Maine Memory Network

Songs of Winnebago

An enduring element of summer camps is the songs campers sing around the campfire, at meals, and on many other occasions. Some regale the camp experience and others spur the camp's athletes on to victory.

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.

Student Exhibit: Logging on Kennebec River

I became interested in the Kennebec River log drive when my grandfather would tell me stories. He remembers watching the logs flow down the river from his home in Fairfield, a small town along the Kennebec River.

Farm-yard Frames

Throughout New England, barns attached to houses are fairly common. Why were the buildings connected? What did farmers or families gain by doing this? The phenomenon was captured in the words of a children's song, "Big house, little house, back house, barn," (Thomas C. Hubka <em>Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn, the Connected Farm Buildings of New England,</em> University Press of New England, 1984.)

Music in Maine - Community Music

"… camps where he sold his professionally printed songs, lessening the need to learn the songs by ear."

Music in Maine - MAKE

"… and craftspeople who make instruments, write songs, and make music in the home and community settings."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Society Copes

"'Stein Song,' 1930Maine Historical Society Stein Song, 1930 New arrangement by Rudy Vallee (1901-1986) Collections of Maine Historical Society…"

Music in Maine - Sacred Music

"Today the Sabbathday Lake Shakers sing about 1,000 songs as part of their active catalog. Shaker music originally concentrated on acapella march…"

Music in Maine - Music and Television

"… from local high schools who performed hit songs from the radio, often lip synching and sometimes singing live."

Music in Maine - Longfellow Family Music

"… the Longfellow family created and used manuscript song pages to entertain family and guests, including songs popular in the 1750s and early 1800s…"

Music in Maine - Music in Maine

"Wabanaki songs reaching back 13,000 years are distinct from Franco chansons. Lumberjack work chants and sailor shanties differ from operas sung by…"

Music in Maine - Radio Cowboys and Country Music

"… in the American South, a blend of English folk songs, Scots-Irish fiddle and dance music, sacred music, and banjo and blues from formerly enslaved…"

Music in Maine - Country Music

"The doom-filled trucking song hit #5 on the country Billboard chart in 1965, and Cash Box magazine named Curless the “Most Promising New Male…"

Music in Maine - Music Makers

"… Records in New York recorded White performing songs from her youth. She wrote in her diary, "Oh! My records! These new recordings make me happy."

Enemies at Sea, Companions in Death

Lt. William Burrows and Commander Samuel Blyth, commanders of the USS Enterprise and the HMS Boxer, led their ships and crews in Battle in Muscongus Bay on Sept. 5, 1813. The American ship was victorious, but both captains were killed. Portland staged a large and regal joint burial.

Music in Maine - Military Marching Bands

"Directed by commanders, the drummer songs controlled infantry soldier’s daily activities, from morning Reveille to the Tattoo beat for bedtime."

Music in Maine - HEAR

"… broadcast came from Litchfield, and the first song played on WBLM was The Story in Your Eyes by The Moody Blues."

Music in Maine - Community and School Marching Bands

"… bid her claim..." Goldthwaite wrote other school songs, including one for Portland High School. 'The Purple and White,' Deering High School…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"… published in Ahiamihewintuhangan: The Prayer Song, 1858 Collections of Maine Historical Society QJ 282 V642.1 This book of hymns, written in both…"

Margaret Chase Smith: A Historic Candidacy

When she announced her candidacy for President in January 1964, three-term Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman to seek the nomination of one of the two major political parties.

Elise Fellows White: Music, Writing, and Family

From a violin prodigy in her early years to an older woman -- mother of two -- struggling financially, Skowhegan native Mary Elise Fellows White remained committed to music, writing, poetry, her extended family -- and living a life that would matter and be remembered.

Graduation Season

Graduations -- and schools -- in the 19th through the first decade of the 20th century often were small affairs and sometimes featured student presentations that demonstrated what they had learned. They were not necessarily held in May or June, what later became the standard "end of the school year."

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

"… every concert, every video, and listened to every song. I'd spend countless days and nights studying his mannerisms, wit, voice, and influence."

The Jews of Maine

Like other immigrant groups, Jews came to Maine to make a living and enjoy the natural and cultural environment. Their experiences have been shaped by their occupational choices, Jewish values and, until recently, experiences of anti-Semitism.