Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Historian’S Dilemma: Choosing, Weighing, And Interpreting Sources, Pauleena Macdougall

Maine History

In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race have not all participated in one culture. In scientific language, culture is not a function of race. –Ruth Benedict, Race: Science and Politics, 1940.

Tribal Dissent Or White Aggression?: Interpreting Penobscot Indian Dispossession Between 1808 And 1835, Jacques Ferland

Maine History

“I now come to the time when our Tribe was separated into two factions[,] the old and the new Party. I am sorry to speak of it as it was very detrimental to our tribe as there was but few of us the remnant of a once powerful tribe.” So spoke Penobscot tribal leader John Attean, recalling the 1834-1835 breach in tribal politics that shook the edifice of community and cohesion among the Penobscot people. A watershed event in the long struggle to represent and defend the Penobscot way of life in the face of an indifferent and sometimes hostile …

Henry Red Eagle, Popular Literature, And The Native American Connection To The Maine Woods, Dale Potts

Maine History

Returning to Maine in 1936 after several decades working in

the American entertainment industry, Henry Red Eagle (1885-

1972), a Maliseet from Greenville, wrote in an area newspaper of

his love of the northern forest: “what I really like is to ease around in an

old flannel shirt, or no shirt at all if the place and the occupation permit—

and let the rest of the world go by. I like to get off on some unfrequented

part of the lake or stream in my canoe or in the woods where

the noise of the crowds can’t reach me. I …

The Enigma Of The “Jumping Frenchmen Of Maine”, Stephen R. Whalen, Robert E. Bartholomew

Maine History

The “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine” exhibited unusual reactions when startled, and they became a component of local folklore in northern New England during the late nineteenth century. Medical scientists of the time examined the condition, but came to no definite conclusions. Modern scientists in the late twentieth century also disagreed on its origins. The syndrome appears to have resulted from the unique social and environmental factors peculiar to the logging camps of the time. Stephen R. Whalen has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maine. Retired from public school teaching, he is currently a member of the History …

Research Note: The Hazardous Search For Ancestors, Gordon W. Stuart

Maine History

The following is an account of the search for an old family cemetery and the events that impacted the farm on which it was located over a 250 year period. Gordon Stuart, who recorded these events as a way of illustrating the perils and triumphs of genealogical research, is a retired hydrologist with national experience in water quality issues on forest and agriculture land. He volunteers with a lake association, a river watch group, and participates in woodlot education programs in Southern Maine.

Henry Mowat: Miscreant Of The Maine Coast, Louis Arthur Norton

Maine History

This article follows the career of Captain Henry Mowat as he took charge of operations for the British Navy off the Maine Coast during the Revolutionary War. Mowat was involved in three decisive actions during this time: the dismantling of Fort Pownall at the mouth of the Penobscot River; the burning of Falmouth, or present-day Portland; and the defeat of the Massachusetts naval expedition to the British-occupied Bagaduce Peninsula on the eastern side of Penobscot Bay. The author asks the question: did this British officer deserve his reputation among Mainers as an “execrable monster?” Louis Arthur Norton is a professor …

The Two Faces Of Ballstown: Religion, Governance, And Cultural Values On The Maine Frontier, 1760-1820, Marie L. Sacks

Maine History

As the Maine back country was settled in the late eighteenth century, evangelical congregations were established in the frontier towns. This evangelical religion has been credited with fostering a fiercely independent mind-set that promoted Jeffersonian ideals of governance. This study places the political and social development of two towns, Jefferson and Whitefield, in closer perspective, showing that denominational similarities do not always lead to similar emphases on independent thought and religious diversity. Marie Sacks is an independent researcher, an archivist for the Whitefueld Historical Society, and a graduate of the American and New England Studies program at the University of …