Maine Memory Network

Mabel Hastie, Farmington State Teachers College, ca. 1954

Contributed by: Mantor Library at UMF Date: circa 1954 Location: Farmington Media: Photographic print

Home Economics students, Farmington State Teachers College, ca. 1947

Contributed by: Mantor Library at UMF Date: circa 1947 Location: Farmington Media: Photographic print

Dwelling House for Professor John H. Rand, Lewiston, 1883

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1883 Location: Lewiston Client: John H. Rand Architect: George M. Coombs
This record contains 8 images.

Proposed addition to the High School building for the city of South Portland, 1935-1937

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1935–1937 Location: South Portland Client: CIty of South Portland Architect: Miller & Beal Inc. Architects
This record contains 4 images.

We Used to be "Normal": A History of F.S.N.S.

Farmington's Normal School -- a teacher-training facility -- opened in 1863 and, over the decades, offered academic programs that included such unique features as domestic and child-care training, and extra-curricular activities from athletics to music and theater.

Otisfield's One-Room Schoolhouses

Many of the one-room schoolhouses in Otisfield, constructed from 1839 through the early twentieth century, are featured here. The photos, most of which also show teachers and children, were taken between 1898 and 1998.

Portland Press Herald Glass Negative Collection - "Twenty Nationalities, But All Americans"

"… citizenship before, this effort, led by veteran teacher Clara L. Soule, was the most visible and vigorous."

Portland Press Herald Glass Negative Collection - Wiscasset's Arctic Connection

"… Maine Newspapers Explorer, scientist, author and teacher Donald B. MacMillan liked Wiscasset, a community of about 1,200 on the Sheepscot River…"

Crystal Priest - Genesis of 1:1 in Guilford
by MLTI Stories of Impact Project

Crystal Priest recounted the genesis of 1:1 near the geographical center of the state--Guilford.

Vincent Vanier - Technology Coordinator in Madawaska, ME
by MLTI Stories of Impact Project

Vincent Vanier describes what worked well in the initial MLTI laptop training model.

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.

Longfellow Studies: "Christmas Bells"

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
The words of this poem are more commonly known as the lyrics to a popular Christmas Carol of the same title. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Christmas Bells" in December of 1863 as the Civil War raged. It expresses his perpetual optimism and hope for the future of mankind. The poem's lively rhythm, simple rhyme and upbeat refrain have assured its popularity through the years.