Our Born to Read program began an ambitious increase of activities in Maine’s most northern region (Aroostook, Washington, and Penobscot Counties), thanks to a generous two-year grant from the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Foundation. In some Washington County towns, this increased activity includes new Born to Read volunteers. These generous individuals visit child care facilities each week and read aloud, bringing delight and fulfillment to children who love stories and special guests. The first reading volunteer in Machias (Jonesport resident Nancy Hayward) joined the program last fall, while Lubec gained its first volunteer (Walter Plaut of Lubec) last month.
Lubec is indeed where many Council programs are happening: we’re holding our second Let’s Talk About It program at the local library, and our first New Books, New Readers program this year. Lubec, with a population of just under 1,700, is one of Maine’s easternmost communities, and a good 182 miles from Portland. We’re very proud to have three of our programs so active there.
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We’d like to offer a symbolic cake for two Council programs that are celebrating their 10th anniversaries. The twins are Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health CareŽ and Born to Read. In 1997, Literature & Medicine held its first reading and discussion group for people at all levels of the medical hierarchy at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor (where the program continues to this day). During the same year, Born to Read was inaugurated with a training session for child care providers in Woolwich. Since then, Literature & Medicine has served 27 hospitals in Maine and many more in 17 other partnering states, while Born to Read now visits 65 towns each year. Quite a growth!
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Starting on February 21, Let’s Talk About It will be holding a special series at Portland’s Victoria Mansion called “The Gilded Age in America." Created by long-time MHC program facilitator David Richards (author of Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age), this series looks at the post-Civil War era (1865 to 1901), which saw unprecedented economic, territorial, industrial, and population expansion in the U.S. The series will begin with The Devil and the White City, a book about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, then move to the genesis of the era with Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner’s The Gilded Age. The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and Richards’s Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age will also be included.
David Richards will facilitate discussions running through May 23 for “The Gilded Age in America.” This is a free program open to the public. For more information or to sign up, contact the Victoria Mansion at (207) 772-4841.
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Events are listed in two places on the MHC website: as part of the map of MHC activities and a Calendar of Events, which you may sort by county and date. We’re very pleased to have this new feature on our site and encourage you to use it.
We are still working out some of the details of these pages, so, for now, grant-funded events are available only through this link.
Back to the TopThe February booklist from Born to Read is a collection of proverbs from many cultures.
Back to the TopNEW MAJOR GRANTS
$5,000 to the Town of Swan’s Island, Swan’s Island, for Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station
As the town of Swan’s Island restores the historic Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station (built in 1872), residents hope to simultaneously restore an understanding of how the buildings were used. With the help of a 2006 planning grant from the Council, island resident Donna Wiegle began conducting oral history interviews with the surviving children of 1930s lighthouse keeper Roscoe Chandler. The oral histories will be combined with photos and explanatory text and presented at multiple venues on the island, including the Swan’s Island School, the March 5 town meeting, the July 20 summer resident’s meeting, the Swan’s Island Library summer lecture series, and the Sweet Chariot Music Festival in August. A related exhibit will be on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland from January 15 through August 1, and a permanent outdoor exhibit will be established on Hockamock Head, adjacent to the lighthouse station. To learn more about this project, please visit www.swansisland.org and click on “Lighthouse."
$5,000 to the United Society of Shakers, New Gloucester, for The Human and the Eternal: Shaker Art in its Many Forms
Since the late 1700s, the Shaker Society at Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester has adapted to many changes, yet preserved its self-sufficiency, spirituality, and communal life. As the only remaining active Shaker community in the United States, Sabbathday Lake is committed to educating the public about the Shaker tradition. Every summer, its Library and Museum welcomes over 12,000 tourists and dozens of researchers to its collections and permanent exhibitions. Its first major new exhibition in more than twenty years, The Human and the Eternal: Shaker Art in its Many Forms, will open in May 2008 and remain on display through October, then re-open for the 2009 season. Examples of needlework, furniture, paintings, rugs, embroidery, boxes, and baskets (many made in Maine) will offer insights into Shaker life over the centuries, and provide visitors with a better appreciation of contemporary Shaker culture. For information on visiting the museum, please visit www.shaker.lib.me.us/museum.html.
$5,000 to the Portland Harbor Museum, Portland, for Picturing Portland: A Century of Change
The Portland Harbor Museum’s 2007 exhibit is entitled Picturing Portland: A Century of Change. This exhibit will employ the concept of “rephotography” (pairing old photographs with current ones) to explore the many aspects of Portland Harbor that have changed or remained the same. Many of the old photographs will come from the museum’s Angell Collection of glass plate negatives from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The contemporary images will be taken by members of the Bakery Photographic Collective. The exhibit runs from April through November 2007. An accompanying series of lectures, events, and activities will include photography workshops and a scavenger hunt for children. For event listings and museum information, please visit www.portlandharbormuseum.org or call (207) 799-6337.
$5,000 to the Penobscot Nation Cultural and Historic Preservation Department, Indian Island, for Teach the Teachers Professional Development Project: Teaching Native Culture and History in Maine
Maine State Law 2001, Chapter 403 H.P. 255 (popularly known as LD291), the act requiring Maine schools to teach Maine Native American culture and history, has created a great demand for teacher professional development in these areas. The Penobscot Nation Cultural and Historic Preservation Department is responding with the development of curriculum kits full of resources that enable educators to incorporate Native studies into their existing curricula rather than compartmentalizing the topic. Twelve kits have already been developed, through a highly collaborative process, and twenty-four more are forthcoming. All are culturally appropriate, historically accurate, and aligned with the Maine Learning Results. In 2007, four teacher enrichment workshops will introduce more than 200 K-12 teachers to these resources. Workshops are planned for Belfast, Portland, Augusta, and Indian Island; for details, please contact the Cultural and Historic Preservation Department at (207) 817-7450.
$3,834 to the University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, for Girls Talk & Teen Voices Mentor Partnership Program
“Girls Talk” and “Teen Voices” are mentorship programs that link University of Maine at Farmington students and community members with girls in grades 5-8 in MSAD #58 (Strong, Kingfield, Phillips, and Stratton). Each month, girls and mentors read a book relevant to the lives of developing adolescents, then come together at the schools for dinner, book discussions, and related guest speakers or activities. Since the mentorship programs began, participation has steadily increased, and other school districts have developed their own programs. New initiatives include purchasing enough copies of a single title to do a common reading across schools; expanding genres to include literary fairy tales, poetry, and science fiction; and bringing a published author to the programs. For more information, please contact the UMF Center for Student Involvement, (207) 778-7347.
$3,000 to Women Make Movies, Inc., New York City, for The Late Indian War
The Late Indian War is a documentary film project that explores, from a Native American perspective, the continuing social and spiritual impact of English colonization on Eastern Native American nations. The events surrounding King Philip’s War (1675-76) will be examined for connections to the reduction in Native population and influence-in particular, the status of women. Research will be conducted in Maine on Ferdinando Gorges’ failed Sagadahoc Colony and the thwarted diplomatic efforts of Father Druillettes of the Kennebec Mission on behalf of the Abenaki. The resulting documentary will present the Native perspective on a period that has elicited significant recent attention in films and literature. To learn more about this project, please contact Director Ann Tweedy.
$3,000 to the Camden Conference, Camden, for Europe: Old Continent in a New World
The Camden Conference is a year-long forum for the exchange of ideas on key global issues, focused each February on a three-day event at the Camden Opera House and selected satellite locations. This year’s conference topic is “Europe: Old Continent in a New World.” Over the past several years, attendance at conference-related community events has grown to an estimated 4,000 people. Starting in December, events are planned from Damariscotta to Mount Desert Island, and at many locations in between. Lecture topics include public parks and gardens in France, European automotive innovations, Europe and the Middle East, and contemporary art in Germany. Book discussions, film screenings, and performances are being held at libraries. The ever-popular Camden Conference Energy Symposium is scheduled for February 10. All community events are listed at www.camdenconference.org.
$2,950 to the Telling Room, Portland, for A Sense of Place: Maine Writers on Maine
The Telling Room, greater Portland’s community writing center, will present a forum called “A Sense of Place: Maine Writers on Maine” at the Salt Gallery on May 24, 2007. Four Maine writers-poet Betsy Sholl, spoken word performer Sontiago, novelist Monica Wood, and short story writer Lewis Robinson-will speak about their work and how it is informed by Maine. In addition, Joe Conforti, professor of American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine, will provide insight into the tradition of place-based writing in Maine. While it is open to the public, the primary audience for the forum is the teachers and students who participate in the Telling Room’s educational programs. Related curriculum activities will be distributed to local middle and high school teachers months prior to the forum. For more information, please visit www.tellingroom.org.
$2,500 to the University of Southern Maine, Portland, for Planning at the Edge
“Planning at the Edge: The Evolving Shape and Function of Waterfront Towns and Cities” will bring historians and other scholars together with practicing planners, architects, landscape designers, policy-makers, and members of the public to explore how history informs such timely issues as sustainability, smart growth, and affordable housing. This four-day conference (scheduled for October 25-28, 2007) is co-sponsored by the Society for City and Regional Planning History, the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, and the City of Portland. The Society selected Portland for its 12th National Conference to address planning issues specific to waterfront communities. While the central conference location will be the Eastland Park Hotel, participants will explore the city on bus and boat tours. At least two sessions will be free and open to the public. For details, please visit www.urban.uiuc.edu/sacrph/conference/conference.html.
$2,000 to the Camden Philosophical Society, Camden, for Philosophy at the Edge
On Friday, July 27, 2007, the Camden Philosophical Society will present a one-day conference called “Philosophy at the Edge.” This free program, hosted by the Camden Public Library, will feature talks on diverse mainstream topics in contemporary philosophy by leading academic philosophers, with the goal of making these topics comprehensible to a non-academic audience. Topics will include environmental ethics, the philosophy of time, medical ethics, and the philosophy of work. The Society, which was founded in 2005 and regularly attracts audiences of 25-50 people for its lectures and book discussion groups, intends to make this summer conference an annual event. For details, please visit www.philosophyedge.com.
A kindly zookeeper visits each animal to wish it a pleasant night’s sleep. In his focus on tucking all the animals in, as it were, he fails to notice that a mischievous gorilla has taken his keys from his back pocket, freed itself, and started to follow him. The gorilla frees each animal after the keeper’s goodnight wish. In orderly single-file, the animals follow the zookeeper home, troop through his house, and settle into his bedroom, still unnoticed by the weary worker—until his wife, wishing him goodnight, hears a chorus of other voices instead.
The colorful, imaginative illustrations of Peggy Rathmann’s Goodnight, Gorilla are playful enough to fascinate any child and sufficiently witty to bring a chuckle to any adult, no matter how many times this book is read. This book is popular in the Born to Read program and in the homes of MHC staff members with children or grandchildren under five.
Back to the Top“I felt the readings and discussions related to death were particularly helpful in dealing with lingering traumatic feelings I harbor from witnessing children die in the ER and Pediatric ICU in which I worked during my 20’s.”
—A participant in Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health CareŽ
shared thoughts about how the program has helped.
Thank you to our current members. Your support helps to make Maine Humanities Council programs like the ones detailed in this newsletter possible. If you are not a member but would like to make a gift you may do so online.
Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact guest editor Brita Zitin by email at brita@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 211 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 211) to respond.