Maine Memory Network

A Riot of Words: Ballads, Posters, Proclamations and Broadsides

Imagine a day 150 years ago. Looking down a side street, you see the buildings are covered with posters and signs.

Unlocking the Declaration's Secrets

Fewer than 30 copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence are known to exist. John Dunlap hurriedly printed copies for distribution to assemblies, conventions, committees and military officers. Authenticating authenticity of the document requires examination of numerous details of the broadside.

This Rebellion: Maine and the Civil War

For Mainers like many other people in both the North and the South, the Civil War, which lasted from 1861-1865, had a profound effect on their lives. Letters, artifacts, relics, and other items saved by participants at home and on the battlefield help illuminate the nature of the Civil War experience for Mainers.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Influential & Interesting Documents

"… May 1803 Collections of Maine Historical Society Broadside 281 This remarkable broadside shows that attempts at social control harkening back to…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Neal Dow

"… Society Pamphlet 2541 Ramrod Jubilee broadside, Portland, 1854 X Ramrod Jubilee, Portland, 1854 Broadside 487 Collections of Maine…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Temperance Membership

"X Sixty-Nine Broadside, ca. 1815 Collections of Maine Historical Society Coll. 1863, Box 3 This broadside mocks the pioneering Maine Total…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"X Portland Riot Broadsides, Portland, 1849 Courtesy of a Private Collection These broadsides commemorate the famous bawdyhouse gunfights in…"

Music in Maine - Community Music

"… laments and serenades along with uproarious broadsides and epics, Mémère’s Notebook includes ballads from the expansive Acadian repertoire, drawing…"

The Public Face of Christmas

Christmas, a Christian holiday observed by many Mainers, has a very public, seasonal face that makes it visible to those of all beliefs.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Politics and Enforcement

"… 1906 Collections of Maine Historical Society Broadside 285 X Bottle Benjamin F. Haley, Biddeford, 1870-1880 Stoneware Collections of the…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Women Leaders and Temperance

"… B W6612g X Grand Temperance Rally Broadside, 1912 Collections of Maine Historical Society Coll. 2096, Box 1/Folder 6 Lillian M."

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

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.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking: Elegance and Debauchery

"… best people." - John Martin X Elm Hotel Broadside, ca. 1840 Fitz Hugh Lane (1804-1865) Collections of the Portland Public Library Special…"

Home: The Longfellow House & the Emergence of Portland

The Wadsworth-Longfellow house is the oldest building on the Portland peninsula, the first historic site in Maine, a National Historic Landmark, home to three generations of Wadsworth and Longfellow family members -- including the boyhood home of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The history of the house and its inhabitants provide a unique view of the growth and changes of Portland -- as well as of the immediate surroundings of the home.

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?

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.