Maine Memory Network

An 11th Grade Project

George Jones, history teacher at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, wanted his students to do more than just read about their local history, he wanted them to go out and learn how the town of Norway has changed over the years.

The Maine Historical Society organized a brainstorming meeting with Jones and members of the Norway Historical Society. After looking through stacks of town records and photographs the group knew that there was a great deal of exciting materials to work with. They decided to bring in the students and let them decide what subject they wanted to research. After reviewing the Society's collections, the six students decided to research the history of the Oxford County Fair.

They selected a range of items related to the fair-photographs, a ticket from 1950 and a program from 1931-and scanned and uploaded them into the Maine Memory Network. Charles Longley, curator of the Norway Historical Society completed the MMN catalog records for each item scanned by the students. Finally, the students created an online exhibit about the history of the Oxford County Fair.

It was a win-win situation: the students got to explore the historical society's collections firsthand and used their computer skills to create a project that serves the entire community. The Norway Historical Society had the opportunity to include items from their collection in Maine Memory and share them with students, teachers, and individuals in their community and across the state.