Project History
The Maine Memory Network grew out of an extensive assessment of state cultural resources and needs by the Cultural Affairs Council of Maine. In 1998, the Council, which includes the Maine Arts Commission, Maine Historical Society, Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Maine Humanities Council, Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum, identified the need for a state-wide online resource to increase the public's access to its own heritage.
With seed funding from the Maine Communities in the New Century initiative, financial support came from the state legislature in 1999. A needs assessment was followed by a working prototype of the site.
A grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program in 2002 allowed us to build a dynamic database and web user interface to expand our content and collections.
An Institute of Museum and Library Services Learning Opportunities Grant in 2002 allowed us to hire Outreach staff to attract and train over 100 contributing partners and greatly expand the breadth of historic content in the database.
With an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant in 2003, we were able to hire a Project Historian to improve our content standards and better tell the story of Maine history.
Funding from the Maine Community Foundation in 2003 and the guidance of Common Good Ventures helped us create www.VintageMaineImages.com, which allows the Contributing Partners to sell reproductions of their historic items, if they so chose, to generate much needed income.
Our latest effort, funded by Jane's Trust in 2005, will allow us to bring together schools and historical societies on the local level to collaborate, learn from each other, and create 'mini-websites' within the Maine Memory Network. This effort is built upon several years of the MHS Education Department's efforts to provide tools and resources through the Maine Memory Network that help communities and schools around the state learn about, celebrate, and share their local history.