Events at Member Institutions

The Canton Historical Society Hosts its 50th Anniversary Celebration! 

Date/time: Saturday, July 26, 2025, 10 am - 7:30 pm

Where:  25 Turner Street, Canton, Maine

About the event:  Join us at the Canton Historical Society to view new exhibits including "Canton's History Through Maps."  Enjoy a quilt show featuring historical quilts.  Hear a talk about portrait artist Mary Neal Richardson and view many of her works on exhibit. Stay for the outdoor 70s party by the Gazebo from 4-7:30 pm. All are welcome!

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Complete Details:

The museum will open 10:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. for visitors to explore the collections, including new exhibits featuring maps of Canton through history and the paintings of Mary Neal Richardson—a renowned portrait artist from Canton in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. There will also be a quilt show featuring historical quilts from the collections of both the Canton and Jay Historical Societies.

2 p.m., A Talk by Frederic L. Thompson, author of  Mary Neal Richardson: A Universalist Esthetic & Cosmic Interpreter, 1859-1937

4 - 7:30 pm -  Join us for a party on the lawn.  Cash bar by Boondocks Farm’s Backwoods Affair and food for purchase by Alabama’s BBQ’s Phat Vinnie’s Food Truck.  Both vendors accept cash or credit.  Those wishing to have alcoholic beverages will be asked to provide identification—and please, no outside beverages.

70s Party Theme: Because our society was founded in 1975, we urge everyone to wear their 1970s garb!  Think tie-dye, denim, disco, bell bottoms, miniskirts, maxi dresses, hippy-style, and “flower power.”

Each attendee will receive a 50^th Anniversary souvenir gift (while supplies last), PLUS a slice of cake following the cake cutting!  The Country Store will be open featuring local crafts and Maine themed gifts.

Admission is FREE.  All ages are welcome, and the events are open to the public.  The venue is handicap accessible.  Parking is curbside or at the Public Boat Launch around the corner.  If it rains the party will be moved inside.

The Canton Historical Society is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization devoted to the preservation and celebration of Canton’s heritage and history.

If you would like more information about this event, please email cantonmehistorical@gmail.com, or go to www.cantonmehistory.org or the “Canton Maine Historical Society” Facebook page.

Tate House Museum Welcomes Lafayette to Means House

1267 Westbrook Street, Portland

Wed June 25, 4:30 – 7:00 pm

Portland—In 1825 the Marquis de Lafayette visited Portland as part of his grand tour of America. We will commemorate the 200th anniversary of his visit by welcoming professional reenactor Michael Halbert sponsored by the American Friends of Lafayette at the historic home of his friend and comrade James Means.

Participants will gather outside the Means House beginning at 4:30 pm for Lafayette’s grand arrival at 5:00 pm to celebratory fiddle music of the period. He will greet the crowd and all will enjoy Lafayette cake and receive a commemorative gift. A short presentation describing Lafayette’s visit and servi

ce with James Means will commence after his arrival. This Lafayette welcome event is free to the public and we invite all who are interested to join us.

From ~5:30- 6:45 pm we will offer a series of short ticketed performances by James Means, wife Mary, and daughter Sophia dressed in period clothing who will reenact the occasion of Lafayette’s visit in the house parlor with live music. Timed tickets for this immersive theater experience are limited and

must be purchased in advance on Eventbrite or on our website tatehouse.org beginning June 13. Cost is $15 per person and includes a photo op with Lafayette and performers in the house parlor where artifacts of the Means family will also be on display.

Informal photos with Lafayette will be offered to the general public outside the house from ~6:45-7:15pm, then we will wave goodbye to our Nation’s Guest. Outside visitors can learn more about Lafayette and his U.S. tour by representatives of the American Friends.

FMI: Holly K. Hurd

Tate House Museum

& Means House

1267 Westbrook Street

Portland ME 04102

hkhurd@tatehouse.org

207-774-6177

Tate House Museum is hosting a Community Day when complimentary tours will be offered at 10 am, 11 am, and 12 noon (three tours, every hour on the hour, last one at 12 noon) followed by a special Continental flag raising at 1 pm. This flag will be flown at our Visitors Center for the season to commemorate the beginning of the American Revolution. As a colonial-era museum, Tate House traditionally flies the historical colonial flag--the British Red Ensign. This temporary change in practice is to mark and remember the historical events that occurred 250 years ago and led to the founding of our country. This Community Day will include tours of our 18 th century garden and refreshments for visitors. And, our unique Gift Shop will be open. Please join us to find out what we do!

Tate House is the only pre-Revolutionary museum in the greater Portland area and offers a unique experience of life in 18 th century Maine. At the historic home of Mary and George Tate, who was a mast agent for the Crown, docents describe how New England forests fueled colonial industry, strengthened the British Royal Navy, and sparked rebellion. We are open for guided tours through mid-October. For details, to purchase tickets, and for information about upcoming programs, visit our website at tatehouse.org.

FMI: Director Holly K. Hurd

Tate House Museum

1267 Westbrook Street

Portland, ME 04102

hkhurd@tatehouse.org

The Kennebec Historical Society will be having a gently used book sale in the driveway and the garage at the society’s headquarters, 107 Winthrop Street in Augusta on Thursday, May 29, Friday, May 30, and Saturday May 31 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The society has received many hardcover and paperback book donations. Subjects include fiction, biography, history, travel, business, children's, cookbooks, and much more!

Hardcover books are $2.00 each, and paperbacks are $1.00. There will also be a table of specialty books and books signed by the author which will be priced as marked. For more information, call (207) 622-7718.

From 1919 to 1921, Augusta was home to a movie production company founded by Edgar Jones and local businessmen. His goal was to make “North Woods” films. He chose the Augusta area because of the Kennebec River, surrounding lakes and forestland, and its four seasons. Jones brought in a company of actors and a film crew, who all lived together at 129 Sewall Street. Jones used locals as extras in the films. The films premiered at the Colonial Theater in Augusta.

Jones worked with local writer Holman Day to adapt many of Day’s stories for the films. In 1921 Day and local businessmen took over the company, ousting Jones. Day soon bankrupted the company.

Six of the dozens of two-reel films from this era are known to survive. Four are archived at the Library of Congress in various collections, and British Film Institute donated a pair to Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport. Digital scans of the original 35-millimeter films, with new music scores added, were screened in June 2023 at the Colonial.

KHS presenter Ed Lorusso previously showed four of the films, Caught in the Rapids and Cupid, Registered Guide, back in August 2024 and Border River and A Knight of the Pines in November 2024.  At this presentation, he will show two different films, Brother of the Bear and My Lady O’ the Pines, roughly 25 minutes each.  As before, Lorusso will provide commentary, then answer questions after the viewing.

Lorusso has been restoring silent films since he retired. Six of his projects have been licensed by Turner Classic Movies, including The Enchanted Cottage (1924), which aired in late September. His projects have been screened at various theaters and silent film festivals across the country. He’s also the author of The Silent Films of Marion Davies and is working on a book about filmmaking in Maine during the silent era.

The Kennebec Historical Society presentation is free to the public (donations are gladly accepted) and will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta.  If you have questions about the program, call Scott Wood, executive director, at 622-7718.

Saturday, October 18, 10:00 am (rain date: October 25)  and repeated on Sunday, October 19, 10:00 am (rain date: October 26)

Join Georgia Zildjian and Lisa Lutts for a tour of the Castine Town Cemetery focusing on the lives of Castine residents. This event is co-sponsored by Castine Historical Society and the Wilson Museum. Participants are encouraged to wear sturdy shoes and to expect uneven terrain. Reservations are required and limited to 15. For details and to register visit castinehistoricalsociety.org

Thursday, September 4, 7:00 pm, Mitchell Room, Castine Historical Society, 17 School Street, Castine.

Dr. Liam Riordon, Professor of History at the University of Maine, will speak on the Declaration of Independence’s meaning and political ideals in relation to US public life today.  Reservations required for in-person attendance. Visit castinehistoricalsociety.org for more details, to register for attendance, or to get the YouTube link to watch remotely.

Thursday, August 21, 4-6 pm.

The CHS Annual Meeting, open to the public, is held at the Castine Inn and is followed by a social hour.  No reservations required to attend in-person.  Visit castinehistoricalsociety.org for YouTube link to watch remotely.

Presented by Castine Historical Society, Wednesday, August 16, 7:00 pm, Delano Auditorium, Leavitt Hall, Maine Maritime Academy, Castine. 

James Eric Francis Sr, the Penobscot Nation's Director of Cultural and Historic Preservation and Tribal Historian, will speak on "Penobscot Sense of Place". No reservations required to attend in-person. Visit castinehistoricalsociety.org for the YouTube link to watch remotely.

 Thursday, July 17, 7:00 pm

Dr. Stephen J. Hornsby of the University of Maine will be speaking on New England, Castine, and the cod trade in the 19th century. A book sale and signing follows for his new publication “Cod Coasts: Cultural Landscapes of the Cod Fishery from Cape Cod to Labrador“. Mitchell Room, Castine Historical Society. Reservations required to attend in-person. See details and register for the in-person event or watch the livestream on YouTube at castinehistoricalsociety.org.