Maine Memory Network

Women Spinning at Pepperell Mills, Biddeford, 1910

Contributed by: McArthur Public Library Date: 1910 Location: Biddeford Media: Photographic print

Women sorting rags, Brewer, ca. 1920

Contributed by: Maine Folklife Center, Univ. of Maine Date: circa 1920 Location: Brewer Media: Photographic print

Assessor's Record, 297-301 Danforth Street, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Home For Aged Women Use: Land only

Assessor's Record, 60 Emery Street, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Home for Aged Women Use: Nursing Home

Working Women of the Old Port

Women at the turn of the 20th century were increasingly involved in paid work outside the home. For wage-earning women in the Old Port section of Portland, the jobs ranged from canning fish and vegetables to setting type. A study done in 1907 found many women did not earn living wages.

Writing Women

Published women authors with ties to Maine are too numerous to count. They have made their marks in all types of literature.

Portland Press Herald Glass Negative Collection - National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs

… National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs Power of Potential View the Maine Women's Business Convention Slideshow…

Strong, a Mussul Unsquit village - Prominent Women

Prominent Women Text By: Strong School 7th and 8th Graders, 2011-2012 Julia Harris May poetry collection, 1903Item Contributed byFarmington…

The tradition of lobstering
by Sadie Samuels

I learned to fish from my Dad and will lobster the rest of my life

I was a regional volunteer coordinator for the Women’s March
by Erica McNally

Erica McNally's experiences in Washington at the Women's March, 2017

Primary Sources: Maine Women's Causes and Influence before 1920

Grade Level: 6-8 Content Area: Social Studies
This lesson plan will give students the opportunity to read and analyze letters, literature, and other primary documents and articles of material culture from the MHS collections relating to the women of Maine between the end of the Revolutionary War through the national vote for women’s suffrage in 1920. Students will discuss issues including war relief (Civil War and World War I), suffrage, abolition, and temperance, and how the women of Maine mobilized for or in some cases helped to lead these movements.

World War I and the U.S. Home Front

Grade Level: 9-12 Content Area: Social Studies
Learn about World War I using primary sources from Maine Memory Network and the Library of Congress.