Maine Historical Society - Programs Podcast

Recorded December 7, 2021 - Phil Nadeau discusses his new book, The Unlikeliness of It All in a program with Maine Historical Society. A Lewiston native and city official of almost two decades, Nadeau's book offers unique insight into 150 years of the complex political, cultural, and socioeconomic landscape that influenced how the city was formed, how it was shaped by the French Canadian immigrant community, and how it responded to the arrival of Somali refugees in 2001 and 2002. Nadeau uncovers little known and new information regarding notable historic moments and people through a thoughtful a careful examination of historical details and explains how the city's "global singularity" began with a world championship fight and why the eyes of the world remained fixated on this small Maine town's new Somali residents, a mayor's letter, and a rally against hate that drew over 4,000 people. Purchase the book from the MHS Store.

Recorded October 21, 2021 - Long before the modern LGBTQ rights movement, individual queer and trans people challenged gender and sexual norms to express themselves and their love freely, often in defiance of laws against same-sex sex and cross-dressing. Jen Manion discusses the lives and adventures of those assigned female at birth who embraced trans and nonbinary gender expressions in 19th century New England, including so called "female husbands," "female sailors," and "female soldiers."

Recorded November 8, 2021 - In the 1850s, long before movies, and just when the magic lantern's popularity was beginning, a night out at the pictures meant a moving panorama performance. The performer, or the "professor," made the giant picture story come alive. The travels of one traveling showman are documented in the MHS collection in the remarkable surviving "exhibitor's diary" of L. Eaton Emerson. It describes his 1855 travels presenting the "Grand Moving Mirror of California," a giant series of 23 paintings on a linen scroll on reels. Emerson's diary includes a daily account of his solo shows, and the obstacles to his shows, as he traveled by horse-drawn wagon to the villages in western Maine, through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and in remote northern Vermont and southern Quebec. The diary also includes some humorous stories and even barbed comments about hall proprietors and audiences. Together the diary and the handwritten script for the California panorama tell an intriguing story of life on the road with a travel panorama shows. In this illustrated talk, Peter Morelli describes Emerson's travels and explores his diary and work.

Recorded November 17, 2021 - On November 27, 1898, the paddlewheel steamship PS Portland was on its way from Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine when it was hit by a powerful storm and sank off of Cape Ann with all hands. Often labeled "New England's Titanic" due to the long-unknown position of the wreckage and substantial loss of life, the loss represented New England's greatest steamship disaster before 1900. Today, the location of the wreckage lies within the federally-protected Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Since 2002 the sanctuary has been exploring the wreck with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Marine Imaging Technologies, collecting video imagery to develop virtual 3-D models and educate the public about underwater research. In this talk, Dr. Calvin Mires, WHOI research associate, explores the history, preservation efforts, and the new mission to create a virtual exhibit of the shipwreck.

Recorded October 14, 2021 - Voting rights have evolved from the time of Maine’s founding to the present day. Which groups were initially excluded from voting rights? Why did it matter? What did it take for these marginalized groups to win the right to vote? How do voting rights continue to evolve in Maine? Historian Anne B. Gass discusses Maine voting rights, accompanied by historic slides. Purchase her books from the MHS Store: We Demand and Voting Down the Rose

Recorded October 13, 2021 - The dark woods of Maine have been the setting for many eerie and unexplained events, none more captivating than sightings of a giant hominid known as Bigfoot. But what makes this corner of New England such a perfect place for this cryptid to live? Learn about the ecology and geography that support the legend and the people forever changed by close encounters with it with author of Michelle Souliere as she discusses her latest book Bigfoot in Maine . From previously unpublished eyewitness accounts to modern-day media portrayals, Souliere presents this detailed history of the phenomenon and folklore that has lurked in shadows for generations. Purchase the book from the MHS Store: Bigfoot in Maine

Recorded September 23, 2021 - Over 1,740 documented transatlantic slaving voyages were made on vessels constructed and registered in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut -- or having departed from their seaports -- yet New England's connection to the history of slavery remains largely untold. The Atlantic Black Box (www.atlanticblackbox.com) is a grassroots historical recovery project that empowers New England communities to research, reveal, and begin reckoning with the region’s complicity in the slave trade and the global economy of enslavement while re-centering the stories of its racially marginalized groups. Meadow Dibble and Kate McMahon discuss how to learn more about the project and how to join the movement to uncover New England's historical role in the slave trade and the business of slavery, and how to recover stories of the region's Indigenous and African-descended communities.

Recorded September 16, 2021 - Historian William David Barry discusses the evolution of Pineland from its origins at the dawn of the 20th century as a home for Maine's so called "feeble minded" citizens (later termed special needs individuals) and his years fresh out of the university as a teacher's aid at Pineland. He also highlights the books, Pineland's Past: The First Hundred Years by journalist Richard S. Kimball (Libra Foundation, 2001) and Voices of Pineland: Eugenics, Social Reform and Legacy of "feeble mindedness" in Maine by University of Southern Maine Professor Stephen P. Murphy (Information Age Publishing Inc., 2011). The talk does not address the present 1000-acre recreation center and farm, but provides a useful overview of special care attitudes in Maine against the international backdrop, and points out archival material in institutions around the state.

Recorded September 9, 2021 - Writer Rhea Côté Robbins gives an informative and introspective look at telling and hearing stories within the social consciousness of equality. Côté Robbins believes that everything we know comes to us via story - we are surrounded by it – and yet not everyone has the chance to tell their own. Côté Robbins’ talk examines the community of story that we live, the injustices as to who gets to share their story and who does not, and why the latter is embedded in the fabric of the process.

Speaker: James Horrigan; Recorded May 1, 2014 - Longtime Wadsworth-Longfellow House guide James Horrigan kicked off the 2014 house season with a lecture that looks at the poet’s lifelong interest in the supernatural. In addition to touching on reincarnation, astrology, numerology, automatic writing (featuring a poem of Longfellow's that can only be read with a mirror), and dowsing, James paid special attention to what one biographer called Longfellow's "rich dream life." The poet left behind fascinating accounts of dreams he had of Charles Sumner, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and many others.