Maine Historical Society

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day! In 1841, skilled craftsmen and artisans from blacksmiths to shoemakers paraded through the streets of Portland with these painted banners, commissioned by the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association.

The Mechanic Association was founded in Portland in 1815 as a public forum for skilled craftsmen and to counterbalance the domination of local society by merchants. Soon after the American Revolution, a class of ship-owning merchants and allied capitalists, known contemptuously as "nabobs," gained control of economic, social, religious, military, and political affairs in the growing port. Emergent at the same time was a middle class, largely composed of skilled laborers known as mechanics. Dismissed by the wealthy as "Tag-rag and Bob-tail," these men lacked both credit and clout, particularly in time of economic adversity, and many spent periods of time in debtors' prison.

Learn more about the Mechanic Association and see all seventeen banners, which were purchased and added to the MHS collections in 2010 through a collective effort of sixteen Maine organizations and people, on Maine Memory Network: https://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/1403/page/2058/display?use_mmn=1&page=1

09/05/2026

"We the People..." are all ages, and seeing history up close. Worth the visit and conversation Visit us until 3 today at Foxcroft Academy in Dover Foxcroft.

09/03/2026

👍 Check it out tomorrow and Saturday until 5 pm

09/03/2026

Of course our MHS team (Tiffany Link, Collections Curator, Sophie Bray, Donor Engagement & Events Specialist, and Lauren Webster, Director, Audience Engagement) arrived at school bright & early today alongside our rare 1776 Dunlap Broadside, one of only 26 surviving copies. Venue: Foxcroft. (Yes, that's turf. No, we didn't misprint your gym schedule.)

See history for yourself before the bell🔔 rings on this stop. We're here until Saturday at 3. Welcoming all, just walk on in!

09/01/2026

History may be our 💯subject, but today we’re throwing it back to these young problem-solvers at Portland’s North School, hard at work on math exercises, no calculators or smartboards in sight.

Built in 1867 at 248 Congress Street, North School was the largest school in Maine at the time and the city’s first primary school to separate students by grade. It was converted into senior housing in the 1970s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Happy back-to-school season, kids!

📚

Writing on the board, North School, Portland, ca. 1915 Collections of Maine Historical Society, MaineMemory.Net 10396

08/31/2026

Eastport certainly showed up for our Statewide Tour of the Declaration this weekend.

Our 1776 Dunlap Broadside was on view at Tides Institute & Museum of Art, with Saturday closing out with remarks from MHS’s Executive Director Steve Bromage and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Dr. Donald Soctomah (Passamaquoddy Nation), followed by a talk from University of Maine professor & historian Liam Riordan on the Broadside itself.

Shoutout to Peavey Memorial Library for workshops including zine-making and crafting Declarations with feather dip pens.📜🪶

A commemorative Broadside, designed and printed by Andrew Steeves of the Press of the Varying Hare was also a highlight of the event.

Onward. Next stop: Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft. Join us for a chance to be part of America's 250th milestone, right here in Maine.

08/29/2026

See it while it’s in Eastport! Then onto Dover Foxcroft!

08/28/2026

Day one begins: Welcoming walk in’s! shoutout to our hosts Tides Institute & Museum of Art(and staff Steve Bromage, Catherine Cyr and Tiffany Link shown in image)!

RARE 1776 DUNLAP COPY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS HERE! VIEWING TODAY & TOMORROW @ TIDES INSTITUTE! The Maine Historical Society of Portland, Maine has brought its rare 1776 Dunlap copy of the American Declaration of Independence to Washington County, Maine as part of a statewide tour. The Tides Institute will serve as the Washington County exhibition site today (August 28, 10 am - 5:30 pm) and tomorrow (August 29, 10 am - 3:30 pm). Shown in posted photo taken late yesterday afternoon is the installed Dunlap copy in the Tides Institute's main building with Maine Historical Society curators Catherine Cyr (left) and Tiffany Link (right) along with the Society's director Steve Bromage (center). Related exhibition elements will be at our Masonic Hall building across Water Street from our main building.

Full details on this exhibition including two remaining all ages workshops at our nearby partnering institution, the Peavey Memorial Library, in Eastport today and tomorrow, can be found on our website: https://www.tidesinstitute.org/declaration-of-independence-exhibition-programming-august-27-29/. Online timed ticket information for viewing the Dunlap copy can be found here: https://mainehistory.rezgo.com/details/425083/declaration-of-independence-tour-tides-institute-museum-of-art. At 4 pm on Saturday, August 29, following the closing of the exhibition at 3:30 pm, there will be brief closing remarks and a talk by historian Liam Riordan of the University of Maine on the Dunlap copy. These remarks and talk will take place in front of the Tides Institute's main building.

We also commissioned a large broadside to commemorate this event. Posted photos show signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 1776 Dunlap copy and the commemorative broadside. Full view of the commemorative broadside and how to purchase it online can be found here: https://tidesinstitute.app.neoncrm.com/giftstore/product?id=46/.

08/28/2026

Thank you Abbe Museum and Mount Desert Islander - great piece, great host, historic summer! If not in your plans, plenty more stops to go including Tides Institute & Museum of Art this weekend. See full schedule at mainehistory.org

BAR HARBOR — The Abbe Museum played host to an exceptional piece of history earlier this month, exhibiting one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence for members