Maine Memory Network

Student Exhibit: A Civil War Soldier from Skowhegan

Alexander Crawford a soldier from Skowhegan, was born in 1839 on a farm on the Dudley Corner Road in Skowhegan. He served in the Civil War and returned to Skowhegan to run the family farm.

Of Note: Maine Sheet Music

Of Note: Maine Sheet Music features captivating covers of original sheet music along with stories about Maine connections to the songs. Before people had easy access to popular music from records, radios, and the internet, they played songs of the day on instruments at home, using sheet music purchased at music stores. Iconic Maine subjects like lobsters, pine trees, and winter were perfect for lyrics sung by luminaries like Rudy Vallée of Westbrook, and intricate artwork of Maine’s landscape graced the sheet music covers.

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.

Music in Maine - MAKE

"The First Music of Maine Hand drum by James Eric Francis, Sr., Old Town, 2018Maine Historical Society Wabanaki peoples created the first music…"

Music in Maine - HEAR

"… Jesse Walter Fewkes traveled to Calais, Maine in March 1890 to test inventor Thomas Edison’s new phonograph in field conditions."

Maine Eats: the food revolution starts here

From Maine's iconic lobsters, blueberries, potatoes, apples, and maple syrup, to local favorites like poutine, baked beans, red hot dogs, Italian sandwiches, and Whoopie Pies, Maine's identity and economy are inextricably linked to food. Sourcing food, preparing food, and eating food are all part of the heartbeat of Maine's culture and economy. Now, a food revolution is taking us back to our roots in Maine: to the traditional sources, preparation, and pleasures of eating food that have sustained Mainers for millennia.

Maine Sweets: Confections and Confectioners

From chocolate to taffy, Mainers are inventive with our sweet treats. In addition to feeding our sweet tooth, it's also an economic driver for the state.

Longfellow: The Man Who Invented America

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a man and a poet of New England conscience. He was influenced by his ancestry and his Portland boyhood home and experience.

Gifts From Gluskabe: Maine Indian Artforms

According to legend, the Great Spirit created Gluskabe, who shaped the world of the Native People of Maine, and taught them how to use and respect the land and the resources around them. This exhibit celebrates the gifts of Gluskabe with Maine Indian art works from the early nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries.

Music in Maine - Drumsticks, 1861

"Drumsticks, 1861 Contributed by Maine Historical Society Description Franklin C. Kimball (1844-1912) used these drumsticks while serving…"

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.

Music in Maine - Bluegrass Music

"Cambridge, Maine became a mecca for bluegrass music, with musicians moving from southern New England."

Music in Maine - Community Music

"The Maine State Grange adopted State of Maine, My State of Maine as their anthem, sung at meetings and events."

Music in Maine - Music Makers

"… Maine Charitable Mechanics Maine Charitable Mechanic Association Click to see all of the Maine Charitable Mechanics Banners Founded in…"

We Used to be "Normal": A History of F.S.N.S.

Farmington's Normal School -- a teacher-training facility -- opened in 1863 and, over the decades, offered academic programs that included such unique features as domestic and child-care training, and extra-curricular activities from athletics to music and theater.

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.

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"Beginning in the 1870s, Jewish people arrived in Maine in greater numbers and began setting up synagogues for worship."

Music in Maine - Music Education

"He married Margaret Blaine, Maine politician James G. Blaine’s daughter in 1890. Damrosch acted as guest conductor for the 100-piece camper orchestra…"

Music in Maine - Music stores

"Bull Moose has always worked closely with local musicians and venues, adding millions of dollars directly into the local music economy. Many Maine…"

Music in Maine - Country Music

"Country musicians in Maine were a close-knit group. Curless worked with luminaries of the generation before him, like Hal Lone Pine and Al Hawkes…"

Irish Immigrants in Nineteenth Century Maine

With the popularity of all things Irish in modern America, many people have forgotten the difficulties faced by nineteenth century Irish immigrants.

Maine and the Civil War - Legendary Participation

"… together resources from Maine Memory Network and Maine History Online that explore and illuminate aspects of Maine and the Civil War."

Fashion for the People: Maine's Graphic Tees

From their humble beginnings as undergarments to today's fashion runways, t-shirts have evolved into universally worn wardrobe staples. Original graphic t-shirts, graphic t-shirt quilts, and photographs trace the 102-year history of the garment, demonstrating how, through the act of wearing graphic tees, people own a part of history relating to politics, social justice, economics, and commemorative events in Maine.

Music in Maine - Kimball Drum, ca. 1860

"F of the 5th Maine Infantry Regiment. The writing probably was added by Maine Historical Society Librarian Nathan Goold."