Category: Arts & Entertainment, Cinema & Theater
Item 29044
Francis Hamabe Puppet Theatre, Blue Hill, ca. 1955
Contributed by: Blue Hill Public Library Date: circa 1955 Location: Blue Hill Media: Photographic print
Item 12858
Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1920 Location: Portland Media: Photographic print
Exhibit
Lewiston, Maine's second largest city, was long looked upon by many as a mill town with grimy smoke stacks, crowded tenements, low-paying jobs, sleazy clubs and little by way of refinement, except for Bates College. Yet, a noted Québec historian, Robert Rumilly, described it as "the French Athens of New England."
Exhibit
Selections from the Collections
Maine Historical Society staff come across unique and unforgettable items in our collections every day. While it's difficult to choose favorites from a dynamic collection, this exhibit features memorable highlights as selected by members of the MHS staff.
Site Page
"Resources BOOKS Bonsey, Osmond C. Surry, Maine: An informal History, Surry Historical Society, 2003. Jellison, Connee."
Site Page
Surry by the Bay - Early Settlement
"Early Settlement Copy of Surry and Ellsworth map, ca. 1880Maine Historical Society Border Dispute Originally, Surry extended to the Union…"
Story
Movie Theaters in Portland Maine in the 1940s
by Ralph Bolduc
Ralph Bolduc shared his memories growing up in the movie theaters of Portland Maine in the 1940s.
Story
Memories of working at the Criterion Theatre
by Vernon L. Cox
Working as a teenager with projectionest Roy Blake at the Criterion Theater
Lesson Plan
Building Community/Community Buildings
Grade Level: 6-8
Content Area: Social Studies
Where do people gather? What defines a community? What buildings allow people to congregate to celebrate, learn, debate, vote, and take part in all manner of community activities? Students will evaluate images and primary documents from throughout Maine’s history, and look at some of Maine’s earliest gathering spaces and organizations, and how many communities established themselves around certain types of buildings. Students will make connections between the community buildings of the past and the ways we express identity and create communities today.