Maine Community Heritage Project
Promoting community through the exploration of local history
Visit the Community Gallery
See the power of students partnering with historical organizations.
APPLY NOW: Application Deadline, May 9, 2008
The Maine Historical Society, in partnership with the Maine State Library, is seeking Maine communities to participate in the Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP), an innovative new program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies, and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. The MCHP 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.
Application materials are due on May 9. Please see full Project Description, Application Guidelines, and Application Form.
Project Activities and Support
The Maine Community Heritage Project is an intensive one–year process that will mobilize teams from sixteen Maine communities around the exploration, gathering, and sharing of their local history. Local teams will receive extensive training and support, a $10,000 supporting grant, and, importantly, the opportunity to create a prominent website within Maine Memory that promotes their community and radically expands access to information about its history. Working closely with Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library staff, local teams—each made up of representatives from local schools, historical societies, and libraries—will:
- inventory local historical and cultural resources;
- digitize 100–200 historic documents, photographs, artifacts, etc. from local collections and upload them to the Maine Memory Network;
- write an illustrated online narrative that introduces key themes and topics in the history of the community (approximately 3000 words);
- create online exhibits that draw on historic documents, photographs, artifacts, oral history interviews, and/or other resources to explore specific topics in local history;
- create a new website within the Maine Memory Network that showcases and provides access to these resources; and
- come together for a community–wide celebration of their work and community's history.
Benefits of Participation
The program will provide numerous opportunities for students, teachers, local historical society members, librarians, and other people in the community to come together, to collaborate, and to share their particular interests, knowledge, and skills.
- Librarians will: (1) deepen their relationship and interaction with schools and historical organizations; (2) increase their capacity to serve as a key source for information about local history; and (3) continue to develop their technology skills.
- Staff/Volunteers of historical organizations will: (1) develop close partnerships with schools and libraries; (2) increase awareness of and support for their organization within their community and beyond; and (3) receive help digitizing, interpreting, and sharing their collections online.
- Teachers will: (1) develop skills, experiences, and relationships that enable them to more effectively engage their community; (2) participate in a project that is aligned to Maine's Learning Results (MLRs) and easily tailored to meet school curriculum objectives; (3) provide a meaningful service–learning opportunity for their students; and (4) earn contact hours for recertification.
- Students will: (1) become actively engaged in their community, learn about its history, and play a prominent role in sharing that history; (2) develop and apply research, critical thinking, writing, technology, communication, and literacy skills; and (3) achieve key academic goals and MLRs.
For More Information
To learn more about the MCHP, contact Stephanie Philbrick, Community Partnership Coordinator, Maine Historical Society, by email at sphilbrick@mainehistory.org or by calling (207) 653-9677.