map exhibit with links to highlight important events, sites, and people in Bath's history. Bath is a small mid-coast city located on the Kennebec River.
Farmington: The Farmington team—a partnership between Farmington Public library, Farmington Historical Society, Mount Blue Middle School, and the Center for Community GIS—will identify local resources, use technology to promote the study of history, and to put their recently completed walking tour online. Farmington is located in the western Maine foothills of Franklin County.
Hampden: The Hampden team—a partnership between the Edythe L. Dyer Community Library, Hampden Historical Society, Reeds Brook Middle School, and the Hampden Communication Committee—will promote broad citizen involvement in presenting Hampden's history and is interested in using broadcast and web media to make local resources available to the public. Hampden is located in Penobscot County, south of Bangor.
Islesboro: The Islesboro team—a partnership between the Alice L. Pendleton Library, Islesboro Historical Society and Islesboro Central School—will collaborate to preserve the island's historical resources and to create a user-friendly way to access local historical source materials about the island. Islesboro is a small island community in Waldo County.
Lubec: The Lubec team—a partnership between the Lubec Memorial Library, Lubec Historical Society, Lubec Consolidated School, West Quoddy Lightkeepers Association, Association to Promote and Protect the Lubec Environment, and the Lubec Bicentennial Committee—will focus on preparing for Lubec's bicentennial in 2011 and providing new research for an updated town history. Lubec is a small seacoast community on the Canadian border in Washington County.
New Portland: The New Portland team—a partnership between the New Portland Community Library, New Portland Historical Society, and MSAD #74—has created a new partnership to document and share the town's history for the upcoming bicentennial and the 20th anniversary of their library. New Portland is a small town on the Carrabassett River in western Somerset County.
Presque Isle: The Presque Isle team—a partnership between the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, Presque Isle Historical Society, MSAD #1, and University of Maine at Presque Isle —will utilize the MCHP to strengthen existing partnerships and tie their work into Presque Isle's downtown revitalization, upcoming sesquicentennial, and their existing oral history project. The city of Presque Isle is located in central Aroostook County.
Thomaston: The Thomaston team—a partnership between Thomaston Public Library, Thomaston Historical Society, Georges Valley High School, and The General Henry Knox Museum—is committed to forging strong community relationships that will give student and adult researchers access to local history resources, capture local stories, and generate local interest in town history. Thomaston is a town in mid-coast Maine on the St. George River.
For More Information
Please contact Stephanie Philbrick, Community Partnership Coordinator, Maine Historical Society, by email at sphilbrick@mainehistory.org or by calling (207) 774-1822.