History Commons^™

To Know The Land With Hands And Minds: Negotiating Agricultural Knowledge In Late-Nineteenth-Century New England And Westphalia, Justus Hillebrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the eighteenth century, experts have tried to tell farmers how to farm. The agricultural enlightenment in Europe marked the beginning of a long arc of new experts aiming to change agricultural knowledge and practice. This dissertation analyzes the pivotal period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Germany and the United States when scientists, improvers, and market agents began to develop comprehensive ways to communicate agricultural innovation to farmers. In a functional approach to analyzing the negotiation of agricultural knowledge through its communication in things, words, and practices, this dissertation argues that the process of change …

Making Earth, Making Home: Technoscientific Citizenship And Ecological Domesticity In An Age Of Limits, Emma Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the post-WWII era, concerns over Earth’s finite resources and technology’s destructive capacity shaped ideas of a global environment. This dissertation focuses on transnational grassroots social movements that attempted to find solutions to earthly vulnerability. It looks at women’s nuclear disarmament campaigns in the early 1960s, the Appropriate Technology movement of the 1970s, Canada’s conserver society program, and the emergence of feminist technoscientific critique and ecological activism in the early 1980s. In each case study, it shows how the ability to critique and produce technoscientific knowledge expanded women’s political identities, what I call technoscientific citizenship. Simultaneously, these groups promoted ecological …

Professor Segal (Howard P.) Papers, 1974-2019, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

Finding Aids

Howard Paul Segal was born on July 15, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Princeton University. Segal first came to the University of Maine in 1986 as an assistant professor of history and also the associate director of the Technology and Society Project in the College of Engineering. In 2020, Segal was awarded emeritus status by the University of Maine.

Segal was a prolific author, among the books he authored were "Technology in America: A Brief History", "Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries" …

Making Vacationland: The Modern Automobility And Tourism Borderlands Of Maine And New Brunswick, 1875-1939, Sean C. Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modernizing nineteenth and twentieth century mobility reshaped and re- commodified the predominantly rural environments of Maine and New Brunswick. Landscapes like these can be better understood through the tripartite intersection of environmental commodification as “picturesque,” a democratizing tourism culture, and the development of modern individual mobility. The intersection of these forces produced a unique tourism borderland comprised of primarily second nature landscapes, which rapidly adapted to motor-tourism. All three themes are products of modernity, and their combination in Maine and New Brunswick produced a “tourism borderland” and “mobility borderland” between automotive spaces and the unprepared environments of pre-auto “Vacationland.” Before …

A History Of Oysters In Maine (1600s-1970s), Randy Lackovic

Darling Marine Center Historical Documents

This is a history of oyster abundance in Maine, and the subsequent decline of oyster abundance. It is a history of oystering, oyster fisheries, and oyster commerce in Maine. It is a history of the transplanting of oysters to Maine, and experiments with oysters in Maine, and of oyster culture in Maine. This history takes place from the 1600s to the 1970s.

Dorothy J. Jackson Fres Fls, Scottish Entomologist: A Bibliography, Jack R. Mclachlan

Biology and Ecology Faculty Scholarship

Dorothy Jean Jackson FRES FLS (1892-1973) should be familiar to anyone interested in water beetles. She published prolifically on the ecology, distribution, flight capacity, and parasites of water beetles, and made especially important contributions to our knowledge of dytiscids. Here I provide a more extensive bibliography of her work that is almost certainly incomplete, but I think includes most of her scientific output between 1907 and 1973. Her first paper was published when she was 14 years old, and her last was completed by Jack Balfour-Browne and published posthumously.

Wood Pulp And The Emergence Of A New Industrial Landscape In Maine, 1880 To 1930, John Clark, Deryck Holdwworth

Maine History

Between the 1880s and 1930s, investors developed over seventy pulp and paper mill sites to exploit the woods and inland waters of Maine. Authors John Clark and Deryck Holdsworth tracked the changing historical geographies of papermaking in Maine during this period through an analysis of data from Lockwood’s Directory, the industry’s leading monitor of investment. They also mapped mill sites, noting their changing capacity and shifts in product types as consumer needs evolved. Their work shows how the development of a railroad network helped facilitate a shift from smaller mills at coastal sites to larger mills at inland settings, which …

A Public Trust Or The Common Good: Medical Professionalism And Medical Education In Nineteenth- And Twentieth Century Maine, Thomas J. Keating Md, Ms

Maine History

During the time that the Medical School of Maine was educating men and women from Maine and other New England states, the profession of medicine and American society in general were undergoing a period of sweeping change. Advancement in medical knowledge, in the midst of an industrial revolution, created opportunities for, as well as expectations of, the profession, which formed the basis for the modern practice of medicine and the contemporary concept of professionalism in medicine. This paper chronicles the 100-year period of medical education by the Medical School of Maine, the ultimate demise of the institution, and the legacy …

Old Roots And New Shoots: How Locals And Back-To-The-Landers Remade Maine's Local Food Economy, Eileen Hagerman

Maine History

Back-to-the-landers who relocated to Maine in large numbers during the 1970s often lacked traditional rural skills and encountered a variety of agricultural challenges related to the state’s harsh climate and poor soils. Many who remained on the land often did so, at least initially, because they received support from elderly neighbors who still practiced low-input, small-scale farming. These neighbors tended to freely share their knowledge and skills and, in return, often benefited from the young newcomers’ assistance with laborious on-farm tasks. The newcomers worked with their local allies to form organizations, share knowledge, and coordinate marketing efforts tailored to meet …

Um Marine And Freshwater Sciences Before Wentworth Point, Part 2: (1939), Um Marine Biological Lab At Lamoine, Randy Lackovic

Darling Marine Center Historical Documents

This is picture album of the University of Maine Marine Biological Laboratory at Lamoine, Maine during the summer session in 1939.

Um Marine And Freshwater Sciences Come To Wentworth Point (1960s), Randy Lackovic

Darling Marine Center Historical Documents

This history recounts the formation of the Darling Marine Center from 1963 - 1966.

Um Marine And Freshwater Sciences Before Wentworth Point, Part 1: (1865-1965), Randy Lackovic

Darling Marine Center Historical Documents

This is a history of the marine and freshwater sciences activity at the University of Maine from 1865 - 1965.

Maine’S Contested Waterfront: The Project To Remake Sebago Lake’S Lower Bay, 1906-1930, David B. Cohen

Maine History

Throughout the nation’s history, few resources have been considered as ubiquitous as water. The issue of who controls the use of water, however, has seldom been straight forward. This was no less true in the Progressive Era, when many growing urban areas significantly altered their water infrastructure to meet increased demands. When debate arose over water use, these municipalities often relied on the relatively new authority of scientific knowledge, particularly in the area of public health and safety. In this article, the author describes how the Portland Water District was able to conserve Sebago Lake’s Lower Bay as a clean, …

Radical Teaching: Scott And Helen Nearing’S Impact On Maine’S Natural Food Revival, Erik Gray

Maine History

Though today sustainable living and locally-sourced food receive increased attention nationwide, these ideas have been important in Maine for several decades. A key part of the state’s agricultural history is a tradition of self-sustaining homesteads. While subsistence farming and self-sufficiency was often a necessity on Maine’s northeastern frontier, homesteading has remained a lifestyle chosen by many of the state’s residents to this day. In this article, the author discusses the legacy of Scott and Helen Nearing, focusing particularly on the couple’s contributions to the “back to the land” movement in Maine and beyond. The author earned a B.A. in History …

An Enduring Technology: The Horse Logging Tradition In Maine, James E. Passanisi

Maine History

No abstract provided.

Papermaking In Maine: Economic Trends From 1894 To 2000, Lloyd C. Ireland

Maine History

This essay reviews the major economic trends in Maine’s paper industry since the late nineteenth century. It sets the context at national and regional levels, offers a broad statistical picture of the industry’s production in Maine, and concludes with a focus on Maine’s “mill towns.” Paper production is a branch of a larger industry that converts primary fiber — logs, chips, wastepaper, rags, or market pulp — into paper.

Something In Common: Eastern Manufacturing Company, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology’S School Of Chemical Engineering Practice, And The University Of Maine, Pauleena Macdougall

Maine History

Part of Eastern Manufacturing Company’s innovative history in the field of fine paper production was the development of a unique cooperative arrangement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Chemical Engineering Department, which was focused on the practical application of chemistry to industry. To further its goals, the MIT department formed Practice Schools that partnered with chemical-using industries across the nation to bring academic chemists and their students into manufacturing plants to solve practical problems in chemistry. Eastern Fine’s pioneering role in this project was a model for the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Maine.

The Life And Career Of Bangor’S Frederick Wellington Ayer (1855-1936), Founder Of Eastern Corporation, Pauleena Macdougall

Maine History

In this article, Pauleena MacDougall presents a brief business biography of Fred W. Ayer, who founded the Eastern Manufacturing Company in Brewer, Maine, and set this pioneering firm on course as a leader in lumber production and later in the production of fine papers.

Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant: A Technological Utopia In Retrospect, Howard P. Segal

Maine History

The Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, built in 1968 and closed in 1996, provides a revealing case study of the rise and fall of the nuclear power industry in the United States. At its inception, the plant generated a great outpouring of optimistic superlatives promising electricity “too cheap to meter” and a solution to Maine’s longstanding energy problems. Its promoters envisioned a technological utopia for Maine communities based on cheap and efficient energy, and based on these promising prospects, the town of Wiscasset welcomed the plant. This article traces the changes in public thinking that led to statewide referenda on …

From The Fair To The Laboratory: The Institutionalization Of Agricultural Science And Education In Maine, Thomas Reznick

Maine History

Up until the mid-nineteenth century, agricultural science and education in Maine were primarily local affairs. Meeting in farm clubs and attending agricultural fairs, the Maine farmer performed most research by trial and error and by meeting on common ground with other farmers to discuss what worked and what did not. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the farm clubs and county fairs waned and succumbed to the growing political influence of the Grange, which supported burgeoning agricultural scientific and educational institutions, such as the College of Agriculture and the Experiment Station. Through the auspices of the Grange, such institutions took the …

A Wavelength For Every Network: Synchronous Broadcasting And National Radio In The United States, 1926–1932, Michael J. Socolow

Communication and Journalism Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Wounded, The Sick, And The Scared: An Examination Of Disabled Maine Veterans From The Civil War, John D. Blaisdell

Maine History

Students of Civil War history often harbor a sterilized impression that veterans included only the living, who returned home to pick up the threads of their previous existence, and the dead, who were laid to rest with honors in local or national cemeteries. In truth, there were many who fell in between: neither dead nor physically intact, they suffered debilitating injury or disease for their remaining lives. Records of some 260 such individuals in the Bangor Historical Society provide insight into the medical and surgical problems suffered by Civil War veterans. Their conditions fall into four categories: those who suffered …

Les Soeurs Grises Of Lewiston, Maine 1878-1908: An Ethnic Religious Feminist Expression, Susan Hudson

Maine History

Lewiston, Maine's first public hospital became a reality in 1889 when the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the “Grey Nuns,” opened the doors of the Asylum of Our Lady of Lourdes. This hospital was central to the Grey Nuns' mission of providing social services for Lewiston's predominately French-Canadian mill workers. Susan Hudson explores the obstacles faced by the Grey Nuns as they struggled to establish their institution despite meager financial resources, language barriers, and in the face of opposition from the established medical community. Susan Pearman Hudson is a Ph.D. candidate at Catholic University of America and a member of …

Television Comes To Bangor: A Conversation With Industry Pioneers, Judith Round

Maine History

Today, almost every household—98 percent of U.S. homes— has at least one television. There are hundreds of broadcast, cable, and satellite television channels sending out programming to viewers across the world. Yet only forty-seven years ago, television was in its infancy. What was it like to be part of this new form of information technology? George Gonyar and Margo Cobb, interviewed in March 1997, were part of a small group that pioneered television in greater Bangor. They not only brought television to the area, but they guided its development over the next forty years. Judith Round earned her Bachelor of …

Sir Hiram Maxim And His Gun: A Literary Trail, Charles Shain

Maine History

Hiram Maxim, born near Sangerville, Maine, in 1840, enjoyed a brilliant career as an inventor and self-promotor. His best-known invention, the Maxim gun, proved appallingly successful during the British imperialistic ventures in Africa at the turn of the century and later in World War I. In this article, Emeritus Professor Charles Shain traces the literary usages for Maxim ’s invention, both as noun and as a verb - describing the scything action of the gun as it mowed down an advancing foe. Charles Shain published and taught in the field of American Studies at Carleton College and for twelve years …

From Bangor To Elmira And Back Again: The Civil War Career Of Dr. Eugene Francis Sanger, Andrew Macissac

Maine History

Bangor's Dr. Eugene Francis Sanger holds a dubious claim to fame in the annals of Civil War history. Having joined the Union medical corps largely to advance his own career; the abrasive surgeon moved from post to post, frustrated by lack of discipline among field staff and by lack of recognition from his superiors. In 1864 Sanger became the chief medical officer at the Elmira Prison Camp in New York, a northern counterpart to the infamous Andersonville Prison. Was Sanger responsible for Elmira 's unconscionable mortality rate? The historical record is ambiguous. Andrew Maclsaac grew up in Mexico, Maine, and …

Hardly The Best Of Times The Practice Of Medicine On The Maine Frontier, 1812-1841, John D. Blaisdell

Maine History

Account books left by two physicians provide a glimpse of the practice of medicine on the eastern Maine frontier. They reveal some interesting patterns: Both doctors practiced some dentistry, delivered babies, and engaged in sidelines outside their medical practice. Both vaccinated patients in the face of impending epidemics, and both treated internal afflictions using standard nineteenth-century medical therapeutics. Sometimes doctors did more harm than good, but even in this short span of time we can see progress on the medical frontier.

Thompson Document 01: An Introduction To The Henrietta Thompson Collection, Henrietta Thompson

Henrietta Thompson Papers

A very brief introduction to the Henrietta Thompson collection.

The Harpswell Laboratory 1898-1920: A Marine Biological Station, Mary Francis Williams

Maine History

This article reviews the founding and history of The Harpswell Laboratory, A Marine Biological Station

Influenza 1918: A Maine Perspective, Gabriel W. Kirkpatrick

Maine History

This article provides an overview of the impact of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic on the State of Maine.