Maine Memory Network

New Waste Gates at North Twin Dam, Millinocket, ca. 1914

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1914 Location: Millinocket Media: Photographic print

Farmington Social Library, Regulations, ca. 1900

Contributed by: Farmington Public Library Date: circa 1900 Location: Farmington Media: Ink on paper

Music in Maine - Drumsticks, 1861

"Regulation drumsticks were normally made from rosewood, and were 16 to 17 inches long. View additional information about this item on the Maine…"

Surgeon General Alonzo Garcelon

Alonzo Garcelon of Lewiston was a physician, politician, businessman, and civic leader when he became Maine's surgeon general during the Civil War, responsible for ensuring regiments had surgeons, for setting up a regimental hospital in Portland, and generally concerned with the well-being of Maine soldiers.

Farmington: Franklin County's Shiretown - Farmington Social Library, Regulations, ca. 1900

"Farmington Social Library, Regulations, ca. 1900 Contributed by Farmington Public Library Description A bookplate lists the regulations…"

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - Shipbuilding in Biddeford: Lore, Leaders, and Legacy

"During the first Congress in 1789 “An Act to regulate the Collection of Duties Imposed by law on the tonnage of Ships or vessels, and on goods, wares…"

Sister Viola Lausier: Finance Director with a big heart
by Biddeford Cultural & Heritage Center

A life dedicated to applying financial and leadership expertise in the service of others.

Lloyd LaFountain III family legacy and creating own path
by Biddeford Cultural & Heritage Center

Lloyd followed in his family’s footsteps of serving Biddeford and the State of Maine.

Longfellow Studies: Longfellow Amongst His Contemporaries - The Ship of State DBQ

Grade Level: 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Preparation Required/Preliminary Discussion: Lesson plans should be done in the context of a course of study on American literature and/or history from the Revolution to the Civil War. The ship of state is an ancient metaphor in the western world, especially among seafaring people, but this figure of speech assumed a more widespread and literal significance in the English colonies of the New World. From the middle of the 17th century, after all, until revolution broke out in 1775, the dominant system of governance in the colonies was the Navigation Acts. The primary responsibility of colonial governors, according to both Parliament and the Crown, was the enforcement of the laws of trade, and the governors themselves appointed naval officers to ensure that the various provisions and regulations of the Navigation Acts were executed. England, in other words, governed her American colonies as if they were merchant ships. This metaphorical conception of the colonies as a naval enterprise not only survived the Revolution but also took on a deeper relevance following the construction of the Union. The United States of America had now become the ship of state, launched on July 4th 1776 and dedicated to the radical proposition that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights. This proposition is examined and tested in any number of ways during the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. Novelists and poets, as well as politicians and statesmen, questioned its viability: Whither goes the ship of state? Is there a safe harbor somewhere up ahead or is the vessel doomed to ruin and wreckage? Is she well built and sturdy or is there some essential flaw in her structural frame?