It is with great pleasure that I forward this announcement from the
Maine Historical Society. Please remember
this is the first round and that another 8 sites will be selected next
year. Congratulations to the communities and their libraries) listed
below.
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
May 30, 2008
Contact: Steve Bromage, Maine Historical Society,
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> or (207)
774-1822.
Maine Historical Society Announces First Eight Communities to
Participate in Maine Community Heritage Project
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," says 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,
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 3000 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 website within the Maine
Memory Network that showcases and provides access to these resources.
The Maine Historical Society received fifty 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.
The participating communities are:
Bath: The Bath team-a partnership between the Patten Free Library, Bath
Historical Society, and Bath Middle School-will explore the history of
downtown Bath and create an online map exhibit with links to highlight
important events, sites, and people in Bath's history.
Farmington: The Farmington team-a partnership between Farmington Public
library, Farmington Historical Society, Mount Blue Middle School, and
the Center for Community GIS-will identify local resources, use
technology to promote the study of history, and to put their recently
completed walking tour online.
Hampden: The Hampden team-a partnership between the Edythe L. Dyer
Community Library, Hampden Historical Society, Reeds Brook Middle
School, and the Hampden Communication Committee-will promote broad
citizen involvement in presenting Hampden's history and is interested in
using broadcast and web media to make local resources available to the
public.
Islesboro: The Islesboro team-a partnership between the Alice L.
Pendleton Library, Islesboro Historical Society and Islesboro Central
School-will collaborate to preserve the island's historical resources
and to create a user-friendly way to access local historical source
materials about the island.
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.
New Portland: The New Portland team-a partnership between the New
Portland Community Library, New Portland Historical Society, and MSAD
#74-has created a new partnership to document and share the town's
history for the upcoming bicentennial and the 20th anniversary of the
their library.
Presque Isle: The Presque Isle team-a partnership between the Mark &
Emily Turner Memorial Library, Presque Isle Historical Society, MSAD #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.
Thomaston: The Thomaston team-a partnership between Thomaston Public
Library, Thomaston Historical Society, Georges Valley High School, and
The General Henry Knox Museum-is committed to forging strong community
relationships that will give student and adult researchers access to
local history resources, capture local stories, and generate local
interest in town history.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Philbrick, Community
Partnership Coordinator, Maine Historical Society, at
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> or
(207) 774-1822. For ongoing updates, please visit
www.mainememory.net/mchp <http://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.
Maine Historical Society
489 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 (207) 774-1822
www.mainehistory.org
Linda H. Lord
Deputy State Librarian
Maine State Library
64 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-5620
[log in to unmask]
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