Maine Memory Network

Sugar and Spice: Our Vintage Recipes

Sugar and Spice: Our Vintage Recipes showcases historic recipes, dating from the 18th century to the 1950s, like sweet treats, traditional favorites, promotional printings, medicinal concoctions, curious libations, and recipes that have fallen out of favor.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Overview & Introduction

"The drive to reform the abuse of alcohol was one of the great moral and social controversies of the 19th and early 20th centuries."

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

"For women, the fight against alcohol abuse and other social ills in the later 19th and early 20th centuries led to a growing political, and…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret

"More subtle forms of alcohol abuse in the community, however, were left largely unaddressed. For this reason, at least one 19th-century critic…"

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

"Its abuse led to violence, spousal and child abuse, loss of work, and sometimes, a night in jail. Drunkenness among children was not uncommon, either."

Slavery's Defenders and Foes

Mainers, like residents of other states, had differing views about slavery and abolition in the early to mid decades of the 19th century. Religion and economic factors were among the considerations in determining people's leanings.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Quenching the Thirst

"Though not an abuser of ardent spirits, Longfellow frowned on the more fanatic Temperance leaders. One of his last letters was to his wine merchant…"

Writing Women

Published women authors with ties to Maine are too numerous to count. They have made their marks in all types of literature.

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.