Maine Memory Network

A City Awakes: Arts and Artisans of Early 19th Century Portland

Portland's growth from 1786 to 1860 spawned a unique social and cultural environment and fostered artistic opportunity and creative expression in a broad range of the arts, which flowered with the increasing wealth and opportunity in the city.

Holding up the Sky: Wabanaki people, culture, history, and art

Learn about Native diplomacy and obligation by exploring 13,000 years of Wabanaki residence in Maine through 17th century treaties, historic items, and contemporary artworks—from ash baskets to high fashion. Wabanaki voices contextualize present-day relevance and repercussions of 400 years of shared histories between Wabanakis and settlers to their region.

Le Théâtre

Lewiston, Maine's second largest city, was long looked upon by many as a mill town with grimy smoke stacks, crowded tenements, low-paying jobs, sleazy clubs and little by way of refinement, except for Bates College. Yet, a noted Québec historian, Robert Rumilly, described it as "the French Athens of New England."

A Brief History of Colby College

Colby originated in 1813 as Maine Literary and Theological Institution and is now a small private liberal arts college of about 1,800 students. A timeline of the history and development of Colby College from 1813 until the present.

Music in Maine - MAKE

"… travelled extensively throughout the East Coast performing at powwows, music and art festivals, and other events, sharing our style of singing."

Music in Maine - Opera, Orchestras and Stages

"… for the Arts, University of Maine, Orono and performed as part of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s Ode to Joy season finale on April 30, 2023."

Music in Maine - Rock and Roll, Punk, and Elvis

"… Maine got way more than its share of major performers. Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Four Seasons, Simon and Garfunkel…"

Music in Maine - Community Music

"… and musician Benoit Bourque through the Maine Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program."

Dressing Up, Standing Out, Fitting In

Adorning oneself to look one's "best" has varied over time, gender, economic class, and by event. Adornments suggest one's sense of identity and one's intent to stand out or fit in.

Bookplates Honor Annie Louise Cary

A summer resident of Wayne collected more than 3,000 bookplates to honor Maine native and noted opera singer Annie Louise Cary and to support the Cary Memorial Library.

Music in Maine - PLAY

"… is an important communal experience for the performer and the audience. Use the navigation tools on the left to explore the exhibition…"

Music in Maine - Music and Television

"Dave Astor’s weekly episodes featured students from local high schools who performed hit songs from the radio, often lip synching and sometimes…"

Hermann Kotzschmar: Portland's Musical Genius

During the second half of the 19th century, "Hermann Kotzschmar" was a familiar household name in Portland. He spent 59 years in his adopted city as a teacher, choral conductor, concert artist, and church organist.

Music in Maine - Radio Cowboys and Country Music

"He hired regular show performers, and hosted special guests and teenagers from the Portland region. Ken MacKenzie’s parents were from Cape Breton…"

Music in Maine - Bluegrass Music

"Al Hawkes and Alton Myers started performing as a teenagers in the 1940s. They met while browsing 78 RPM records at a store."

Music in Maine - Community and School Marching Bands

"During this time period, Indigenous bands often performed in full regalia, both celebrating their Indigeneity and meeting the audiences’ expectations…"

Music in Maine - Music Makers

"… 1942, Schirmer Records in New York recorded White performing songs from her youth. She wrote in her diary, "Oh! My records! These new recordings…"

Music in Maine - Country Music

"… years appearing in town halls and opera houses performing music, dance, and comedy in their act. While the players changed over the years, the…"

Music in Maine - Military Marching Bands

"He wore this uniform during the 1950s. Today, Chandler’s Band members perform in black shirts and black pants."

Music in Maine - Music Education

"… to learn how to play a musical instrument and to perform in front of audiences. Dancing to music helps children build motor skills while allowing…"

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"Duo Sol and Paul performed as the Zimel Brothers, producing several albums including The Zimel Brothers sing Chassidic Melodies."

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons: Staging the Past

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons (1858-1937) of Kingfield, Maine, experimented with the burgeoning artform of photography. Starting in 1897, Emmons documented the lives of people, many in rural and agricultural regions in Maine and around the world. Often described as recalling a bygone era, this exhibition features glass plate negatives and painted lantern slides from the collections of the Stanley Museum in Kingfield on deposit at Maine Historical Society, that present a time of rapid change, from 1897 to 1926.

Lillian Nordica: Farmington Diva

Lillian Norton, known as Nordica, was one of the best known sopranos in America and the world at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. She was a native of Farmington.

Strike Up the Band

Before the era of recorded music and radio, nearly every community had a band that played at parades and other civic events. Fire departments had bands, military units had bands, theaters had bands. Band music was everywhere.