Embroidered into this sampler is "Mary Jones did this in the 14 year of her age, 1755." The instructional verse is "All you my friends which now expect to see a peace of work thus."
This flax puller (also known as a heckle or flax comb) has 108 combs. An essential component of the flax dresser's tool kit. It is used for untangling ( or dragging), sorting and dressing the filaments of coarser fibres such as bass.
Size: 25 1/2" long x 4 3/4" wide.
Mali Agat (Pigwacket Abenaki), also called Molly Ockett (circa 1740-1816) made the fabric for this purse. Agat created the fabric by twining porcupine quill, wool, and hemp, which was then woven with intricate geometric patterns.
In addition to her artistry, Agat was known as a Wabanaki “doctress.” Her Pigwacket Homelands ranged from modern day Bethel to Quebec. Agat learned English and traveled widely among Native people and European settlers in northern New England and southern Quebec, selling her goods and offering her medical knowledge.
Around 1785, Mali Agat provided the fabric for this purse to Eli Twitchell of Bethel, who reportedly added the silver clasp in 1788. Twitchell's daughter Lucia (Twitchell) Kimball donated the purse to Maine Historical Society in 1863.
In 1787, English styles were the height of fashion in Germany, France, and the new United States. Large bonnets trimmed with feathers were popular. Fashion dolls, dressed in the latest styles, often were sent between royal courts in Europe, and later to America, to keep people apprised of current fashion in eras before magazines became the primary source of information about fashion.
While this doll represents circa 1787 fashions, it is unclear when the doll was made, perhaps after 1820. It is one in a set of eight fashion dolls spanning circa 1787 to 1820. This doll represents the earliest fashions in the eight piece set.
Elizabeth Wadsworth (1779-1802) of Portland painted this silk, the beginning of a pocket to hold small items such as keys or sewing tools.
This embroidery is a primitive silk needlework landscape possibly made in New England.
Embroidered onto this sampler are the words, "Nancy Mansfield b. Jan 23 1791 in the eleventh year of my age."
The instructional verse is "Our parents exert a prudent care to read our infants mind with proper with acquired ease."
The family of Abijah and Dorcas Poole genealogy sampler made in 1807 of silk on linen by Joanna Poole of Portland.
A needle case belonging to Lady Pepperrell. Written in the needle book is "This was a present from Statira Remich of Elliot Maine in the year 1812". It was given to the library by Miss Melville F. Meeds (1879-1969), Remich's great-granddaughter.
The outside is a printed velvet, with a print of maroon and olive green spots. The inside is printed silk, with designs on the silk of flowers that are green, blue, and pink. There are 2 scalloped pockets: one is made of a striped green and black cotton, the other pocket is red green and cream colored velvet. There are two flaps of red wool with wire outlining. The back piece is paper.
Harriet Cutter (1800-1863) made this embroidered silk picture, titled Lily and Rose while attending the Misses Martins' School in Portland, around 1814.
As the daughter of Levi Cutter (1774-1856), a prominent businessman, church deacon, and mayor of Portland from 1834 to 1840, Harriet had educational opportunities not readily available to girls in 1814.
The Misses Martins' School for girls taught general studies, artwork instruction, and social graces to over 500 boarding and day students from 1804-1829.
The document records a "Negro woman" who was being transported to be sold as an enslaved person to William Pepperrell for 50 shillings. The document noted the woman was, "markd with a Y on ye right sholder." Captain John Morris of the ship Sarah created the bill of lading, dated April 1719, from Barbados.
Some sources suggest that this person died shortly after arriving and others Bullard attempted to import from Barbados did not survive the passage, either.
William Pepperrell (1696–1759) of Kittery was a merchant, military officer, Governor of Massachusetts, and the most prolific slave owner in Maine. He bought and sold slaves throughout his life and left four slaves to his wife in his will. In 1705 William Pepperrell advertised in the Boston News-Letter about a runaway slave,
…named Peter, aged about 20, speaks good English, of pretty brown Complexion, middle Stature, has'on a mixt gray home-spun Coat, white home spun Jacket and Breeches, French fall Shoes, fad coloured Stockings, or a mixt worsted pair, and a Black Hat. Whosoever shall take up said Negro, and bring or convey him safe to his said master, or secure him and send notice of him either to his Master, or to Andrew Belcher Esqr. at Boston, shall be well rewarded for his pains, and all reasonable charges paid besides.
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The Abyssinian Church at the corner of Mountfort and Newbury streets, established in 1828, served as the spiritual, geographic and social center for Portland's African-American community.
In 1900 antiquarian Charles Q. Goodhue put memory to paper in this sketch of the Abyssinian Church as it appeared before the Civil War. The church was in use until 1916.
Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church on Sheridan Street carried forward the 19th century legacy of service and community.
The Maine Anti-Slavery Society was founded in May 1833. While this constitution is undated, it is probably from 1833. It contains signatures of the group's members.
The constitution states that the society will "encourage & promote the intellectual, moral & religious improvement of the free people of color, & by correcting prevailing & wicked prejudices, endeavor to obtain for them, as well as the enslaved, an equality with the whites in civil, intellectual & religious privileges; but will never countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by physical force."
Transcription
Creation of the Abyssinian Congregational Church, Portland, 1835
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
The Abyssinian Religious Society was formed after African American parishioners of the Second Congregational Church in Portland refused to be segregated on balcony seating, and experienced animosity by White members who discouraged their attendance.
Grievances were published in an 1826 letter to the Eastern Argus by six cosigners: Christopher Christian Manuel, Reuben Ruby, Caleb Jonson, Clement Thomson, Job L. Wentworth, and John Siggs. In 1828 they joined 22 Black residents who petitioned the state Legislature for authority to incorporate the Abyssinian Religious Society.
The articles of creation were recorded in the Meeting House records on July 27, 1835 "for the purpose of organizing a Church among the people of Coulour of this City."
Transcription
Minutes, Portland Anti-Slavery Society, 1844-1846, 1850-1851
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
This book contains the secretary's records of the Portland Anti-Slavery Society, including the Preamble, Constitution, and organizational information. The group, formed in 1844 (an earlier anti-slavery society had existed as well) included African-Americans from the Munjoy Hill area as well as a variety of white residents of Portland. Men and women belonged to the group. In many locations, women were not allowed to belong to male anti-slavery societies.
The group followed the ideas of William Lloyd Garrison, who believed in immediate abolition and moral suasion to end slavery. The records book includes discussions of these issues as well as indications of conflict with city officials about holding anti-slavery lectures.
Because the book is 45 pages, downloading the transcription will take time. The file is 16.3 megabites.
Transcription
Letter to Elizabeth Mountfort from a friend, Sept. 29, 1844
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Letter to Elizabeth Mountfort from a friend in Newcastle, Maine.
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Letter to Elizabeth Mounfort from a friend in Trinidad, Cuba, July 4, 1847
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
A woman identified as "Maria" living in Trinidad, Cuba, wrote to abolitionist and member of the Maine Anti-Slavery Society, Elizabeth Mountfort of Portland, about the brutality of slave labor in the sugar cane fields. Maria told of,
"An American lady speaking of the warmth of the weather in the summer season, said, 'I should like to spend some time in the country, were it not for the shrieks of the slaves, which you hear constantly, some one or another, being nearly all the time at the whipping post.'"
Later Maria discussed her hopes of the abolishment of slavery,
"I pray it may not be long ere freedom's standard shall be unfurled to the breeze, that will waft the glad sound of emancipation to every people and o'er every land, where the iron yoke is known."
Transcription
Letter from Frederick Douglass to Elizabeth Mountfort, Aug. 8, 1851
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Escaped slave and anti-slavery advocate Frederick Douglass wrote to Elizabeth Mountfort, corresponding secretary of the Portland Anti-Slavery Society, concerning the society's invitation for him to lecture before them.
Transcription
Portland Anti-Slavery Society Letterbook, Portland, 1850-1851
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Elizabeth Mountfort, corresponding secretary of the Portland Anti-Slavery Society, wrote copies of letters inviting anti-slavery advocates to speak in Portland. Letters are to Wendell Phillips, C.C. Burleigh, Charles Lenox Remond, Samuel May, Edmund Quincy, Adin Ballou, George Thomson,Theodore Parker, John P. Hale, Horace Mann, Ernestine Rose, Robert Rantoul Jr., Henry Giles, and R.P. Butler, William Lloyd Garrison, and others.
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Title page of Uncle Tom's Cabin (Boston: John P. Jewett & Co., 1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe (illus. Hammatt Billings)
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the Maine Legislature authorized the governor to accept the services of women as army nurses.
(Only 7 years had passed since Florence Nightingale began nursing British soldiers during the Crimean War. She was the first woman ever to do so under government authority.)
It should be noted that no professional training was available to any of these women.
They relied on their past experience in caring for ill and injured family members and neighbors in order to look after the soldiers who were entrusted to them. Although the nurses were rarely present during battles, they were almost always on the scene within days, and often for weeks and months thereafter.
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A group of 14 people met on Nov. 17, 1862 at the home of Jedediah Jewett in Portland and formed the Maine Camp Hospital Association to assist Maine soldiers in the Army of the Potomac. The organization had its genesis in the Free Street Baptist Society's Ladies Committee.
The group, which continued throughout the war, sent goods and nurses to the Washington, D.C., area.
The record book details the group's meetings and activities.
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The women of Stillwater, Minnesota announced a meeting where they would read resolutions and cheer on soldiers serving in the American Civil War.
The Civil War started April 12, 1861 and this event was held April 27, 1861.
This announcement describes a fund-raising activity sponsored by the ladies of the Sanitary Association, a charitable organization created to assist Maine soldiery during the American Civil War.
Sanitary committees were created across the Union to coordinate the activities of women who volunteered as nurses and to meet other needs of soldiers.
The "Societe C. de V" planned a grand Bal Masque in Portland on April 15, 1863 to benefit sick and wounded soldiers.
The plans include regulations and restrictions devised to make the event a success. The document notes that "...it is necessary that the ladies should be willing to co-operate with the gentlemen, and agree to be present upon the floor, attired either in fancy dress with mask, or in evening dress with domino and mask ..."
The document was among the papers of the R.F. Society, a group of young women who joined together to support ill and injured soldiers.
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Julia Muzzy of Bangor began a small scrapbook of patriotic images in 1862 and added to it throughout the war.
Muzzy, who married Henry D. Fuller of Corinth, a 2nd lieutenant in Co. B of the 1st Maine Cavalry, after the war, was about 15 years old when she started the book.
Her title page is written in red and blue ink, a further indication of her patriotic feelings. Most of the images pasted on the pages appear to be cut from letterhead -- often used by soldiers. Some are images from magazines or newspapers.
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Responding to an inquiry from the Sanitary Commission, an unidentified writer explains how and why the Buxton-Hollis Soldiers' Aide Society was organized and how it functioned during the Civil War.
The writer likely was Martha Usher Osgood of Hollis, one of the founders of the organization.
In answer to a question, she wrote, "We were always received with civility though many families and those among the most wealthy declined to aid us in any way."
The document is a draft of the one sent to "Mrs. D. M. Rea."
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One linen scrap has a typewritten label reading, "Piece of a cot sheet used in the Army Hospitals in the Civil War –– 1861––'65." Elizabeth Chase Akers, a native of Strong, obtained three such linen scraps after the war. All have similar inscriptions
Akers had worked for the Portland Advertiser and Portland Transcript before going to Washington, D.C., as a government clerk during the war.
Rebecca Usher, a nurse at the U.S. General Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania, wrote to her sister Martha Usher Osgood, asking her to send some slippers, "anything that will answer for handkerchiefs," dried apples, pipes and tobacco, and old novels or histories and biographies, as well as some other items.
Martha, known as Mattie, organized the Buxton-Hollis Soldiers' Aid Society.
Usher had only been at the hospital since late in November.
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Three women from Bangor wrote to wrote to Brig. Gen. George F. Shepley, military governor of Louisiana, that
"the Ladies of the Sanitary" were sending a box of clothing and "delicacies" for sick soldiers that they hoped would go to Maine soldiers serving in Louisiana.
Mrs. Dr. Barker, Mrs. Franklin Muzzy, and Mrs. M.B. Ricker wrote that they "should be pleased to have the Maine Regts. know they are remembered, toiled for, prayed for, by their true country women at home, who hear with pride of their brave and heroic deeds."
The box was sent to Boston where the New England division of the U.S. Sanitary Commission shipped it to New Orleans. Shepley, a Maine native, was a lawyer in Portland before joining the 12th Maine Infantry Volunteers as commander. He forwarded the supplies to the hospital of the 12th Maine.
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The Rev. Oliver P. Tuckerman of Portland, a city missionary who helped the poor, wrote to Maria T. Hersey of Portland to thank her group, the R.F. Society, for a donation of $100.
The group of "young ladies" was formed in 1862 to help injured and ill soldiers during the Civil War. It apparently continued to operate after the war ended.
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This is a temperance petition that was presented to the Maine Legislature in 1845.
It was widely believed that if the manufacture and sale of liquor could be abolished, crime and poverty would disappear from society.
Women were among the most active proponents of legislation to prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages; and by the end of the century Maine had enacted the most stringent anti-liquor laws in the country.
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Lillian Stevens, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, ca. 1890
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Former National President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She was born Lillian Marilla Nickerson Ames in Dover in 1844. Before marrying Michael Stevens, she taught at the Spruce Street and Stroudwater Schools in Westbrook.
She was elected the president of the Maine W.C.T.U. in 1878, and the president of the National W.C.T.U. in 1898. She later became the vice president at-large of the World W.C.T.U.
The broadside warns "Boys and Young Men" of the dangers of drinking alcohol.
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The Neal Dow house at 714 Congress Street in Portland. The house was built in 1829.
Dow (1804-1897) was an influential legislator and reformer who sponsored the "Maine Law," which banned the sale of alcohol in Maine.
A card urging voters to reject overturning the 26th amendment to the Maine constitution which prohibited the sale and manufacture of intoxicating alcohol. Text reads, "Save Maine-Keep it clean for our boys and girls."
A post card image of the Temperance Hall in North Dixmont, about 1900.
An 1858 petition, signed mostly by women, asks the Maine Legislature to grant women the right to vote.
Women petitioned for suffrage at both the state and national level until the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave all American women voting rights in 1920.
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The greatest mother in the world, World War 1 poster, ca. 1917
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
World War 1 poster entitled, "The greatest mother in the world," showing a Red Cross nurse holding a wounded U.S. soldier, ca. 1917.
This is the river house when the flood hit. It is closer to the water then most of the houses but it was soon lived in after repairs. Now nobody lives in it and it is in bad conditon.
Woman in Army Uniform, Lewiston-Auburn, ca. 1917
Item Contributed by
Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries
Though the woman in this photograph is unidentified, she is thought to be a girlfriend or wife of Joseph Chouinard, a Lewiston-Auburn resident who served in World War I, posing in uniform.
While women did serve in the army during World War I, they did so mostly as nurses, or in reserve units. Few would have been issued with rifles as shown in this photo.
During World War I women were employed at the Portland Company to help manufacture 108 mm shell casings for the United States Army.
World War I poster entitled, "Gee!! I wish I were a man, I'd join the Navy Be a man and do it - United States Navy recruiting station."
Will You Have a Part in Victory? World War I poster, ca. 1918
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
The National War Garden Commission, brain child of philanthropist Charles Lathrop Pack, distributed propaganda posters to entice Americans in supporting the war effort through establishing 'victory gardens.' During WWI, American citizens were encouraged to plant and maintain their own gardens to reduce consumption of mass produced food, ease the stress on the U.S. agricultural industry, as well as contribute goods to the cause. Americans were also encouraged to can and dry their home-grown produce as a way to increase reserve stocks.
The tag line "Every Garden a Munitions Plant" references the importance of supplying food to U.S. soldiers abroad.
World War I poster entitled, "Joan of Arc saved France--Women of America, save your country--Buy War Savings Stamps"
War Savings and Treasury Stamps, like their Liberty Bond counterparts, aimed at raising funds for the war effort. Stamps were targeted towards individuals with less discretionary funds. Between 1918 and 1920, Maine citizens purchased $8.3 million dollars in war stamps.
Created by artist Haskell Coffin for the War Savings Stamp campaign, it encourages women to purchase War Savings Stamps, and plays on the American admiration for French culture which dates back to the Revolutionary War.
Margaret Chase in front of Local Red Cross office, Skowhegan, ca. 1917
Item Contributed by
Margaret Chase Smith Library
Margaret Chase at age 19, standing in front of the Skowhegan Red Cross office, where she worked as a volunteer.
Elizabeth Aageson of Portland received this letter in January of 1918 from Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Aageson loaned a telescope to be used by the Navy in response to their "Eyes for the Navy" campaign. Any donors received a check in the amount of $1.00, which was considered payment for the item if it was not returned, or rental for the item if it was.
Aagerson received her telescope back after the war.
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An illustration entitled "Team Work for Uncle Sam" that was published by the Suffrage Referendum League of Maine in 1917 depicts women's war contributions at home and the soldier's contributions at the front.
The group was promoting a referendum to change Maine's constitution to allow women in the state to vote.
The artist is William Ourcadie, pseudonym for Frederic W. Freeman.
Frederic W. Freeman, who used the pseudonym "W. Ourcadie," drew this cartoon supporting woman suffrage in about 1915.
George Allan letter in support of suffrage, Portland, 1916
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Portland lawyer George H. Allan wrote to the Maine Association Opposed to the Suffrage of Women in 1916 in response to their letter concerning legislative action on the suffrage question.
Allan told the group that he did not agree with its views.
"I believe that the women of Maine should have opportunity to do what ever they are capable of doing in order to become a real productive factor in community life," he wrote.
He added that he thought "full suggrage should be inherent to full citizenship."
He was a Republican serving in the Maine House of Representatives.
Transcription
To spark interest in the cause, local suffrage organizations often brought in out-of-state speakers who could share fresh knowledge and perspectives. The National [american] Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) sent Augusta Hughston to Maine in August 1916 to help organize the state in preparation for a possible statewide referendum the following year. It is likely that she was also tasked with assessing Maine's readiness for such a campaign, as she visited every county. She must not have liked what she saw; ultimately, NAWSA president Carrie Chapman Catt advised Maine not to proceed with a referendum. "You're not ready," she said.
This poster advertises the first suffrage meeting to be held in Belfast. Potential audience members were lured by a promise of free admission and no requests for donations.
A poster announcing two speeches on Oct. 26, 1916 by Florence Brooks Whitehouse on "The Purpose of the Women's Party" at the Opera House and the Princess theater. The town is not specified.
Whitehouse founded the Maine branch of the Congressional Union in 1915. It became the Maine branch of the National Women's Party, a suffrage organization whose members picketed the White House to get President Woodrow Wilson to support suffrage.
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Maine Governor Carl E. Milliken signs a Maine legislative resolution to hold a special election on Sept. 10, 1917 on a state constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote in Maine.
After 40 years of effort, the pro-woman suffrage forces in Maine got the resolution through the Maine Legislature.
At the signing ceremony are, from left, Mrs. Henry Cobb, Mrs. Carl E. Milliken, Governor Carl E. Milliken, Deborah Knox Livingstone, Florence Brooks Whitehouse, Charles Milliken, Mrs. Guy P. Gannett, Mrs. Arthur T. Balentine and Mrs. William R. Pattangall.
The woman suffrage amendment was defeated on Sept. 10. A national woman suffrage amendment passed on August 18, 1920.
The Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women voted on April 11, 1917 to send a letter to pro-suffrage associations in the state and newspapers asking them to refrain from campaigning on a referendum concerning woman suffrage because the nation was at war.
The MAOSW wanted their opponents to sign an agreement stating that they would not engage in public speaking, distribution of literature and public advertising and that they would close their offices.
The letter concludes "We propose this as a patriotic emergency measure."
Transcription
A poster produced by the Suffrage Referendum League of Maine that points to the inequalities between Maine and Oregon because Oregon women can vote and Maine women cannot.
The poster was part of a referendum campaign for a constitutional amendment to allow Maine women to vote. The vote was held Sept. 10, 1917 and the amendment was rejected.
The artist is William Ourcadie, pseudonym for Frederic W. Freeman.
Transcription
Elizabeth Aageson of Portland, a piano teacher, registered to vote on September 7, 1920, shortly after women received the right to vote.
