Maine Memory Network
Maine's Online Museum

Title: Alameda Hall Interior, Bath, ca. 1889

Contributed by: Maine Maritime Museum

Date: circa 1889

Location: Bath

Media: mounted sepia-toned photograph

Title: Red Men's Hall, Swan's Island, ca. 1930

Contributed by: Swan's Island Educational Society

Date: circa 1930

Location: Swans Island

Media: Postcard

Title: Tuscan Opera House Dance Program, Dixfield, February 4, 1926

Contributed by: Dixfield Historical Society

Date: 1926

Location: Dixfield

Media: Ink on paper

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Dressing Up, Standing Out, Fitting In

Adorning oneself to look one's "best" has varied over time, gender, economic class, and by event. Adornments suggest one's sense of identity and one's intent to stand out or fit in.

The Nativist Klan

In Maine, like many other states, a newly formed Ku Klux Klan organization began recruiting members in the years just before the United States entered World War I. A message of patriotism and cautions about immigrants and non-Protestants drew many thousands of members into the secret organization in the early 1920s. By the end of the decade, the group was largely gone from Maine.

Patriotism Shared

Post office clerks began collecting strong red, white, and blue string, rolling it onto a ball and passing it on to the next post office to express their support for the Union effort in the Civil War. Accompanying the ball was this paper scroll on which the clerks wrote messages and sometimes drew images.