Maine Memory Network

Request for prisoner exchange, Litchfield, 1864

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1864-10-12 Location: Litchfield; Hilton Head; Charleston Media: Ink on paper

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Andersonville Prison, J.B. Walker, lithograph, ca. 1864

Contributed by: Freeport Historical Society Date: circa 1864 Location: Andersonville Media: Paper

Prisoners of War

Mainers have been held prisoners in conflicts fought on Maine and American soil and in those fought overseas. In addition, enemy prisoners from several wars have been brought to Maine soil for the duration of the war.

Passing the Time: Artwork by World War II German POWs

In 1944, the US Government established Camp Houlton, a prisoner of war (POW) internment camp for captured German soldiers during World War II. Many of the prisoners worked on local farms planting and harvesting potatoes. Some created artwork and handicrafts they sold or gave to camp guards. Camp Houlton processed and held about 3500 prisoners and operated until May 1946.

Freedom & Captivity Portal

The Freedom & Captivity digital collection in the Maine Memory Network, and the complete digital archive housed at Colby Special Collections, is a repository of personal testimonies, ephemera, memorabilia, artifacts, and visual materials that capture multiple dimensions of the experiences of incarceration for individuals, families, and communities, as well as for survivors of harm.

Lincoln, Maine - Frederick A. Edwards

"Edwards never had to endure the southern prisons, but he was in attendance at the execution of a Confederate Captain, who had killed a guard in an…"

A Maine Family's story of being Prisoners of War in Manila
by Nicki Griffin

As a child, born after the war, I would hear these stories - glad they were finally written down

We Are An Ordinary Family
by Catherine

Maine's abolitionists offer an answer to my questions about my family's experiences.