Maine Memory Network

Maine General Hospital surgical amphitheater, Portland, ca. 1895

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1895 Location: Portland Media: Photographic print

Maine School for Deaf gym class, Portland, 1925

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media Date: 1925 Location: Portland Media: Glass Negative

70 Pine Street, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Benjamin F Dudley Use: Dwelling & Store

Development Associates Trust building, Bangor, 1969-1973

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1969–1973 Location: Bangor; Bangor Client: Development Associates Trust Architect: Eaton W. Tarbell

Back to School

Public education has been a part of Maine since Euro-American settlement began to stabilize in the early eighteenth century. But not until the end of the nineteenth century was public education really compulsory in Maine.

Navy Firefighting School, Little Chebeague Island

Little Chebeague Island in Casco Bay was home to recreational facilities and a firefighting school for WWII sailors. The school was part of a Navy effort to have non-firefighting personnel knowledgeable in dealing with shipboard fires.

Islesboro--An Island in Penobscot Bay - Schools

"May 6, 1954, was moving day, when supplies and books were trucked to the new school. Although this was accomplished in the pouring rain, nothing…"

Mantor Library, University of Maine Farmington

View collections, facts, and contact information for this Contributing Partner.

Harold's Garage, Rome Hollow, Maine
by Mimi C

Story about Harold Hawes, owner of Harold's garage and self-styled auctioneer in Rome Hollow, Maine

Reverend Thomas Smith of First Parish Portland
by Kristina Minister, Ph.D.

Pastor, Physician, Real Estate Speculator, and Agent for Wabanaki Genocide

Longfellow Studies: An American Studies Approach to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was truly a man of his time and of his nation; this native of Portland, Maine and graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine became an American icon. Lines from his poems intersperse our daily speech and the characters of his long narrative poems have become part of American myth. Longfellow's fame was international; scholars, politicians, heads-of-state and everyday people read and memorized his poems. Our goal is to show that just as Longfellow reacted to and participated in his times, so his poetry participated in shaping and defining American culture and literature. The following unit plan introduces and demonstrates an American Studies approach to the life and work of Longfellow. Because the collaborative work that forms the basis for this unit was partially responsible for leading the two of us to complete the American & New England Studies Masters program at University of Southern Maine, we returned there for a working definition of "American Studies approach" as it applies to the grade level classroom. Joe Conforti, who was director at the time we both went through the program, offered some useful clarifying comments and explanation. He reminded us that such a focus provides a holistic approach to the life and work of an author. It sets a work of literature in a broad cultural and historical context as well as in the context of the poet's life. The aim of an American Studies approach is to "broaden the context of a work to illuminate the American past" (Conforti) for your students. We have found this approach to have multiple benefits at the classroom and research level. It brings the poems and the poet alive for students and connects with other curricular work, especially social studies. When linked with a Maine history unit, it helps to place Portland and Maine in an historical and cultural context. It also provides an inviting atmosphere for the in-depth study of the mechanics of Longfellow's poetry. What follows is a set of lesson plans that form a unit of study. The biographical "anchor" that we have used for this unit is an out-of-print biography An American Bard: The story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, by Ruth Langland Holberg, Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, c1963. Permission has been requested to make this work available as a downloadable file off this web page, but in the meantime, used copies are readily and cheaply available from various vendors. The poem we have chosen to demonstrate our approach is "Paul Revere's Ride." The worksheets were developed by Judy Donahue, the explanatory essays researched and written by the two of us, and our sources are cited below. We have also included a list of helpful links. When possible we have included helpful material in text format, or have supplied site links. Our complete unit includes other Longfellow poems with the same approach, but in the interest of time and space, they are not included. Please feel free to contact us with questions and comments.