Maine Memory Network

Reproduction 1879 light bulb, ca. 1929

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1929 Media: Glass, wood, carbon, bakelite

Round Pond fishing fleet, ca. 1870

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1870 Location: Bristol Media: Tintype

Preliminary Master Plan, Portland, 1998

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1998 Location: Portland Client: City of Portland Architect: Richardson and Associates

Maine and the Civil War - Headstone, unknown Confederate soldier, Gray, 1979

"Rights and reproductions for all UPI (United Press International) images are currently managed by Getty Images."

Evergreens and a Jolly Old Elf

Santa Claus and evergreens have been common December additions to homes, schools, businesses, and other public places to America since the mid nineteenth century. They are two symbols of the Christian holiday of Christmas whose origins are unrelated to the religious meaning of the day.

Presque Isle: The Star City - Aroostook Valley R.R., Presque Isle, ca. 1939

"Reproduction of an earlier postcard. View additional information about this item on the Maine Memory Network."

Presque Isle: The Star City - Potato import protest, Presque Isle, 1982

"This item is in copyright. Rights and reproductions for all UPI (United Press International) images are currently managed by Getty Images."

A first encounter with Bath and its wonderful history
by John Decker

Visiting the Maine Maritime Museum as part of a conference

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.