December 9, 2007 ~~~ Portland
Victoria Mansion will celebrate Christmas with a special event this year: on December 9, from 3-5 pm, historian Sibyl McCormac Groff will deliver an illustrated lecture on Father Christmas in the Carriage House. For details, please call the Victoria Mansion at (207) 772-4841 or visit www.victoriamansion.org.
Back to the TopApril 9, 2008 ~~~ Portland
The new edition of a 19th century Penobscot book, Joseph Nicolar’s The Life and Traditions of the Red Man (Duke University Press, 2007), sheds light on Eastern Algonquian history and culture. On April 9, 2008, Nicolar’ss grandson, Charles Shay, will join the editor of the new edition, Annette Kolodny, for a presentation at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The free event starts at 7 p.m. For more information, please call Professor Lorrayne Carroll at (207) 780-4324.
Back to the TopApril 16, 2008 ~~~ Farmington
The Wilton Free Public Library’ss Hands On PAH! initiative is intended to make the library more accessible to the local and larger deaf community through collection development, technical services, and programming. In April 2008, nationally renowned deaf storyteller Peter Cook will visit Maine with his interpreter, Keith Wann. Cook will give a workshop on ASL storytelling and visual communication in the Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine in Farmington from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 16. At 7:30 p.m., in the same location, he will give a storytelling performance. For further details, call the library at (207) 645-4831.
Back to the TopJanuary - April, 2008 ~~~ Lewiston
Early next year, a series of four French films (with English subtitles) will be screened at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. Each screening will be preceded by a bilingual lecture and followed by a discussion. All are welcome, and it is hoped that the series will unite Bates College with the Lewiston-Auburn community. The series will be marketed to Bates French department faculty and students, members of La Rencontre (the Franco-American Center’s monthly French language group), and other local Franco-American societies. The series begins in January 2008; for dates and film titles, call the Franco-American Heritage Center at (207) 783-1585 or visit www.francoamericanheritage.org.
Back to the TopJune - October, 2008 ~~~ Vinalhaven
The Bodwell Granite Company Store operated on the island of Vinalhaven from 1858 until 1919. The Vinalhaven Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of receipts, correspondence, payroll tickets, and other documents from the store, as well as glass plate negatives of images of quarry operations, workers, and managers. Based on census, payroll, and union records, the historical society has built a database of quarry workers employed by Bodwell. Public access to this database will soon be available at www.vhhis.org. In addition, the historical society is planning an exhibit that examines the influence of the Bodwell Granite Company and their company store on the history and economy of Vinalhaven through the lives of ten representative workers. The exhibit will be on view during the museum’s 2008 summer season, from June through October. A public lecture will also take place during the summer at the Smith-Hokanson Memorial Hall. For more information, please call (207) 863-4410 or visit the aforementioned website.
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Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact Diane Magras by email at diane@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 208 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 208) to respond.