Maine Memory Network

Chef's Special brand potato bag, Monticello, ca. 1970

Contributed by: Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum Date: circa 1970 Location: Monticello Media: Paper

L.L. Bean building at Maine Medical Center, Portland, 1984

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1984 Location: Portland Media: photographic print

Special Care Unit expansion, Portland, 1995

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1995 Location: Portland Client: Maine Medical Center Architect: Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott

Adam P. Leighton residence, Portland, ca. 1903

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1903 Location: Portland Client: Adam P. Leighton Architect: Frederick A. Tompson, Architect

Amazing! Maine Stories

These stories -- that stretch from 1999 back to 1759 -- take you from an amusement park to the halls of Congress. There are inventors, artists, showmen, a railway agent, a man whose civic endeavors helped shape Portland, a man devoted to the pursuit of peace and one known for his military exploits, Maine's first novelist, a woman who recorded everyday life in detail, and an Indian who survived a British attack.

Presidents and Campaigns

Several Mainers have run for president or vice president, a number of presidents, past presidents, and future presidents have had ties to the state or visited here, and, during campaign season, many presidential candidates and their family members have brought their campaigns to Maine.

Guilford, Maine - Special Events

"Special Events By: Carrie Fellows Dedication of Odd Fellows Hall, Guilford, 1904 Dedication of Odd Fellows Hall, Guilford, 1904Guilford…"

Colby College Special Collections

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

2024 Maine History Maker Celebration Event
by Maine Historical Society

Maine Historical Society's 2024 Maine History Maker event, honoring Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Working at International Paper and being part of the community
by Gary Desjardens

Working for International Paper and volunteering for the Special Olympics of America

Longfellow Studies: Celebrity's Picture - Using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Portraits to Observe Historic Changes

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: Social Studies, Visual & Performing Arts
"In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book?" Englishman Sydney Smith's 1820 sneer irked Americans, especially writers such as Irving, Cooper, Hawthorne, and Maine's John Neal, until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's resounding popularity successfully rebuffed the question. The Bowdoin educated Portland native became the America's first superstar poet, paradoxically loved especially in Britain, even memorialized at Westminster Abbey. He achieved international celebrity with about forty books or translations to his credit between 1830 and 1884, and, like superstars today, his public craved pictures of him. His publishers consequently commissioned Longfellow's portrait more often than his family, and he sat for dozens of original paintings, drawings, and photos during his lifetime, as well as sculptures. Engravers and lithographers printed replicas of the originals as book frontispiece, as illustrations for magazine or newspaper articles, and as post cards or "cabinet" cards handed out to admirers, often autographed. After the poet's death, illustrators continued commercial production of his image for new editions of his writings and coloring books or games such as "Authors," and sculptors commemorated him with busts in Longfellow Schools or full-length figures in town squares. On the simple basis of quantity, the number of reproductions of the Maine native's image arguably marks him as the country's best-known nineteenth century writer. TEACHERS can use this presentation to discuss these themes in art, history, English, or humanities classes, or to lead into the following LESSON PLANS. The plans aim for any 9-12 high school studio art class, but they can also be used in any humanities course, such as literature or history. They can be adapted readily for grades 3-8 as well by modifying instructional language, evaluation rubrics, and targeted Maine Learning Results and by selecting materials for appropriate age level.