The Maine Historical Society, in partnership with the Maine State Library, is excited to announce that the first eight Maine communities have been selected to participate in the Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP). The communities are: Bath, Farmington, Hampden, Islesboro, Lubec, New Portland, Presque Isle and Thomaston. The Maine Community Heritage Project is an innovative new program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. It grows out of the Maine Memory Network (www.mainememory.net), the Maine Historical Society’s nationally-recognized statewide digital museum, and is supported by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
“We are thrilled at the response to the program and very excited to be working with these eight communities,” said Steve Bromage, assistant director of the Maine Historical Society. “Each brings great enthusiasm, commitment and ideas. It is a diverse group – geographically, economically, socially, culturally and historically – something that is very important to us. They each bring their own interests, resources and senses of who they are as communities. These teams will help us refine our program model and develop resources that, ultimately, will be available to any community in Maine.”
Each team will participate in an intensive one-year process (June 2008-June 2009) that will mobilize their communities around the exploration, gathering and sharing of their local history. They will also receive a $10,000 grant to support project activities. Working closely with Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library staff, they will: (1) inventory local historical and cultural resources; (2) digitize 100-200 historic documents, photographs, artifacts, etc. from local collections and upload them to the Maine Memory Network; (3) write an illustrated online narrative that introduces key themes and topics in the history of the community (approximately 3,000 words); (4) create online exhibits that draw on historic documents, photographs, artifacts, oral history interviews and/or other resources to explore specific topics in local history; and (5) create a new Web site within the Maine Memory Network that showcases and provides access to these resources.
The Maine Historical Society received 50 applications for the program. Applications were reviewed by a panel of librarians, educators and historians and evaluated based on the team’s enthusiasm, commitment to local partnership and ability to complete the project. Selection of communities also took into account the geographic, economic and social diversity of the applicant pool and overall balance of the eight teams.
Eight additional communities will be selected next spring to participate in a second project cohort that will run from June 2009-June 2010. Application guidelines will be posted in early 2009.
Lubec: The Lubec team-a partnership between the Lubec Memorial Library, Lubec Historical Society, Lubec Consolidated School, West Quoddy Lightkeepers Association, Association to Promote and Protect the Lubec Environment, and the Lubec Bicentennial Committee-will focus on preparing for Lubec’s bicentennial in 2011 and providing new research for an updated town history.
The Presque Isle team – a partnership between the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, Presque Isle Historical Society, SAD 1 and the University of Maine at Presque Isle – will utilize the MCHP to strengthen existing partnerships and tie their work into Presque Isle’s downtown revitalization, upcoming sesquicentennial and their existing oral history project.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Philbrick, community partnership coordinator, Maine Historical Society, at sphilbrick@mainehistory.org or call 774-1822. For ongoing updates, please visit www.mainememory.net/mchp.
The Maine Historical Society preserves the heritage and history of Maine: the stories of Maine people, the traditions of Maine communities and the record of Maine’s place in a changing world.