Maine Memory Network

People, Pets & Portraits

Informal family photos often include family pets -- but formal, studio portraits and paintings also often feature one person and one pet, in formal attire and pose.

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.

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.

Holding up the Sky: Wabanaki people, culture, history, and art

Learn about Native diplomacy and obligation by exploring 13,000 years of Wabanaki residence in Maine through 17th century treaties, historic items, and contemporary artworks—from ash baskets to high fashion. Wabanaki voices contextualize present-day relevance and repercussions of 400 years of shared histories between Wabanakis and settlers to their region.

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.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Taverns, People, and Scenes

"Taverns, People, and Scenes Back to: 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret X Darby and Joan, ca."

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

"People of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Portland, ca. 1880Maine Historical Society Only two families occupied the…"

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.

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.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons: Staging the Past

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons (1858-1937) of Kingfield, Maine, experimented with the burgeoning artform of photography. Starting in 1897, Emmons documented the lives of people, many in rural and agricultural regions in Maine and around the world. Often described as recalling a bygone era, this exhibition features glass plate negatives and painted lantern slides from the collections of the Stanley Museum in Kingfield on deposit at Maine Historical Society, that present a time of rapid change, from 1897 to 1926.

The Shape of Maine

The boundaries of Maine are the product of international conflict, economic competition, political fights, and contested development. The boundaries are expressions of human values; people determined the shape of Maine.

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.

A Soldier's Declaration of Independence

William Bayley of Falmouth (Portland) was a soldier in the Continental Army, seeing service at Ticonderoga, Valley Forge, Monmouth Court House, and Saratoga, among other locations. His letters home to his mother reveal much about the economic hardships experienced by both soldiers and those at home.

A Brief History of Colby College

Colby originated in 1813 as Maine Literary and Theological Institution and is now a small private liberal arts college of about 1,800 students. A timeline of the history and development of Colby College from 1813 until the present.

Music in Maine - MAKE

"… Old Town, 2018Maine Historical Society Wabanaki peoples created the first music of Ckuwaponahkiyik when they emerged, singing and dancing, from an…"

Horace W. Shaylor: Portland Penman

Horace W. Shaylor, a native of Ohio, settled in Portland and turned his focus to handwriting, developing several unique books of handwriting instruction. He also was a talented artist.

Music in Maine - HEAR

"… with the radio, changed home entertainment from people playing instruments to people listening to recordings."

Music in Maine - Music Education

"They provided intense music experiences to young people from the Eastern United States from 1931 to 1934, until the camp went bankrupt during the…"

Music in Maine - Music and Television

"His show encouraged many young people to pursue music careers, including Schooner Fare’s Steve Romanoff and big band musician Tony Boffa."

Music in Maine - Longfellow Family Music

"… made songbooks and sheet music widely available, people hand wrote music on lined sheets, creating their own sheet music."

Music in Maine - Community and School Marching Bands

"… the audiences’ expectations of what Native peoples looked like. Band members wore typical Penobscot-style upright feather headdresses and beaded…"

Music in Maine - Opera, Orchestras and Stages

"… Lu brought more than one bridge to the Penobscot people, creating cultural and educational opportunities through her musical talents."

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"Jewish Cantors Small communities of Jewish people lived in Maine during colonial times. Beginning in the 1870s, Jewish people arrived in Maine in…"

Music in Maine - Rock and Roll, Punk, and Elvis

"… could suddenly pack 3,000 to 6,000 young people into the venues in Old Orchard Beach, Portland and Lewiston-movie theaters, armories, basketball…"