Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Aa Ms 08 N. T. Swezey's Son & Co. Tin Sign Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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N. T. Swezey (Noah Terry) (1814-1888) was a flour merchant in New York City. He ran a successful business for over forty years at 176 South St., and was one of the founders of the New York Produce Exchange. This collection contains a reproduction of a sign advertising Northwest Consolidated Milling Company flour. The sign depicts the figure of a black child standing behind and slightly below the figure of a white child. The white figure is sitting on a container of the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company’s flour and is holding a slice of white bread. Both children have …

Lg Ms 022 Larry Bliss Collection Finding Aid, Maeve Wachowicz, Elizabeth Sistare

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Lawrence (Larry) Bliss was born and raised in California, lived in Maine for twenty years, and returned to California in 2011. He holds Bachelor’s Degrees in History and Political Science and a Master's Degree in Urban Public Administration all from the University of California. He has worked as a middle school and high school teacher and coach and as Director of Career Services and Professional Life Development at the University of Southern Maine. He was elected to the Maine Senate in 2008, representing the 7th district, which includes his hometown of South Portland, as well as Cape Elizabeth and …

Lg Ms 032 Marty Sabol Papers Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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Marty Sabol manages the Infectious Disease Program at the Public Health Division of the Portland Department of Health and Human Services. He oversees prevention efforts and healthcare services related to sexually transmitted and vaccine preventable diseases in the Portland area. He has served as vice-president of the Maine Public Health Association, as an advisor to the Equity Fund of the Maine Community Foundation and as a member of the GLBT Caucus of Public Health Workers with the American Public Health Association. In 1984, Sabol co-founded the Maine Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA), now known as EqualityMaine, serving as …

Aa Ms 11 Lee Forest Figurines Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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Lee Forest, Director of Environmental Services at the University of Southern Maine, donated the figurines in 2002. In the early years of the twentieth century the commoditization of Aunt Jemima expanded beyond commercial flour mix to include a diverse array of products such as rag dolls, dish towels, cookie jars and salt-and-pepper shakers. Eventually, a husband was added, Uncle Mose, and two children, Diana and Wade. Household notions depicting the family continued to be produced into the 1960s, when the civil rights and black consciousness movements encouraged an examination of the symbolism behind representations of African Americans. The collection …

Aa Ms 09 Flynn Seal Presses Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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Stephen Flynn discovered these two seal presses on Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Maine, in 1978. They were found in the remains of the Silver Sands Hotel, which had to be destroyed after damage caused by a storm. Two seal presses were from the Women's Ku Klux Klan organizations of Augusta and Bath, Maine. The one from WKKK chapter of Augusta, Maine reads: “Women of the Ku Klux Klan; Capital City Klan; Klan No 11 Augusta, Maine.” In the center there is a shield with a cross and the letters W, K, K, K, at the top, bottom, and sides …

Aa Ms 10 Ku Klux Klan Photograph Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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Description:

The Ku Klux Klan Photograph is a black-and-white image of a KKK march that took place in Lincoln, Maine in 1927. The print measures 8 inches by 9.5 inches.

Date Range:

1927

Size of Collection:

0.10 ft.

Lg Ms 031 Dale Mccormick Papers Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker

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Dale McCormick was the first woman in the country to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenter’s union and is a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters local 1996, having been a carpenter and contractor for 30 years. In 1988, McCormick founded Women Unlimited, a program that successfully trains women on welfare to compete for high-paying jobs in trade and technical occupations. In 1984, McCormick helped found and became the first President of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (now called EqualityMaine), which advocates statewide for civil rights and better treatment for lesbian/gay/bi/transgender/and questioning people. She was a co-founder …

Lg Ms 027 Diane Elze Papers Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare, Nicholas Martin

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A 1978 graduate of the University of Maine, Orono, Diane Elze began her volunteer career working for the YWCA Fair Harbor Shelter in Portland, Maine. She was an activist in the LGBT community in the Portland area in the 1980s and 1990s. Among other activities, she was a founding member of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance, worked on the AIDS Project, and founded the LGBT youth group, Outright. She also edited the newsletter Moving, The Newspaper of the Maine Association of Handicapped Persons and founded the statewide gay and lesbian newspaper, Our Paper. Elze earned a Master’s Degree …

Lg Ms 030 Allen Bernstein Collection Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare

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Allen Bernstein was born on June 19, 1913 in Nashua, New Hampshire. He holds a MA in Economics from the University of Chicago. Bernstein enlisted in the Army in 1940 and fought in WWII, doing clerical work in the U.S., until 1944 when he was dishonorably discharged for being openly gay. After the war he married a woman– who knew he was gay – and had two sons. He then moved to Maine to work for the Maine State Labor Department as a Labor market analyst. After retirement in 1978 he became involved in providing volunteer services to the …

Aa Ms 07 African American Maine Photograph Album Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare

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This collection consists of a wooden photograph album and three packets of loose photographs of African American women on vacation in Maine – about 15 women, and a total of 112 photos. They might have been traveling to Maine for a church group gathering [suggested by multiple photos of the All Saints by the Sea church] or as a woman’s group vacationing in Maine. Many locations are identifiable as being along the Mid-coast. Many of the photos are of Pemaquid Point, Boothbay, the shore line, and boats. The date range is 1940s and 50s. The album was purchased from …

Lg Ms 029 Margaret Cruikshank Papers Finding Aid, Christina E. Walker, Anthony Marvullo

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Margaret Cruikshank (b. 1940) has not only led a distinguished career in academia but is also the author of numerous works. Cruikshank’s earliest writings include reviews, essays and articles that have appeared in a variety of periodicals. Other publications include The Lesbian Path (1980), The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement (1992), and Learning to Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging (2003). After earning her Ph.D., Cruikshank began teaching English at colleges and universities throughout the Midwest. In 1975, Cruikshank moved to Minnesota where she continued to teach university level English and also helped establish Mankato State University’s first women’s …

Lg Ms 028 Robin Lambert Collection Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare

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Robin Lambert was politically active in Maine for more than 40 years, was for many years the most prominent Republican to publicly support LGBT civil rights, and persuaded many in his party to join him in that struggle. He was one of the founders of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA)(now EqualityMaine) in 1984, and was twice recognized by MLGPA for his outstanding work for civil rights. As an early advocate of addressing the issues surrounding HIV and its impact on the state, Lambert was a founding member of both The Maine Health Foundation and The AIDS Project …

Lg Ms 026 Michael Martin Papers Finding Aid, Nicholas Martin

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Description:

Print materials collected by this AIDS activist, primarily about the AIDS epidemic and treatment, including The AIDS Project in Maine.

Size of Collection:

1 ft.

Lg Ms 025 George Daniell Artwork Finding Aid, Susannah Clark

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George Daniell, photographer and artist, lived the second half of his life in a coastal community near Bar Harbor, Maine. Originally from Yonkers, he worked as a freelance photographer in New York and Europe for most of his early career. In the 1930’s, he made his first visits to Monhegan Island and Grand Manan Island, capturing images in photographs and paintings. For many years he owned a house on Fire Island, and spent winters in Key West, and these locations also feature prominently in his work. He is best known for his photographic portraits of well-known artists and literary …

Aa Ms 06 Home Is Where I Make It - Oral History Collection Finding Aid, Marieke Van Der Steenhoven

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This oral history project was directed by Dr. Maureen Elgersman Lee, of USM, and Rachel Talbot Ross. The interviews were conducted by local high school students. The Collection includes transcripts, photographs and audiotapes from the two phases of the project, which documented African American life in the Greater Portland and Lewiston-Auburn areas.

Date Range:

2001-2003

Size of Collection:

1 ft.

Lg Ms 021 Maine Civil Rights March & Rally Committee Archives Finding Aid, Maeve Wachowicz

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The Maine Civil Rights March & Rally Committee was formed in response to the February 1998 repeal of the civil rights law which had been enacted in May 1997. They organized a march, rally and fundraising entertainment event on Oct. 18, 1998. They followed these events with a vigil in memory of Mathew Shepard, with services held in several parts of the state on Oct. 18, 1998. The Committee also sponsored an "Interfaith Vigil Against Hate Violence" in Bangor on Oct. 7, 1999. The Archives contains some records of the Committee, blank cards representative of an effort to have …

Lg Ms 020 Equal Protection/Portland Archives Finding Aid, Maeve Wachowicz

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Equal Protection/Portland (EP/P) was a volunteer organization formed in Portland, Maine in 1992 that campaigned to uphold a Human Rights Ordinance passed by Portland’s City Council. Ultimately the ordinance was upheld in a referendum vote on November 3, 1992. That year was contentious for LGBT issues around the country and gay rights figured prominently in a presidential election for the first time in the race between Bill Clinton and George Bush. The Archives contains EP/P administrative files and campaign materials, such as flyers, brochures, press releases, survey results, audio recordings, and a bus banner. Articles reflecting national attention to …

Lg Ms 019 Westbrook Citizens For Equal Rights Archives Finding Aid, Maeve Wachowicz

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Westbrook Citizens for Equal Rights (WCER) was a Political Action Committee (PAC) registered in Westbrook, Maine in June of 2002. WCER was formed to promote civil rights in Westbrook, and notably campaigned to uphold the Westbrook Human Rights Ordinance of 2002. The archives contain materials from both the “Vote Yes” and “Vote No” campaigns on the Human Rights Ordinance referendum, such as flyers, pamphlets, campaign signs and stickers, advertisements, volunteer instructions, and correspondence. There is also information on the 2003 election in Westbrook, and on similar ordinance campaigns in Falmouth, Maine, and in Kalamazoo and Traverse City, Michigan, in …

Lg Ms 018 Maine Won’T Discriminate Archives Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Maine Won't Discriminate (MWD) was an organization created to work toward passing LGBT civil rights legislation in Maine and to advocate against/for citizens referenda that would have overturned/sustained such legislation. The Archives contains organizational records as well as print and audiovisual material created and used by the organization. The majority of the materials relate to MWD’s ultimately successful efforts to oppose referendum Question 1 in 2005, which read: “Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?” The materials include polling …

Lg Ms 011 Northern Lambda Nord Archives Finding Aid, Michelle E. Smith, Kristin Morris

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One of the earliest gay and lesbian groups in the state, NLN began in 1979 as a support network for the rural LGBT community, located in Aroostook County, with members in Maine and New Brunswick. By the mid-1980s, NLN had added an outreach component, working to educate the local community on LGBT identity and acceptance and health and HIV/AIDS issues. They also started a Gay-Lesbian Phoneline which grew into the Maine HIV/AIDS Hotline. The group disbanded in 2000, but re-formed in 2006. The Archives contains an extensive collection of organizational records, promotional materials, photo albums and artifacts.

Date Range: …

Lg Ms 017 Susan Farnsworth Papers Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Susan Farnsworth earned her undergraduate degree from Bates College in 1969 and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law in 1976. She has worked in several city and state government positions, including Maine State Representative from 1988-1994. Farnsworth has also been active in the LGBT community, serving as a member of the Executive Committee and an organizer of “Yes on 6” PAC in the Statewide Referendum Campaign in 2000. The Papers consist of working papers, publications, and other materials.

Date Range:

1970s-1990s

Size of Collection:

2.25 ft.

Gen Ms 25 T.A. Huston & Co. Salesman's Catalog Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Description:

In the early 1920s, T. A. Huston & Co. of Auburn built a 7-story bakery building in Portland, which became the Glickman Library of USM in the early 1990s. This is a 3-ring binder containing a color facsimile of a salesman's catalog, ca. 1912, of T. A. Huston & Co.

Date Range:

ca. 1912

Size of Collection:

0.25 ft.

Lg Ms 014 Jessen Lgbt/Women’S Newsletter & Media Collection Finding Aid, Renee Desroberts, Karin A. France

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Barbara Jessen formed the Maine Tradeswomen's Network, a loose organization of women in the trades and supporting personnel, in 1990, to promote networking, mentoring, and employment. The Collection consists of six newsletter titles, plus newspaper clippings, fact sheets, and articles - all covering LGBT and women’s issues in Maine and nationally.

Date Range:

1970s-2000

Size of Collection:

0.5 ft.

Lg Ms 016 Transsupport Archives Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Transsupport is a non-profit, educational, non-sexual peer support group for Cross-dressers, Transsexuals, their families, friends and significant others. The Archives contains organizational papers and newsletters from between 1994 and 1998, plus one issue of vol. 1 of the newsletter, dated 1989.

Date Range:

1989, 1994-1998

Size of Collection:

0.5 ft.

Lg Ms 015 May Sarton Scrapbook Finding Aid, Kristin Morris, Karin A. France

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Description:

William Barry is a well-known, published local historian. He had a slight connection with May Sarton through his friend Dorothy Healy, co-founder of the Maine Women Writers Collection. The Scrapbook contains documents relating to his correspondence with Sarton regarding her essay for a memorial book for Healy; documents and newspaper clippings relating to celebrations of Sarton’s life and work; documents regarding Barry’s effort to get Sarton’s essay in Healy’s memorial included in a Sarton bibliography.

Date Range:

1983-2008

Size of Collection:

0.25 ft.

Aa Ms 05 Cummings Guest House Register Finding Aid, Karin A. France

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Description:

The Cummings family of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, ran a guest house from 1923 until 1993. Register in which guests signed themselves in or were signed in by staff at the Cummings Guest House, 110 Portland Ave., Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Includes signatures of family members who attended reunions after the Guest House ceased operation.

Date Range:

1923-1998

Size of Collection:

1 ft.

Aa Ms 04 Eastern Real Estate Archives Finding Aid, Patrick J. Mooney

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The Eastern Real Estate Company was an association of African-Americans who bought and sold real estate in the Portland area from 1912-2001. The records in the Archives include articles of association, minutes, financial records, stock records, listings of stockholders, tax records, bank books and legal documents.

Date Range:

1912-2001

Size of Collection:

1 ft.

Aa Ms 03 Harold E. Richardson Papers Finding Aid, Susie R. Bock

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Harold E. Richardson (1922-1993) was born in Portland and attended West School and Portland High School. Richardson was elected to the Portland Water District Board in 1963. He served on the Board until at least 1987, including a stint as president in the late 60s. He was very active in the Portland community: his contributions include service on the Maine State Law Enforcement Planning and Assistance Agency and membership in the Mt. Lebanon Masonic Lodge and Deering Lions Club, among many others. The Papers contain his scrapbook, documenting his many contributions to the Portland community, including serving on the …

Lg Ms 012 Act Up/Maine Archives Finding Aid, Lynne Chabot

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ACTUP/ Maine, founded in 1990, was a chapter of the national organization, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) that focused on AIDS issues. The goals of the organization were the empowerment of people with AIDS and the establishment of an AIDS Resource Center. The organization emphasized direct action in communities and an open democratic process within the group. The Archives holds organizational papers, books, photos, promotional materials, correspondence and publications, plus a significant number of publications/papers from ACT-UP chapters in the US and abroad. The bulk of the material spans the years 1990-1994, and there is a good …

Lg Ms 009 Act Up/Portland Archives Finding Aid, Eileen Rowland, Lynne Chabot

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ACT UP/ Portland, established in the 1990s, was a chapter of the national organization, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) that focused on AIDS issues. ACT UP/ Portland sponsored several local youth organizations, had a cooperative partnership with Public Health agencies, leafleted extensively, and held media campaigns. The organization emphasized direct action in communities and an open democratic process within the group. The Archives consists of administrative files, programs/activities, and resource materials from the group and its affiliates. Dates range from 1984 to 1996, with the bulk of materials either undated or 1991-1996.

Date Range:

1984-1996

Size of …