Maine Memory Network

William King

Maine's first governor, William King, was arguably the most influential figure in Maine's achieving statehood in 1820. Although he served just one year as the Governor of Maine, he was instrumental in establishing the new state's constitution and setting up its governmental infrastructure.

Silk Manufacturing in Westbrook

Cultivation of silkworms and manufacture of silk thread was touted as a new agricultural boon for Maine in the early 19th century. However, only small-scale silk production followed. In 1874, the Haskell Silk Co. of Westbrook changed that, importing raw silk, and producing silk machine twist threat, then fabrics, until its demise in 1930.

Hannibal Hamlin of Paris Hill

2009 marked the bicentennials of the births of Abraham Lincoln and his first vice president, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. To observe the anniversary, Paris Hill, where Hamlin was born and raised, honored the native statesman and recalled both his early life in the community and the mark he made on Maine and the nation.

Among the Lungers: Treating TB

Tuberculosis -- or consumption as it often was called -- claimed so many lives and so threatened the health of communities that private organizations and, by 1915, the state, got involved in TB treatment. The state's first tuberculosis sanatorium was built on Greenwood Mountain in Hebron and introduced a new philosophy of treatment.

Prisoners of War

Mainers have been held prisoners in conflicts fought on Maine and American soil and in those fought overseas. In addition, enemy prisoners from several wars have been brought to Maine soil for the duration of the war.

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.

The Schooner Bowdoin: Ninety Years of Seagoing History

After traveling to the Arctic with Robert E. Peary, Donald B. MacMillan (1874-1970), an explorer, researcher, and lecturer, helped design his own vessel for Arctic exploration, the schooner <em>Bowdoin,</em> which he named after his alma mater. The schooner remains on the seas.

John Hancock's Relation to Maine

The president of the Continental Congress and the Declaration's most notable signatory, John Hancock, has ties to Maine through politics, and commercial businesses, substantial property, vacations, and family.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking Implements

"Drinking Implements Back to: 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret X Scamman Jug, 1689-1702 Germany, Westerwald District Salt-glazed…"

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

"… the house was at the center of a thriving New England city. Since then Portland has expanded, burned, and undergone dramatic changes, many of which…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - The Continuing Debate

"… poster, 1998 X Excessive drinking, once New England's secret, is now a recognized public issue."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Business as Usual

"… X Hayner Whiskey Advertisement The New England Magazine, June 1903 Courtesy of William and Debra Barry Booze may have been illegal, but it…"

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

"… and Champagne flute Attributed to the New England Glass Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ca."

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

"… People, and Scenes Back to: 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret X Darby and Joan, ca."

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

"… By 1820, changes in religious attitudes in New England led to a widespread era of reform. As the harsh views of the Puritans gave way, Protestants…"

Music in Maine - Music Education

"… took over the camp in 1937, renaming it the New England Music Camp (NEMC) dedicated to the cultivation and refinement of musical skills in young…"

Samplers: Learning to Sew

Settlers' clothing had to be durable and practical to hold up against hard work and winters. From the 1700s to the mid 1800s, the women of Maine learned to sew by making samplers.

Maine and the Space Age

The small town of Andover landed on the international map in 1962 when the Earth Station that had been built there successfully communicated with Telstar, the first telecommunications satellite.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Influential & Interesting Documents

"… Interesting Documents Back to: 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret X The Drunkard's Looking Glass, ca."

Music in Maine - Community Music

"My immersion in the late 1970s New England contra dance revival movement led to an opportunity to study the traditional dances of French Canada with…"

Yarmouth: Leader in Soda Pulp

Yarmouth's "Third Falls" provided the perfect location for papermaking -- and, soon, for producing soda pulp for making paper. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, Yarmouth was an international leader in soda pulp production.

Maine Medical Center, Bramhall Campus

Maine Medical Center, founded as Maine General Hospital, has dominated Portland’s West End since its construction in 1871 on Bramhall Hill. As the medical field grew in both technological and social practice, the facility of the hospital also changed. This exhibit tracks the expansion and additions to that original building as the hospital adapted to its patients’ needs.

Elise Fellows White: World Traveling Violin Prodigy

Elise Fellows White was a violinist from Skowhegan who traveled all over the world to share her music.

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.