Events at Member Institutions

Portland __ On Thursday, July 11^th at 6:30 PM the Tate House Museum will be holding the 2^nd in its series of guest lectures with a presentation by Herb Adams. Adams, a SMCC Professor, former Maine State legislator, author and noted Portland historian, will help us relive the fanfare of the 1825 visit to Portland of the Marquis de Lafayette.

Guests attending the lecture in the Means House parlor will be entertained by Professor Adams talk entitled “Hail the Hero of Two Worlds: Lafayette Returns to America – and Maine”. Of interest is the fact that Lafayette knew the owner of the Means House and is believed to have visited the home of his friend, James Means, in 1825.

Lectures take place in the Means House, across the street from the Tate House. Admission is $15 and $12 for members and volunteers. Seating is limited, so please call the Museum at 207-774-6177 for reservations.

FMI:

Contact

Tate House Museum

1267 Westbrook Street

Portland ME 04102

207-774-6177

info@tatehouse.org

The Trustees and staff of Yarmouth Historical Society are pleased to present The Wellcome Prize, a history competition open to high school students in Maine. Students are invited to undertake original historical research about a local history topic related to Cumberland County and write a research paper about their findings. Papers will be judged on the quality of writing and research. The writers of the three winning papers will be asked to present a talk about their project on November 19, 2019. The first prize winner will receive $1000, second prize $500, and third prize $250. Visit our website for more information: www.yarmouthmehistory.org/the-wellcome-prize/ 

80^th Anniversary Year for the World’s Oldest, Largest Historical Trolley Museum

The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport has officially opened for the 2019 season. The Museum will be open from 10AM-5PM every weekend in May, and daily starting on Memorial Day.  A year-long celebration is planned for the Seashore Trolley Museum this season as it turns 80. Founded in 1939, the trolley museum is the oldest historic transportation organization of its kind in the world and curates the largest streetcar collection.

The museum features a three-mile round trip on its heritage railway, a 330-unit collection of trolleys, buses and more transit history than you can absorb in one day. Seashore Trolley Museum offers attractions for every member of your family. The museum’s docents are only too glad to unravel the mysteries of the last century’s transit modes.

All of this activity began eighty years ago, when a group of Boston area college students visited Maine, to ride the dwindling number of streetcar lines.  While enjoying an outing, they learned that The Biddeford and Saco Railroad had ordered replacement buses for its weary trolleys.  One open-sided car, No. 31, was a favorite with the group.  On the spot, they agreed to save the little car.  In doing so, the college students made history.

This was the first time a non-company group saved a street railway or railroad car for historic purposes.  Armed with this idea, other groups sprang up in New England and around the U.S. Today, this local rolling endeavor covers the country from coast to coast.

Over the years, Seashore Trolley Museum has added to its collection streetcars from Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, and to Maine’s northernmost county – Aroostook.  Besides rail cars, the collection includes diesel and gas buses. There are 19 electrically powered trackless trolleys, like those running around Cambridge’s Harvard Square.  Its Canadian collection is the largest outside of that country.  If you are not satisfied with a North American assortment, transit equipment from:  Australia, France, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and New Zealand may be viewed or ridden.

Bostonians will enjoy refreshing their memories of familiar rapid transit cars.  All four subway lines:  Red, Green, Blue and Orange are represented.  In fact, Seashore prides itself on displaying the comprehensive “Boston Collection” of trolleys, trains and buses.  The oldest piece of equipment in the museum is a Suffolk County Sheriff’s prisoner wagon, circa 1830.  Although it is not a passenger vehicle, it represents the omnibuses, which clattered over the Hub’s cobblestone streets, until horse cars arrived.

The birthday celebration weekend of July 5-8 will see hidden trolleys out in the sunshine for the first time in years. There will be other special activities taking place as well. For more information about the streetcar preservation movement, the Seashore Trolley Museum and its collection, as well as a calendar of events for the 2019 season, please visit www.trolleymuseum.org or contact 207-967-2800 x101.

Museum exhibit asks: Can shoes be artful objects?

Inspired by the success of its most recent Bates bedspread exhibit, Museum L-A began the process of curating their newest gallery exhibit featuring shoes over one year ago. The plan for the exhibit was three-fold: highlight Auburn’s historic shoe industry, explore the techniques and terms that accompany shoes, and acknowledge the aesthetic beauty of shoe designs.

In response to a call for donations of shoes that the museum sent to local news outlets, Marilynn G. Barr, an artist from North Carolina, contacted the museum’s Collections and Exhibits coordinator to see if the museum would be interested in showcasing her astounding collection of ceramic shoes. One year later, Museum L-A is thrilled to announce that her shoes will be on display in the gallery for three months this summer.

Barr’s collection, “The First Shoe Collection,” is made up of 60 ceramic shoes fashioned using vintage shoe lasts from the 1940s and ‘50s. All of the shoes are singles (reminiscent of Cinderella’s abandoned shoe), are vastly different in design and color, and were recently part of an exhibition in New York City. The collection begs the question: Can shoes be artful objects?

“At the beginning of this curation process, we had always flirted with ideas of how to infuse this exhibit about an everyday object with art and design, so when Marilynn reached out to us we jumped at the chance to include her collection at some point during this exhibition,” explained Emma Sieh, Collections and Exhibits coordinator.

The public is invited to attend a free event from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 14, to view these beautiful shoes and meet their ingenious creator. Travelling from Greensboro, North Carolina, Barr will lead the evening in an artist’s talk and answer questions about the process of crafting these works of art. Light refreshments will be served and the public will have a chance to tour the rest of the “Footwear: From Function to Fashion” exhibition.

“The First Shoe Collection” will be on display in the Museum L-A gallery until mid-September.

Museum L-A is located in the Bates Mill Complex at 35 Canal Street in Lewiston, Maine.  Its hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Special tour requests and large group tours outside of these hours are available by appointment. Call 207-333-3881 or email info@museumla.org for more information.

Our Stories Have to Be Told: HHRC Artifacts from the Holocaust The latest exhibit at the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine will feature a collection of the artifacts that have been given to the HHRC over the years and compiled in a way that tells the story of the years leading up to the Holocaust through liberation. Our Stories Have to Be Told: HHRC Artifacts from the Holocaust brings together a powerful collection of items that have been donated or loaned to the HHRC over the years. The exhibit will open on Wednesday, June 5th from 5 to 7 p.m. with a program beginning at 5:30 p.m. featuring educator Suzi Ring, whose late husband Dennis donated a collection of items from concentration camps. In addition, speakers will include Noel March, who will share the story of his father Leonard, who was a liberator. Lee D. Mitgang will speak about his father Herbert who wrote for the Stars and Stripes and went on to have a successful career as a journalist. The exhibit was put together by HHRC Associate Director David Greenham and recent University of Southern Maine graduate Justin Dyer of Bath.  Both will speak about the process of creating the exhibit. The title comes from a quote by Holocaust survivor Jerry Slivka (July 11, 1915 – January 10, 2013). He is one of several survivors whose quotes and reflections are included in the exhibit. Jerry Slivka was born in the Ukraine, but his village was destroyed during WWI. The family moved to the Jewish section of another town nearby named Povursk. When Hitler came to power, Jerry was out of school and decided to move to Lodz, Poland. He worked making sweaters and then returned to Povursk in 1937.  Four years later, Jerry was drafted into the Soviet army. During his time of service, he lost contact with his family. In 1943, Jerry was sent to a work camp in Siberia where he remained until the end of the war.  At that time, the Soviet Union had an agreement that those who were Polish citizens prior to 1939 could go back to Poland. Jerry qualified, submitted his application, and a year later returned to Poland.  He learned that his parents, sister and one brother were killed. Jerry was able to find his surviving brother and the two traveled to Italy before arriving to the US in 1948.  Soon after, he met and married his wife Rochelle. The couple moved to Maine and helped found the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine. At the time of his death, he was survived by two daughters, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Our Stories Have to Be Told: HHRC Artifacts from the Holocaust will be open from June 5th through September 13th. The HHRC, located at the Michael Klahr Center on the campus of the University of Maine at Augusta is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or on weekends and evenings by appointment.  If you have any questions about the exhibit please contact David Greenham at David.greenham@maine.edu or 207-621-3531.

The Kennebec Historical Society’s June Public Presentation: “Risking Lives and Fortunes, Maine’s Underground Railroad”

With America embroiled in the Civil War and the issue of slavery tearing apart friends and neighbors, many Mainers, including families Kennebec County, put their lives and fortunes at risk by helping escaping slaves get to Canada in the 1860s. From Kittery to Fort Fairfield, like-minded abolitionists formed an extensive “underground railroad” connection that broke the law, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Jail time and heavy fines faced anyone caught in this endeavor, but brave families from the Nasons to the Farwells and Lambs refused to buckle to the dangers. The result was thousands of slaves, often chased by slave hunters, made the treacherous trip to freedom.

The Kennebec Historical Society’s speaker and winner of six national magazine writing awards, Mark Alan Leslie began his career as a journalist, reporting for the then-Waterville Morning Sentinel and then as an editor for the Lewiston Sun, Portland Press Herald and Sunday Telegram. He was the founding editor for Golf Course News, a publication that shot to the top of golf industry publications. Leslie has written 11 books, including three historical novels, four modern-day mystery/thrillers, two golf books, a devotional and a Christian self-help book.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at South Parish Congregational Church at 9 Church Street, Augusta, author Mark Alan Leslie will weave this story, complete with photographs and narratives, that helped him write the Publishers Weekly Featured Book, True North: Tice’s Story.  The Kennebec Historical Society June Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted) and will be followed by some light refreshments.

The Tate House Museum at 1267 Westbrook Street, Portland announces their 7thAnnual Tate House Tea in the Garden on Sunday, June 9^thfrom 1 until 4PM. The garden which overlooks the Stroudwater River will be the location for various hot and iced teas prepared and served by Nellie's Teas of South Portland. To accompany your tea numerous other sweet confections and savory appetizers will be served and ofcourse there will be strawberry shortcake to enjoy. This is a great opportunity to spend an afternoon with friends or family enjoying this civilized British activity while supporting the museum.

The Tate House will be open for tours for those who have never seen this special Georgian Colonial house. The charge for this event is $15 for members and $18 for non-members. Reservations are requested and can be made by calling the Tate House at

774-6177 or e-mailing the museum at assistant@tatehouse.org. Links to Eventbrite will be found on the website of www.tatehouse.org

FMI:

Peg Puza

Tate House Museum

1267 Westbrook Street

Portland ME 04102

Tel: 774-6177

assistant@tatehouse.org

Portland – The Tate House Museum welcomes noted author and historian, Alan Taylor, to an evening lecture on the events leading up to Maine's statehood entitled Bicentennial Reflections: Maine& the Crisis of the Union in 1820.Dr. Taylor is the author of eight books and numerous scholarly articles on American history and is a two time Pulitzer Prize winner. Currently the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chair of the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville he will be sharing his perspective on the politics which led to Maine being admitted to the Union as a free state in 1820.

Please join us at 5PM on May 29th to meet the author and enjoy light refreshments at the Stroudwater Village Church, 1729 Congress Street, Portland, across the street from the Tate House. The lecture will follow at 6PM. This event supports the Tate House Museum in its continuing mission to share history with the public.

Copies of some of Dr. Taylor's books will be available for purchase and signing before the lecture begins, supplied by Print: A Bookstore.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite, by linking to the event at www.tatehouse.orgor by calling the Tate House at 207-774-6177.

FMI: Contact Peg Puza.

Tate House Museum

1267 Westbrook Street

Portland ME 04102

207-774-6177

assistant@tatehouse.org

Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 PM

Jane Woodman and Rob Lively of Western Maine Storytelling will talk about the importance of storytelling--particularly as it pertains to preserving history.  They will discuss how to get started with storytelling and suggest some techniques.  You will hear their stories—and some from willing audience participants as well.

Canton Historical Society
25 Turner Street
Canton, Maine
Questions? cantonmehistorical@gmail.com, 207-500-9893
www.cantonmehistory.org 

On Thursday, June 6, 2019, the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, the Canton Historical Society hosts an interactive program, What They Carried on D-Day: A WWII History Presentation and Exhibit.  Doug Culver presents the history of D-Day, using original artifacts to tell the story of the day that changed the course of WWII – the day that ultimately changed the world. The program includes a presentation and interactive exhibit.  

This is not just an ordinary history talk – you will learn about D-Day through vivid stories about  ordinary men and their extraordinary achievements, made even more vivid by a first-hand view of the uniforms they wore, and the equipment and supplies they carried. You will gain a new understanding of WWII and the events of D-Day, and you will be sure to come away, saying, “I didn’t know that!”

Doug Culver has presented free WWII programs for the past 30 years for high school history students, veterans’ groups, museums, historical societies, and other organizations. He has consulted with countless individuals on the identification of military artifacts in family collections. For more information on Doug’s programs, visit: www.wwiiconsulting.com

This program is great for anyone interested in history, high school students, young adults, and those who want to learn more about how the events of WWII shaped our nation and the world as we know it today.  Admission is free and open to the public. Program times: 6:30-8:30 PM. Doors open at 6 PM. Seating is limited. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Not recommended for very young children.

For more information, contact the Canton Historical Society:
Email - cantonmehistorical@gmail.com, or call 207-500-9893.