Keywords: Work
- Historical Items (3542)
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- Architecture & Landscape (38)
- Online Exhibits (243)
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- My Maine Stories (183)
- Lesson Plans (29)
Online Exhibits
Your results include these online exhibits. You also can view all of the site's exhibits, view a timeline of selected events in Maine History, and learn how to create your own exhibit. See featured exhibits or create your own exhibit
Exhibit
Women at the turn of the 20th century were increasingly involved in paid work outside the home. For wage-earning women in the Old Port section of Portland, the jobs ranged from canning fish and vegetables to setting type. A study done in 1907 found many women did not earn living wages.
Exhibit
Putting Men to Work, Saving Trees
While many Mainers were averse to accepting federal relief money during the Great Depression of the 1930s, young men eagerly joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of President Franklin Roosevelt's most popular programs. The Maine Forest Service supervised the work of many of the camps.
Exhibit
From Sewers to Skylines: William S. Edwards's 1887 Photo Album
William S. Edwards (1830-1918) was a civil engineer who worked for the City of Portland from 1876-1906. Serving as First Assistant to Chief Engineer William A. Goodwin, then to Commissioner George N. Fernald, Edwards was a fixture in City Hall for 30 consecutive years, proving indispensable throughout the terms of 15 Mayors of Portland, including all six of those held by James Phineas Baxter. Edwards made significant contributions to Portland, was an outstanding mapmaker and planner, and his works continue to benefit historians.
Exhibit
Colonial Cartography: The Plymouth Company Maps
The Plymouth Company (1749-1816) managed one of the very early land grants in Maine along the Kennebec River. The maps from the Plymouth Company's collection of records constitute some of the earliest cartographic works of colonial America.
Exhibit
Workers in Maine have labored in factories, on farms, in the woods, on the water, among other locales. Many of Maine's occupations have been determined by the state's climate and geographical features.
Exhibit
Maine's natural resources -- granite, limestone and slate in particular -- along with its excellent ports made it a leader in mining and production of the valuable building materials. Stone work also attracted numerous skilled immigrants.
Exhibit
Settling along the Androscoggin and Kennebec
The Proprietors of the Township of Brunswick was a land company formed in 1714 and it set out to settle lands along the Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers in Maine.
Exhibit
Sylvan Site: A Model Development
Frederick Wheeler Hinckley, a Portland lawyer and politician, had grand visions of a 200-home development when he began the Sylvan Site in South Portland in 1917. The stock market crash in 1929 put a halt to his plans, but by then he had built 37, no two of which were alike.
Exhibit
Educating Oneself: Carnegie Libraries
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie gave grants for 20 libraries in Maine between 1897 and 1912, specifying that the town own the land, set aside funds for maintenance, have room to expand -- and offer library services at no charge.
Exhibit
Northern Threads: Colonial and 19th century fur trade
A vignette in "Northern Threads: Two centuries of dress at Maine Historical Society Part 1," this fur trade mini-exhibition discusses the environmental and economic impact of the fur trade in Maine through the 19th century.
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While numerous Mainers worked for and against woman suffrage in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some also worked on the national level, seeking a federal amendment to allow women the right to vote
Exhibit
Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Wadsworth Era: 1786-1807
"… in the era, the home was also the site of his work. Immediately next to the house Peleg built a warehouse he used to store and sell goods, and in…"
Exhibit
Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Longfellow Era: 1807-1901
"… for Final Memorials published in 1887, and both works were arranged to form a three-volume Life. Henry W. Longfellow 2nd, Portland, ca."
Exhibit
Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Privy
"… privy provide some insights into the nature of working class life in an urban household of mid-19th-century Portland."
Exhibit
Art of the People: Folk Art in Maine
For many different reasons people saved and carefully preserved the objects in this exhibit. Eventually, along with the memories they hold, the objects were passed to the Maine Historical Society. Object and memory, serve as a powerful way to explore history and to connect to the lives of people in the past.
Exhibit
The Taber farm wagon was an innovative design that was popular on New England farms. It made lifting potato barrels onto a wagon easier and made more efficient use of the horse's work. These images glimpse the life work of its inventor, Silas W. Taber of Houlton, and the place of his invention in the farming community
Exhibit
Biddeford, Saco and the Textile Industry
The largest textile factory in the country reached seven stories up on the banks of the Saco River in 1825, ushering in more than a century of making cloth in Biddeford and Saco. Along with the industry came larger populations and commercial, retail, social, and cultural growth.
Exhibit
Good Will-Hinckley: Building a Landscape
The landscape at the Good Will-Hinckley campus in Fairfield was designed to help educate and influence the orphans and other needy children at the school and home.
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South Portland's Wartime Shipbuilding
Two shipyards in South Portland, built quickly in 1941 to construct cargo ships for the British and Americans, produced nearly 270 ships in two and a half years. Many of those vessels bore the names of notable Mainers.
Exhibit
Reuben Ruby: Hackman, Activist
Reuben Ruby of Portland operated a hack in the city, using his work to earn a living and to help carry out his activist interests, especially abolition and the Underground Railroad.
Exhibit
The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (NFBPWC) held their seventh annual convention in Portland during July 12 to July 18, 1925. Over 2,000 working women from around the country visited the city.
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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.
Exhibit
The Establishment of the Troy Town Forest
Seavey Piper, a selectman, farmer, landowner, and leader of the Town of Troy in the 1920s through the early 1950s helped establish a town forest on abandoned farm land in Troy. The exhibit details his work over ten years.
Exhibit
Doing Good: Medical Stories of Maine
Throughout Maine’s history, individuals have worked to improve and expand medical care, not only for the health of those living in Maine, but for many around the world who need care and help.