Maine Memory Network

Begin Again: reckoning with intolerance in Maine

BEGIN AGAIN explores Maine's historic role, going back 528 years, in crisis that brought about the pandemic, social and economic inequities, and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Overview & Introduction

"The drive to reform the abuse of alcohol was one of the great moral and social controversies of the 19th and early 20th centuries."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Society Copes

"… 1997.248 Hires Root Beer was marketed as a "great temperance drink." GALLERIES: Bootleggers vs. Police | Society Copes | Reform and Repeal"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1865 to 1919: The Drys Gain New Adherents and Leaders

"… Adherents and Leaders Announcement for The Reformed Rumseller: Mr. Murphy, Wiscasset, 1872Maine Historical Society New Leaders Between the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law

"1848Maine Historical Society An Era of Reform By 1820, changes in religious attitudes in New England led to a widespread era of reform."

Good Will-Hinckley: Building a Landscape

The landscape at the Good Will-Hinckley campus in Fairfield was designed to help educate and influence the orphans and other needy children at the school and home.

The Advent of Green Acre, A Baha'i Center of Learning

The Green Acre Baha'i School began as Green Acre Conferences, established by Sarah Jane Farmer in Eliot. She later became part of the Baha'i Faith and hosted speakers and programs that promoted peace. In 1912, the leader of the Baha'i Faith, 'Abdu'l-Baha, visited Green Acre, where hundreds saw him speak.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Influential & Interesting Documents

"… to run taverns, but as populations grew this social control weakened. Drawings from Ammi Quint account book, Parsonsfield, 1803Maine…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Why Study the History of Drinking?

"… of drunkenness—to individuals, families, and the social order—was recognized from the earliest period, the use of alcoholic beverages has, at the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Taverns, People, and Scenes

"… towns and cities, taverns were the center of social and political life. William McLellan Sr., Portland, ca.1800Maine Historical Society…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Women Leaders and Temperance

"A social activist on many fronts, Lillian Stevens was the first woman to be honored at her death by the lowering of the statehouse flag."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"… played a role, most riots were sparked by other social, economic, or cultural forces. X The Recent Tragedy at Harry Cole's Rum Saloon…"

A Craze for Cycling

Success at riding a bike mirrored success in life. Bicycling could bring families together. Bicycling was good for one's health. Bicycling was fun. Bicycles could go fast. Such were some of the arguments made to induce many thousands of people around Maine and the nation to take up the new pastime at the end of the nineteenth century.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret

"… Maine's early European settlers, alcohol was a social institution, a medicine, and an actively traded commodity."

Women, War, and the Homefront

When America entered the Great War in 1917, the government sent out pleas for help from American women, many of whom responded at the battle front and on the home front.

"Twenty Nationalities, But All Americans"

Concern about immigrants and their loyalty in the post World War I era led to programs to "Americanize" them -- an effort to help them learn English and otherwise adjust to life in the United States. Clara Soule ran one such program for the Portland Public Schools, hoping it would help the immigrants be accepted.

Writing Women

Published women authors with ties to Maine are too numerous to count. They have made their marks in all types of literature.

Shaarey Tphiloh, Portland's Orthodox Synagogue

Shaarey Tphiloh was founded in 1904 by immigrants from Eastern Europe. While accommodating to American society, the Orthodox synagogue also has retained many of its traditions.

The Mainspring of Fashion

The mainspring of fashion is the process whereby members of one class imitate the styles of another, who in turn are driven to ever new expedients of fashionable change.

World War I and the Maine Experience

With a long history of patriotism and service, Maine experienced the war in a truly distinct way. Its individual experiences tell the story of not only what it means to be an American, but what it means to be from Maine during the war to end all wars.

Washington County Through Eastern's Eye

Images taken by itinerant photographers for Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company, a real photo postcard company, provide a unique look at industry, commerce, recreation, tourism, and the communities of Washington County in the early decades of the twentieth century.

State of Mind: Becoming Maine

The history of the region now known as Maine did not begin at statehood in 1820. What was Maine before it was a state? How did Maine separate from Massachusetts? How has the Maine we experience today been shaped by thousands of years of history?