Maine Memory Network

Jacob Abbott and Fewacres, Farmington, 1903

Contributed by: Farmington Public Library Date: circa 1900 Location: Farmington Media: Engraving, ink on paper

Thursday Club program, Biddeford, 1897

Contributed by: McArthur Public Library Date: 1897–1898 Location: Biddeford Media: Ink on paper, ribbon

Capturing Arts and Artists in the 1930s

Emmie Bailey Whitney of the Lewiston Journal Saturday Magazine and her husband, noted amateur photographer G. Herbert Whitney, captured in words and photographs the richness of Maine's arts scene during the Great Depression.

Writing Women

Published women authors with ties to Maine are too numerous to count. They have made their marks in all types of literature.

Colby College Special Collections

View collections, facts, and contact information for this Contributing Partner.

Bath's Historic Downtown - The Patten Free Library

"… frequent site of talks and exhibits on art and literature, and the youth room encouraged students to get together to study.” The men that the…"

In an Old, Abandoned Island House, I Found my Mentor and my Muse
by Robin Clifford Wood

An aspiring writer finds inspiration and a mentor from the past in an old island home.

Ogunquit Beach Sonnet
by Shannon Schooley

Sonnet written for school when I was 12 years old.

Primary Sources: Daily Life in 1820

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: Social Studies
This lesson plan will give students the opportunity to explore and analyze primary source documents from the years before, during, and immediately after Maine became the 23rd state in the Union. Through close looking at documents, objects, and art from Maine during and around 1820, students will ask questions and draw informed conclusions about life at the time of statehood.

Longfellow Studies: The Writer's Hour - "Footprints on the Sands of Time"

Grade Level: 3-5 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
These lessons will introduce the world-famous American writer and a selection of his work with a compelling historical fiction theme. Students take up the quest: Who was HWL and did his poetry leave footprints on the sands of time? They will "tour" his Cambridge home through young eyes, listen, and discuss poems from a writer’s viewpoint, and create their own poems inspired by Longfellow's works. The interdisciplinary approach utilizes critical thinking skills, living history, technology integration, maps, photos, books, and peer collaboration. The mission is to get students keenly interested in what makes a great writer by using Longfellow as a historic role model. The lessons are designed for students at varying reading levels. Slow learners engage in living history with Alice’s fascinating search through the historic Craigie house, while gifted and talented students may dramatize the virtual tour as a monologue. Constant discovery and exciting presentations keep the magic in lessons. Remember that, "the youthful mind must be interested in order to be instructed." Students will build strong writing skills encouraging them to leave their own "footprints on the sands of time."