Maine Memory Network

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

"1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law Temperance Watchman Club No. 1 banner, ca. 1848Maine Historical Society An Era of Reform By 1820…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Neal Dow

"… Dow Back to: 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law X Colonel Neal Dow, ca. 1865 Published by John Russell Hand-colored lithograph…"

Surgeon General Alonzo Garcelon

Alonzo Garcelon of Lewiston was a physician, politician, businessman, and civic leader when he became Maine's surgeon general during the Civil War, responsible for ensuring regiments had surgeons, for setting up a regimental hospital in Portland, and generally concerned with the well-being of Maine soldiers.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Temperance Membership

"… Back to: 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law "The results of our agitation will be the expulsion from all the states of the traffic in…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Business as Usual

"From the late 1880s, long after the Maine Law prohibited alcohol in Maine, the state was a key market."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1919 to 1934: The Nation Follows Maine Into Prohibition

"… opportunities to flourish as they had after the Maine Law was passed 70 years before. With its proximity to Canada and vast coastline, Maine became…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"… Back to: 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law X Prohibition vs. License Early 19th century Collections of Maine Historical Society…"

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

"… Back to: 1820 to 1865: Temperance and the Maine Law Cartoon, Portland Watch or Cracking Notes, ca."

Hunting Season

Maine's ample woods historically provided numerous game animals and birds for hunters seeking food, fur, or hides. The promotion of hunting as tourism and concerns about conservation toward the end of the nineteenth century changed the nature of hunting in Maine.

Of Note: Maine Sheet Music

<i>Of Note: Maine Sheet Music</i> 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.

Redact: Obscuring the Maine Constitution

In 2015, Maliseet Representative Henry Bear drew the Maine legislature’s attention to a historic redaction of the Maine Constitution. Through legislation drafted in February 1875, approved by voters in September 1875, and enacted on January 1, 1876, the Sections 1, 2, and 5 of Article X (ten) of the Maine Constitution ceased to be printed. Since 1876, these sections are redacted from the document. Although they are obscured, they retain their validity.

World War I and the Maine Experience

With a long history of patriotism and service, Maine experienced the war in a truly distinct way. Its individual experiences tell the story of not only what it means to be an American, but what it means to be from Maine during the war to end all wars.

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.