Maine Memory Network

Women's Suffrage march in Market Square, Houlton, ca. 1912

Courtesy of Henry Gartley, an individual partner Date: circa 1912 Location: Houlton Media: Photographic print

Maine woman suffrage petition, 1858

Contributed by: Maine State Archives Date: 1858 Media: Ink on paper

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Power of Potential

The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (NFBPWC) held their seventh annual convention in Portland during July 12 to July 18, 1925. Over 2,000 working women from around the country visited the city.

Debates Over Suffrage

While numerous Mainers worked for and against woman suffrage in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some also worked on the national level, seeking a federal amendment to allow women the right to vote

Portland Press Herald Glass Negative Collection - National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs

"… eight months before the 19th Amendment allocated voting rights for many American women – its mission then and now is to develop women’s leadership…"

Islesboro--An Island in Penobscot Bay - Schools

"… of Islesborough (spelling until late 1800s) voted in 1794 to divide the town into districts for schooling, and each district was responsible for…"

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.

Reverend Thomas Smith of First Parish Portland
by Kristina Minister, Ph.D.

Pastor, Physician, Real Estate Speculator, and Agent for Wabanaki Genocide

Primary Sources: Maine Women's Causes and Influence before 1920

Grade Level: 6-8 Content Area: Social Studies
This lesson plan will give students the opportunity to read and analyze letters, literature, and other primary documents and articles of material culture from the MHS collections relating to the women of Maine between the end of the Revolutionary War through the national vote for women’s suffrage in 1920. Students will discuss issues including war relief (Civil War and World War I), suffrage, abolition, and temperance, and how the women of Maine mobilized for or in some cases helped to lead these movements.

Building Community/Community Buildings

Grade Level: 6-8 Content Area: Social Studies
Where do people gather? What defines a community? What buildings allow people to congregate to celebrate, learn, debate, vote, and take part in all manner of community activities? Students will evaluate images and primary documents from throughout Maine’s history, and look at some of Maine’s earliest gathering spaces and organizations, and how many communities established themselves around certain types of buildings. Students will make connections between the community buildings of the past and the ways we express identity and create communities today.