Maine Memory Network

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland

"… a private residence to a historic house museum, preserving the history of the Wadsworth and Longfellow families."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Acknowledgements

"Masterman John Matzke Mothers Against Drunk Driving National Gallery of Art Bevinn O'Brien Old York Historical Society, York, Maine Old Sturbridge…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Business as Usual

"1900 Collections of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission Portland's Gorham's Corner (the intersection of Fore, York, Danforth, and Pleasant…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Quenching the Thirst

"… Courtesy of the Pingree Family and Maine Historic Preservation Commission From the 1870s onward, summer residents changed the complexion of coastal…"

Music in Maine - MAKE

"Powwow Music By Chris Sockalexis James E. Francis kapahse (sturgeon) drum, Indian Island, 2019Maine Historical Society Powwow Music Click to…"

Music in Maine - Community and School Marching Bands

"… (Band) Sainte Cécile Band in 1907, at a time when preserving the French language in oral and written forms was important for passing cultural…"

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Privy

"1875Maine Historic Preservation Commission In 2006, while rebuilding the garden wall along the original Wadsworth property line, workers noticed…"

Music in Maine - Bluegrass Music

"… supporting local musicians and promoters, and preserving the memory of the Maine bluegrass pioneers."

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

"… customs to the state and nation, as a way of preserving their native culture through traditional beer or wine making."

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"Preserved through oral tradition, it’s estimated that there are least 25,000 Shaker songs. Today the Sabbathday Lake Shakers sing about 1,000 songs…"

Summer's Favorite Game

Baseball often is called the National Pastime. For many people, baseball is encountered in the backyard and down the street, a game played by a few or the full contingent of a team.

Fashionable Maine: early twentieth century clothing

Maine residents kept pace with the dramatic shift in women’s dress that occurred during the short number of years preceding and immediately following World War I. The long restrictive skirts, stiff collars, body molding corsets and formal behavior of earlier decades quickly faded away and the new straight, dropped waist easy-to-wear clothing gave mobility and freedom of movement in tune with the young independent women of the casual, post-war jazz age generation.

A Celebration of Skilled Artisans

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, an organization formed to promote and support skilled craftsmen, celebrated civic pride and members' trades with a parade through Portland on Oct. 8, 1841 at which they displayed 17 painted linen banners with graphic and textual representations of the artisans' skills.

Giving Thanks

Cultures from the ancient Greeks and Chinese to contemporary societies have set aside time to give thanks, especially for the harvest. In 1941, the United States set a permanent date for the observance.

Walter Wyman and River Power

Walter Wyman's vision to capture the power of Maine's rivers to produce electricity led to the formation of Central Maine Power Co. and to a struggle within the state over what should happen to the power produced by the state's natural resources.

Northern Threads: Civil War-era clothing

An exhibit vignette within "Northern Threads, Part 1," featuring American Civil War civilian and military clothing, 1860 to 1869.

Northern Threads: Outerwear, Militia & Cadet uniforms

A themed vignette within "Northern Threads Part I," featuring 19th century outerwear, bonnets, militia and cadet uniforms.

How Sweet It Is

Desserts have always been a special treat. For centuries, Mainers have enjoyed something sweet as a nice conclusion to a meal or celebrate a special occasion. But many things have changed over the years: how cooks learn to make desserts, what foods and tools were available, what was important to people.

CODE RED: Climate, Justice & Natural History Collections

Explore topics around climate change by reuniting collections from one of the nation's earliest natural history museums, the Portland Society of Natural History. The exhibition focuses on how museums collect, and the role of humans in creating changes in society, climate, and biodiversity.

Field & Homefront: Bethel during the Civil War

Like many towns, Bethel responded to the Civil War by sending many soldiers and those at the homefront sent aid and supported families. The town grew during the war, but suffered after its end.

The Life and Legacy of the George Tate Family

Captain George Tate, mast agent for the King of England from 1751 to the Revolutionary War, and his descendants helped shape the development of Portland (first known as Falmouth) through activities such as commerce, shipping, and real estate.

Building the International Appalachian Trail

Wildlife biologist Richard Anderson first proposed the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) in 1993. The IAT is a long-distance hiking trail along the modern-day Appalachian, Caledonian, and Atlas Mountain ranges, geological descendants of the ancient Central Pangean Mountains. Today, the IAT stretches from the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, through portions of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Europe, and into northern Africa.

Clean Water: Muskie and the Environment

Maine Senator Edmund S. Muskie earned the nickname "Mr. Clean" for his environment efforts during his tenure in Congress from 1959 to 1980. He helped created a political coalition that passed important clean air and clean water legislation, drawing on his roots in Maine.

Presidents and Campaigns

Several Mainers have run for president or vice president, a number of presidents, past presidents, and future presidents have had ties to the state or visited here, and, during campaign season, many presidential candidates and their family members have brought their campaigns to Maine.