Maine Memory Network

Maine Charitable Mechanics' bronze medal, Portland, 1854

Contributed by: Mechanics' Hall Date: 1854 Location: Portland Media: bronze

Copperplate engraving of Mechanics' Hall, Portland, 1906

Contributed by: Mechanics' Hall Date: 1906 Location: Portland Media: Copper and wood

517-519 Congress Street, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Maine Charitable Mechanics Association Use: Stores & Offices

46 Mechanic Street, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Stuart O. Symonds Use: Apartments

Plan for Mechanics Savings Bank Building, Auburn, 1888

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1888 Location: Auburn Client: Mechanics Savings Bank Architect: George M. Coombs

Tool house for cemetery, Mechanic Falls, 1895

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1895 Location: Mechanic Falls Client: Maple Grove Cemetary Architect: George M. Coombs
This record contains 2 images.

A Celebration of Skilled Artisans

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, an organization formed to promote and support skilled craftsmen, celebrated civic pride and members' trades with a parade through Portland on Oct. 8, 1841 at which they displayed 17 painted linen banners with graphic and textual representations of the artisans' skills.

Music in Maine - Music Makers

"… Maine Charitable Mechanics Maine Charitable Mechanic Association Click to see all of the Maine Charitable Mechanics Banners Founded in…"

Presque Isle: The Star City - Harvesting Potatoes - Page 2 of 13

"… Potatoes LOTS OF HORSE POWER IS NEEDED X Mechanical diggers were needed to provide a more efficient way of removing potatoes from the ground."

Presque Isle: The Star City - Northeast Airlines DC-3, Presque Isle, ca. 1945

"… II Presque Isle Air Terminal Building on outer Mechanic Street bordering Presque Isle Army Air Field."

I work as a Journeyman Mechanic, or Millwright at Catalyst
by Linda Deane

Working on a paper machine and as a Millwright can be challenging as a woman and a Union Rep.

Biddeford and Maine Franco-American Hall of Fame Award recipient
by Biddeford Cultural & Heritage Center

With options to be a college French professor, became a lawyer, mayor, DA & District Court Judge

Longfellow Studies: An American Studies Approach to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was truly a man of his time and of his nation; this native of Portland, Maine and graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine became an American icon. Lines from his poems intersperse our daily speech and the characters of his long narrative poems have become part of American myth. Longfellow's fame was international; scholars, politicians, heads-of-state and everyday people read and memorized his poems. Our goal is to show that just as Longfellow reacted to and participated in his times, so his poetry participated in shaping and defining American culture and literature. The following unit plan introduces and demonstrates an American Studies approach to the life and work of Longfellow. Because the collaborative work that forms the basis for this unit was partially responsible for leading the two of us to complete the American & New England Studies Masters program at University of Southern Maine, we returned there for a working definition of "American Studies approach" as it applies to the grade level classroom. Joe Conforti, who was director at the time we both went through the program, offered some useful clarifying comments and explanation. He reminded us that such a focus provides a holistic approach to the life and work of an author. It sets a work of literature in a broad cultural and historical context as well as in the context of the poet's life. The aim of an American Studies approach is to "broaden the context of a work to illuminate the American past" (Conforti) for your students. We have found this approach to have multiple benefits at the classroom and research level. It brings the poems and the poet alive for students and connects with other curricular work, especially social studies. When linked with a Maine history unit, it helps to place Portland and Maine in an historical and cultural context. It also provides an inviting atmosphere for the in-depth study of the mechanics of Longfellow's poetry. What follows is a set of lesson plans that form a unit of study. The biographical "anchor" that we have used for this unit is an out-of-print biography An American Bard: The story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, by Ruth Langland Holberg, Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, c1963. Permission has been requested to make this work available as a downloadable file off this web page, but in the meantime, used copies are readily and cheaply available from various vendors. The poem we have chosen to demonstrate our approach is "Paul Revere's Ride." The worksheets were developed by Judy Donahue, the explanatory essays researched and written by the two of us, and our sources are cited below. We have also included a list of helpful links. When possible we have included helpful material in text format, or have supplied site links. Our complete unit includes other Longfellow poems with the same approach, but in the interest of time and space, they are not included. Please feel free to contact us with questions and comments.