When news of the end of the World War reached Brunswick on November 11, 1918, people poured into the streets in a spontaneous outbreak of joy. But the good mood was turned upside down when young Rose Bouchard was accidentally shot and killed during the celebration. According to the accounts in the Brunswick Record and […]
There’s been a lot of speculation that 2018 will be the “year of the woman” in US politics, with a record number of women on the ballot, and turnout expected to be high among women. Tuesday’s election results will tell us how true that is, but nearly a century earlier, the women’s vote was certainly […]
On April 29 1892, Solomon Robitscheck wrote to Lewiston’s Le Messager objecting to the newspaper’s characterization of the city’s small population of Jewish peddlers. Two weeks earlier, Le Messager had published an editorial reprimanding Franco Americans who purchased items from the peddlers. Le Msssager’s argument was primarily economic – Franco Americans should patronize Franco owned […]
In 1903, Father Alexandre-Lousi Mothon, the curé of the Dominican monastery in Lewiston, wrote to the community of Dominican Sisters of Nancy, in France, asking them to send a some of their members to Maine to teach the Franco-American children of Lewiston. Initially, the children of the city’s French Canadian immigrants were educated by lay […]
In the late 19th century, progressives and other reform-minded Americans pushed the benefits of the great outdoors to children in the nation’s cities. The impulse to bring city kids to nature led to the creation of America’s first summer camps. Maine soon became a popular destination for children from cities like Boston and New York. […]
A necessary reform to ensure the integrity of the vote, according to proponents. Confusing, un-American, and a waste of taxpayers’ money, according to opponents. These arguments played out in the Maine legislature in 1891, but have echoes of today’s debate over ranked-choice voting. A century and a quarter ago, they were arguing the merits of […]
When Henry David Thoreau made his storied expedition into the Maine woods, he didn’t travel alone. He was accompanied by a series of Indian guides, without whom Thoreau’s trips would never have been successful. One of those guides was Louis Annance, a well-known figure in the Moosehead Lake region. Annance was a member of the […]
A common refrain of those complaining about immigrants is that they are “takers” or “gaming the system.” Among Americans with their own immigrant histories, the complaint sometimes becomes “my ancestors didn’t need welfare. They worked for everything they had.” This kind of rhetoric is not only exclusionary and prejudiced, it’s also factually inaccurate. There are […]
2018 is in danger of becoming the year of the white supremacy in Maine. Multiple elected officials have been outed as racists in recent weeks, from the town manager of Jackman to a school board members in Oxford Hills and Minot. Meanwhile, legislation in the statehouse has been called out as discriminatory by immigrants and […]
“I hear you’re thinking of running for the House. I can tell you right now they you’re not going to win. Now, if you’re interested in politics, you should start by joining the County Democratic Women’s Club. They’re getting ready for a card party as a fund raiser. You can help them set the tables. […]
