Maine Historical Society - Programs Podcast

Christoph Irmscher; Recorded August 8, 2023 - Christoph Irmscher, author of Louis Agassiz: Creator of American Science, reflected on Agassiz's legacy, his friendships with Emerson, Henry Wadsworth and Fanny Longfellow and others, and how his own thinking about Agassiz has (and hasn't) changed since he published his biography 10 years ago. The talk addressed Agassiz's scientific achievements as well as his controversial involvement in the production of racist photographs, not only the more infamous daguerreotypes but also the less familiar cache of glass negatives made in Manaus, Brazil, in 1865 (and the responses to this expedition by contemporary Brazilian artists).

Recorded July 11, 2023 - How has the notion of a Maine “fishing community” changed with time? How has the relationship the people of Maine have with natural world changed over thousands of years? When the Island had Fish is the story of a tiny island, Vinalhaven Maine, that offers a close look at the significant history of Maine fishing particularly, but also offers perspective on the impact of industrialized fishing on small fishing villages all over the United States and the world. Vinalhaven’s documented habitation by fishermen dates back over 5000 years, and still today lobstering is the primary source of employment for its 1100 year round residents; islanders currently harvest lobsters at a rate almost unrivaled nationally. When the Island had Fish provides a meditation on America's past and future. Listen to author Janna Malamud Smith explore these topics through a broad lens, shedding light on the way that species, including humans, are impacted by—and at moments contribute to—climate change, environme

Recorded June 27, 2023 - Ever since the early 1600s, when the first Europeans set foot on the peninsula that was to later become the City of Portland, the city's social and economic history has been shaped by national and international events. Some of these events are very well-known while others have been mostly forgotten, but all of them have influenced the city in both tangible and intangible ways. In the podcast Author Paul Ledman discusses historical connections and the history of Portland in the larger context of national and international events.

Recorded June 20, 2023 - Wit and Wisdom begins with the story of an odd discovery in a Maine attic—a discovery that led Joan Radner to uncover a long-lost rural tradition of joyful wintertime gatherings. We might imagine that the long, dark winter evenings and deep snows of northern New England would have isolated nineteenth-century families in their scattered farmsteads. But this was far from the truth: rural villagers saw winter as a "season of improvement," a time not only for home industries and woods work, but also for mental exercise in good company. Neighbors bent on self-improvement created local "lyceums"—they conducted formal debates on current topics and performed aloud handwritten "papers" compiling their homegrown literary compositions. Ordinary people—men and women of all ages, farmers and mechanics, and the few village intelligentsia—wrote poetry, serious essays, witty parodies, and sundry pieces teasing one another. In this podcast Joan Radner discusses what she found in found dozens o

Recorded May 3, 2023 - Commercial fishermen have a front-row seat to the impacts of climate change and are in a unique and valuable position to help craft the response to the climate change crisis. Sarah Schumann is the coordinator for Fishery Friendly Climate Action, a grassroots initiative that provides fishermen, fisheries associations, and seafood businesses with tools, networking, access, and knowledge to advocate for robust climate solutions that work for U.S. fisheries and not at their expense. In this talk, Sarah discussed her work for climate action strategies that restore the health of marine ecosystems while at the same time safeguarding the livelihoods of marine food producers like those in Maine.

Timothy H. Scherman; Recorded June 13, 2023 - Timothy H. Scherman re-introduces modern readers to Elizabeth Oakes Smith, a nineteenth-century Maine writer and political activist whose disappearance from literary history would seem impossible in light of the volume of her published writing and the visceral responses she elicited from readers in her own day. A poet, lecturer, and feminist, Oakes Smith fought for equal access and rights to political, economic, and educational opportunities for women, and is also remembered today for penning the first woman’s account of an ascent of Mount Katahdin. In this talk, Scherman reflected on Oakes Smith’s work, marking her climb of Katahdin as turning point in her career, and recounted his own attempt to scale the summit in Smith’s footsteps, discovering that those who actually do what Oakes Smith have a very different understanding of her text than those who only read it.

Kermit Roosevelt III; Recorded March 9, 2023 - In his book, The Nation That Never Was, Kermit Roosevelt III argues that we are not the heirs of the Founders, but we can be the heirs of Reconstruction and its vision for equality; America today is not the Founder’s America, but it can be Lincoln’s America. We face a dilemma these days. We want to be honest about our history and the racism and oppression that Americans have both inflicted and endured. But we want to be proud of our country, too. Roosevelt discussed how we can do both those things by realizing we’re not the country we thought we were, opening the door to a new understanding of ourselves and our story. Purchase the book

Recorded February 22, 2023 - When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, he helped to shine a light on and memorialize an all but forgotten event of historic significance, Le Grand Dérangement—the forced expulsion of Acadians from Nova Scotia. The poem brought recognition for a unique ethnic group and gave the world an enigmatic icon, Evangeline. History, fiction, pride, and poetry have since blended together with each generation. But the universal tenets embodied by Evangeline—love, perseverance, and hope, continue to resonate with people from all walks of life. Veni Harlan, author of Evangeline Reconsidered, discussed her carefully researched book that explores the roots, legends, history, and impact of Longfellow's 1847 poem. Purchase the book

Recorded April 12, 2023 - CODE RED examines topics around climate change by reuniting collections from one of the nation’s earliest natural history museums, the Portland Society of Natural History (PSNH) and reflects on how museums collect, and the role of humans in creating changes in society, climate, and biodiversity. Exhibit co-curators Tilly Laskey and Dr. Darren Ranco discussed the new exhibit and some of the featured artifacts, as well as how and why museums collect and the role of humans in creating changes in society, climate, and biodiversity.

In person program; Recorded January 26, 2023 - Built between 1858-1860, Victoria Mansion is a National Historic Landmark in Portland, ME, known widely for its architecture and stunning intact interiors. The question of who "built" Victoria Mansion tends to surface the same few names: Henry Austin, the architect, Gustave Herter and Giuseppe Guidicini, the interior designers, and Ruggles and Olive Morse, who commissioned the house and its contents. Ruggles Morse amassed a fortune as a proprietor of luxury hotels, in part at the expense of enslaved labor in New Orleans. Ongoing research has led Mansion staff to discover more than two dozen enslaved Black and mixed-race individuals who had been purchased and/or sold by the Morses. In 2021, Victoria Mansion launched the Unwilling Architects Initiative, through which staff endeavors to learn more about and interpret the lives of the individuals who were impacted by the Morses' decisions and who unwillingly assisted in underwriting the construction of this palatial

In person program; Recorded January 24, 2023 - On a frigid winter afternoon at the height of the Cold War, a Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress departed Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts for a routine training mission. Hours later, the aircraft's smoking wreckage lay scattered across a snow-encased mountainside in Maine's desolate North Woods. Joseph Wax, author of FINAL MISSION The North Woods, visited MHS on the 60th anniversary of that fateful day and related the gripping account of the events and aftermath as revealed by those who miraculously survived and the families of those who perished. Purchase the book at https://www.mainehistorystore.com/fimi.html

In partnership with Victoria Mansion; Recorded September 8, 2022 - Built and furnished between 1858 and 1860, Victoria Mansion was remarkable from the day it was created. It stands today as the final unaltered and fully intact example of the work of three of 19th-century America's towering creative talents, architect Henry Austin, interior designer Gustave Herter, and decorative painter Giuseppe Guidicini. Authors Thomas B. Johnson and Timothy Brosnihan take a look at a collection of photographs that documents the building’s beginnings as a lavish private residence for the Morse and Libby families, its decline and near loss during the early 20th century, and its resurgence and restoration since becoming a museum in 1941.

Recorded June 1, 2022 - During the 18th century, patterned silks were some of the costliest fabrics available. Hand-woven on complex drawlooms, patterned silks worn for dress could be highly decorative, featuring designs that changed not just yearly, but seasonally. With no large-scale weaving in the colonies, a select group of New Englanders imitating the sartorial tastes of England and Europe’s elite adopted imported examples. Not surprisingly, however, the absence here of an aristocracy and its attendant, complex wardrobe requirements created an entirely different context for ownership. In this talk, Ned Lazaro from Historic Deerfield looks at New Englanders who chose to wear this luxurious dress fabric during the early and middle years of the 18th century and explores issues of consumption, availability, preferences, and symbolic legacy.

Recorded June 21, 2022 - Fashion choices can tell us a lot about a person and the world they lived in, but did you know that historic textiles can also reveal hidden stories of ordinary people and how they made use of their material goods' economic and legal values? Historian Laura F. Edwards discusses her book Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing and the Hidden History of Power in the 19th-Century United States , exploring long-forgotten practices that made textiles—clothing, cloth, bedding, and accessories—a unique form of property that people without rights could own and exchange. These stories are about far more than cloth and clothing; they reshape our understanding of law and the economy in America. Purchase the book from our museum store .

Recorded May 17, 2022 - Whether you're a sailor, a singer, or just a lover of New England lore, you'll love the ballads and broadsides featured in Bygone Ballads from Maine Vol.1--Songs of Ships & Sailors. Julia Lane & Fred Gosbee of Castlebay spent over a decade researching and found a wealth of songs, stories and folkways from the Celtic tradition here in Maine archived in collections, recordings and even genealogies across the state. In this program they discussed their research and how they uncovered several thousand songs and ballads from Maine’s past and performed a few of their favorites. Purchase their book from the Castlebay website .

Recorded April 26, 2022 - Between 1783 – 1850, the newly constituted United States emerged as a fragile, internally divided union of states contending with European empires and other independent republics on the North American continent. Native peoples sought to defend their homelands from the flood of American settlers; the system of American slavery grew increasingly powerful and expansive separating Black American families; and bitter party divisions pitted elites favoring strong government against those espousing a democratic populism for white men. Alan Taylor’s history of this tumultuous period looks at key characters involved and captures the high-stakes political drama as leaders contended over slavery, the economy, Indian removal, and national expansion. A ground-level account of American industrialization conveys the everyday lives of factory workers and immigrant families, while the immersive narrative puts us on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Mexico City, Quebec, and the Cherokee capital, New

Recorded April 13, 2022 - Dress codes are as old as clothing itself. For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes, a way to maintain political control. Even in today’s more informal world, dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it, and what our clothing means. In his book Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History , law professor and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford presents a thought provoking history of the laws of fashion to uncover and examine the canons, mores, and customs of clothing--rules we often take for granted.

Recorded February 8, 2022 - Peaks Island: Past and Present brings to light the island's rich and diverse--yet largely hidden--past as a fishing village, a bustling summer resort, and an important military base during World War II. It is the story of a unique Maine island community rooted in its past but very much part of the modern world. In this talk, Kimberly Erico MacIssac as discusses her new book and the island she calls home. Purchase a copy of this book from the MHS Store.

In partnership with Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site; Recorded February 23, 2022 - February 2022 marked the 215th birthday observance of famed 19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. To mark the occasion, Maine Historical Society and Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site hosted a panel of experts to discuss the stories and people from history that inspired some of Longfellow's best-known poems: "Paul Revere's Ride," "Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie," and "The Song of Hiawatha." What motivated Longfellow to write these poems? What history did he draw upon--and ignore--when writing them? In what ways might the poems be problematic, and how are they looked upon and studied today? Watch to learn more and reflect on the life and work of Maine's Fireside Poet. Purchase Longfellow, Poems and Other Writings from our MHS Store.

Recorded December 14, 2021 - Sarah Farmer, a visionary pioneer and transcendentalist, was the daughter of electrical genius Moses Farmer and humanitarian Hannah Shapleigh Farmer. At Green Acre – A Baháʼí Center of Learning, she had the first known Peace flag flown, and in 1905 she was the only woman to witness the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. Today, Green Acre remains committed to world peace, race unity, gender equality, and social justice and hosts many programs, including art presentations and exhibits. In this talk, author and artist Anne Gordon Perry tells stories of the early days at Green Acre, where swamis, scientists, transcendentalists, reformers, society folks, philosophers, musicians, mystics, and others mingled—to the surprise and sometimes consternation of the small town of Eliot.