Maine Memory Network

Home Ties: Sebago During the Civil War

Letters to and from Sebago soldiers who served in the Civil War show concern on both sides about farms and other issues at home as well as concern from the home front about soldiers' well-being.

Fallen Heroes: Those Who Gave Their Lives: World War II

At least twenty-three Jewish men from Maine died in the military during World War II. Photographs and other memorabilia are available for fewer than half of them. Read more about them.

400 years of New Mainers

Immigration is one of the most debated topics in Maine. Controversy aside, immigration is also America's oldest tradition, and along with religious tolerance, what our nation was built upon. Since the first people--the Wabanaki--permitted Europeans to settle in the land now known as Maine, we have been a state of immigrants.

From French Canadians to Franco-Americans

French Canadians who emigrated to the Lewiston-Auburn area faced discrimination as children and adults -- such as living in "Little Canada" tenements and being ridiculed for speaking French -- but also adapted to their new lives and sustained many cultural traditions.

Guarding Maine Rail Lines

Black soldiers served in Maine during World War II, assigned in small numbers throughout the state to guard Grand Trunk rail lines from a possible German attack. The soldiers, who lived in railroad cars near their posts often interacted with local residents.

Fallen Heroes: Last of the Jewish WWII Veterans

Listen to recordings from the last of the World War II Jewish veterans.

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - People of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House

"… Only two families occupied the house – the family of Elizabeth Bartlett and Peleg Wadsworth who lived here between 1785 and 1807, and the family…"

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

"This site explores the history of the Wadsworth and Longfellow families who, from 1785 to 1901, inhabited the the house Peleg Wadsworth built, and…"

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Wadsworth Era: 1786-1807

"… documentary evidence indicates that the Wadsworth family employed servants to cook, do laundry, clean and care for the family."

Maine and the Civil War - Headstone, unknown Confederate soldier, Gray, 1979

"… Description In 1862 a grieving Gray family opened a coffin that was supposed to contain the body of their son."

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

"At that time, two families and 10 people lived in the house. By 1870, every house on Brown Street served as a multi-family home."

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.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking Implements

"It was abandoned by the Scamman family of Saco when they were captured by Indians in 1697. When the family returned home after almost a year, their…"

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.

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"The family, including five sons, moved to Maine in 1946 where Zimelman worked as a cantor at Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland."

Music in Maine - Music Education

"Family and school bands and encouraged children to learn how to play a musical instrument and to perform in front of audiences."

Monuments to Civil War Soldiers

Maine supplied a huge number of soldiers to the Union Army during the Civil War -- some 70,000 -- and responded after the war by building monuments to soldiers who had served and soldiers who had died in the epic American struggle.

Student Exhibit: Rebecca Sophie Clarke

Sophie May, whose real name was Rebecca Clarke, was the author of over 40 books between 1861 and 1903. She wrote the "Little Prudy Series" based on the little town of Norridgewock.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Acknowledgements

"… Burden Collection Joyce Butler The Herbert Cary Family Charles and Joanne Cochrane The First Parish in Portland, Maine Unitarian Universalist W."

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

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

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Longfellow Era: 1807-1901

"This was the family home until 1901. Zilpah Wadsworth Longfellow (1778-1851) "We are now having a furnace set in the cellar which we are promised…"

Scarborough: They Answered the Call

Scarborough met every quota set by the state for supplying Civil War soldiers for Union regiments. Some of those who responded became prominent citizens of the town.

In Time and Eternity: Shakers in the Industrial Age

"In Time and Eternity: Maine Shakers in the Industrial Age 1872-1918" is a series of images that depict in detail the Shakers in Maine during a little explored time period of expansion and change.

Music in Maine - Community Music

"Kemp Family Singers Kemp Family Singers broadside, Leeds, ca. 1895Maine Historical Society George Washington Kemp, Leeds, ca."