Keywords: birth
Item 80031
Birth record for John Edward Barry, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 1925, 1925
Contributed by: Mexico Historical Society Date: 1925-08-02 Location: Portsmouth Media: Text
Item 102742
John Petropulos' certificate of birth and baptism, Lewiston, 1930
Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1930-05-25 Location: Lewiston Media: Ink on paper
Exhibit
2009 marked the bicentennials of the births of Abraham Lincoln and his first vice president, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. To observe the anniversary, Paris Hill, where Hamlin was born and raised, honored the native statesman and recalled both his early life in the community and the mark he made on Maine and the nation.
Exhibit
South Portland's Wartime Shipbuilding
Two shipyards in South Portland, built quickly in 1941 to construct cargo ships for the British and Americans, produced nearly 270 ships in two and a half years. Many of those vessels bore the names of notable Mainers.
Site Page
"Meanwhile, Martha gave birth to and mothered nine children, managed the daily provisioning of her household and supervised its labors, and performed…"
Site Page
Historic Hallowell - Dr. Benjamin Page
"This "man midwife" attended 3000 thousand births in the first year. During the Plague of 1812, his superb knowledge and skill saved many lives."
Story
Maine Eye & Ear Infirmary Birth
by Anonymous
My birth at the Portland Eye & Ear Infirmary/ Children's Hospital in 1951
Story
Orphanage on Revere Street
by anonymous
An orphanage operated by a Mrs. Oliver on 54 Revere Street in Portland, Maine in 1930.
Lesson Plan
Longfellow Studies: The Birth of An American Hero in "Paul Revere's Ride"
Grade Level: 9-12
Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
The period of American history just prior to the Civil War required a mythology that would celebrate the strength of the individual, while fostering a sense of Nationalism. Longfellow saw Nationalism as a driving force, particularly important during this period and set out in his poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" to arm the people with the necessary ideology to face the oncoming hardships. "Paul Revere's Ride" was perfectly suited for such an age and is responsible for embedding in the American consciousness a sense of the cultural identity that was born during this defining period in American History.
It is Longfellow's interpretation and not the actual event that became what Dana Gioia terms "a timeless emblem of American courage and independence."
Gioia credits the poem's perseverance to the ease of the poem's presentation and subject matter. "Paul Revere's Ride" takes a complicated historical incident embedded in the politics of Revolutionary America and retells it with narrative clarity, emotional power, and masterful pacing,"(2).
Although there have been several movements to debunk "Paul Revere's Ride," due to its lack of historical accuracy, the poem has remained very much alive in our national consciousness. Warren Harding, president during the fashionable reign of debunk criticism, perhaps said it best when he remarked, "An iconoclastic American said there never was a ride by Paul Revere. Somebody made the ride, and stirred the minutemen in the colonies to fight the battle of Lexington, which was the beginning of independence in the new Republic of America. I love the story of Paul Revere, whether he rode or not" (Fischer 337). Thus, "despite every well-intentioned effort to correct it historically, Revere's story is for all practical purposes the one Longfellow created for him," (Calhoun 261). It was what Paul Revere's Ride came to symbolize that was important, not the actual details of the ride itself.
Lesson Plan
Longfellow Studies: The Acadian Diaspora - Reading "Evangeline" as a Feminist and Metaphoric Text
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Evangeline, Longfellow's heroine, has long been read as a search for Evangeline's long-lost love, Gabrielle--separated by the British in 1755 at the time of the Grand Derangement, the Acadian Diaspora. The couple comes to find each other late in life and the story ends. Or does it?
Why does Longfellow choose to tell the story of this cultural group with a woman as the protagonist who is a member of a minority culture the Acadians? Does this say something about Longfellow's ability for understanding the misfortunes of others?
Who is Evangeline searching for? Is it Gabriel, or her long-lost land of Acadia? Does the couple represent that which is lost to them, the land of their birth and rebirth? These are some of the thoughts and ideas which permeate Longfellow's text, Evangeline, beyond the tale of two lovers lost to one another. As the documentary, Evangeline's Quest (see below) states: "The Acadians, the only people to celebrate their defeat." They, as a cultural group, are found in the poem and their story is told.
