Events at Member Institutions

Julia Bouwsma, Maine poet Laureate, will do a reading of new and published poems, followed by a Q&A session. Julia lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine, where she is a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher, small-town librarian, and Maine’s current Poet Laureate. Bouwsma is the author of two poetry collections, Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017), both of which received Maine Literary Awards for Poetry Book. Other honors include the Poet’s Out Loud Prize (2016-17), the Cider Press Review Book Award (2015), and residency fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Monson Arts (Monson, ME), Annex Arts (Castine, ME), and Storyknife (Homer, AK). She currently serves as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, ME and teaches in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington.  Tickets are free with a suggested donation of $10.00. https://www.rufusportermuseum.org/event-details/readings-and-q-a-with-maine-poet-laureate-julia-bouwsma

Nathan Scholl, a Geo-archaeologist/Principal Investigator, will present his discoveries at Shawmut Dam and adjacent riverfront properties on Friday, March 31, at 7 p.m. This free program is sponsored by Skowhegan History House and takes place at the Skowhegan Free Public Library at 9 Elm Street. It will also be broadcast via Zoom.

Mr. Scholl worked between 2019 - 2021 for a consulting firm specializing in cultural resources management and historic preservation services. He visited History House in 2021 with questions about 1800s early ferry services and first settlers. During the visit he discovered a link between Philbrick’s 1809 pottery factory and pottery shards found in the heirloom gardens that match those found at the dig sites. He commented how rare it was to find an original source of any recovered artifact.

Other unearthed artifacts could be related to Benedict Arnold’s army as it moved upriver through Skowhegan towards Quebec in 1775.

For more information, contact Patricia Horine at psaeon2@gmail.com or 207-474-8215.

The presentation will also be broadcast online via Zoom. To register for the Zoom call, visit https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYvdOCqrz8uGN3-0bM9DGc1H6DOu9_dhI_2

The Castine Historical Society will debut the second season of the exhibition, Clark Fitz-Gerald: Castine’s Celebrated Sculptor-in-Residence.  The exhibit was so popular we are bringing it back with many new sculptures.  This will be a fresh new look at this artist’s amazing career.  For detailed exhibit hours visit www.castinehistoricalsociety.org.

Clark Fitz-Gerald: Castine’s Celebrated Sculptor-in-Residence will explore the life and work of the sculptor, Clark Fitz-Gerald (1917-2004). When Fitz-Gerald moved to Castine in 1956, he had already made a name for himself as a sculptor. Throughout his long career, he achieved regional, national, and international renown for his work. On display will be sculptures lent from private collections, along with Fitz-Gerald’s drawings, historic photographs, and writings from the Clark Fitz-Gerald archival collection donated to the Castine Historical Society by the family in 2017.

The Castine Historical Society offers guided Walking Tours of Castine for the 2022 season! Starting June 17, the staff and volunteers of the Historical Society will offer Castine Uncovered Walking Tours, a fun, informative, outdoor learning experience.  All tours are free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated and can be made onsite or on our donations page. No reservations are required for the tour.

June 17-October 10:

• Friday, Saturday, and Monday at 10 AM

Meet your guide in front of the Abbott School at 17 School Street, and take in the sights and sounds of Castine while learning about our beautiful town and its historical significance.  The tour takes approximately one hour, and will give you an overview of Castine’s history, identify buildings of architectural significance, show you several of our beautiful Elm trees, and point out Fort George, the earthworks of a Revolutionary War British fortification.  Please wear good walking shoes!   The tour is a little over 1/2 mile long and involves some inclines.  

If you are not in Castine at one of these times and would like to set up a special tour, please call us at (207) 326-4118, or send an email to info@castinehistoricalsociety.org.  Special tours are offered 7 days a week through the season, but must be arranged a minimum of 48 hours in advance.

Date: Saturday, October 14, 2023

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Reservations required at castinehistoricalsociety.org and limited to the first 15 people. Rain date October 21.

Join Georgia Zildjian and Lisa Lutts for an hour-long walking tour on Castine’s African American history.

Attendees will take an hour-long walk through Castine to visit the homes, places of work, and burial sites of Castine’s African and African American residents. During the tour you will learn first-hand about their lives, struggles, and successes living in this coastal community.

Date: Thursday, September 7, 2023

Time: 7:00 pm

Preregistration is required for those attending via Zoom at castinehistoricalsociety.org. No registration is necessary if you will be attending in-person.

A lecture by Dr. Mary Freeman, University of Maine, that explores slavery and emancipation in Maine, antislavery activism and the role of African Americans, and Underground Railroad myths. Via Zoom and in-person at Emerson Hall, 67 Court St., Castine.

This presentation will briefly explore the long history of slavery and emancipation in Maine before focusing on antislavery activism in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Dr. Freeman will pay particular attention to the role of African Americans in advancing the cause of abolition in Maine and the complicated relationship between myth and historical fact in understanding Mainers’ involvement in the Underground Railroad.

Date: Thursday, August 10, 2023

Time: 7:00 pm

Preregistration is required for those attending via Zoom at castinehistoricalsociety.org. No registration is necessary if you will be attending in-person.

Dr. Kate McMahon of the Smithsonian Institution will deliver a lecture on New England and the slave trade via Zoom and in-person at Delano Auditorium, Leavitt Hall, Maine Maritime Academy, Castine.

In her talk, Dr. McMahon will discuss how the United States prohibited its citizens from participating in the African slave trade in 1808. Yet despite this, northern New Englanders, including Mainers, plied the coasts of Africa in increasing numbers from 1808 until 1862, transporting and selling hundreds of thousands of captive Africans to the Caribbean and South America. This talk will discuss how this brutal traffic occurred, and the ways in which African people resisted their enslavement.

Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Time: 5:30 pm

Preregistration is required for those attending via Zoom at castinehistoricalsociety.org. No registration is necessary if you will be attending in-person.

A talk on Portland’s African American meeting house and its ties with Castine by Pamela Cummings, Board Chair, Abyssinian Meeting House. Via Zoom and in-person at Emerson Hall, 67 Court St., Castine.

The Abyssinian Meeting House, a National Historic Registry site located at 75 Newbury Street in Portland, was built in 1828, and was the historical, religious, educational, and cultural center of Portland’s 19th-century African American community. It has a unique tie to Castine as one of its founders, Abraham Niles, was born, raised and educated in Castine before moving to Portland to continue his career as a sailor. Cummings will talk about the history of the Meeting House and its ties to the Underground Railroad. Because of its easy access by rail and sea, Portland developed as one of the northernmost hubs of the Underground Railroad, the last stop before legal freedom outside the country. When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, it allowed slave owners and their agents to track down freedom seekers in the North and return them to slavery. Portland’s black and white activists reacted, providing safe houses and helping to organize escape routes to England and Canada. Despite the trepidation of some members, The Abyssinian Meeting House was closely associated with the Underground Railroad and with local abolitionist activity. Leaders and members of the Abyssinian Church actively participated in concealing, supplying, and transporting refugees from slavery, as recounted in slave narratives and oral traditions. The Portland Union Antislavery Society, founded in 1842, was one of several grassroots movements advocating for the abolition of slavery in the South. The founding meeting was held at The Abyssinian Meeting House. One unpublished memoir also refers to a fugitive slave being concealed in the meeting house itself. 

Thursday, June 29: “Castine: Occupation, Accommodation, Collaboration, and Treason in the War of 1812", 7:00 p.m. Hosted by the Castine History Partners, this talk by Dr. Joshua Smith focuses on the 1814 British occupation of Castine with stories of traitors, smugglers, and spies. Via Zoom and in-person at the Wilson Museum’s Hutchins Education Center, 112 Perkins St., Castine.

Preregistration is required for the zoom session at https://www.wilsonmuseum.org/events/castine-war-of-1812-2023

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023

Time: 7:00 pm

Preregistration is required for this Zoom event at castinehistoricalsociety.org.

A talk via Zoom on Castine’s African American Jackson family by local author and historian, Georgia Zildjian.

During this talk, George Zildjian will explore the legacy of a life-long African American resident of Castine, Mary Tyler Jackson (1850-1917). This remarkable woman’s story forms the center point of a fascinating two-generation family saga. Orphaned and alone at just 14, Mary persevered through the often incongruous circumstances of her youth, becoming a beloved member of her community. Join us as we chart the journey of Mary Jackson’s life and her impact on the living history of Castine.