Cumberland & North Yarmouth

The Cumberland-North Yarmouth project is perhaps somewhat unconventional among Maine Community Heritage Projects in that our community extends beyond a single town boundary and consists of five local organizations: Prince Memorial Library, Greely Middle School, North Yarmouth Historical Society, Cumberland Historical Society, Skyline Farm and the towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth.

Though our general path for this project was sketched in our application to the Maine Historical Society in 2008, our workplan was refined and affirmed through “structured brainstorming” (see October 2009 MCHP Blog) with area community members. Our kickoff Community Brainstorming Meeting held at the Cumberland Town Hall in October, 2009 elicited a seeming endless array of fascinating topics that we could pursue. This reinforced our’s and Maine Community Heritage Project staff’s view that this website will serve as a foundation for continued development and two-town collaboration long after this grant cycle.

Engaging young people in this project history was an early project goal, so soon after our Community Meeting, team member Steven Hill, Greely Middle School history teacher, somehow managed to weave into his lesson plan a session on historical artifact recording and documentation. This was no easy trick given the incredibly tight schedules and performance objectives required of our public school teachers these days. Steven surpassed all expectations by reserving three, 50 minute classes on four days for the Maine Community Heritage Project. Together, students, teachers and team members managed to incorporate lessons in information technology, social studies and history. A total of about 60 students learned how to handle, scan or photograph and document historical arifacts and memorabilia. Interest was so strong, that...several months later Steve arranged two optional followup days for students to pursue their interests further.

Using images generated by the students and resources from each team organization, team members lent their personal expertise to building each of the exhibits. While the potential to end up with a series of disconnected exhibits given our diversity, it became apparent that the commonalities between the two towns, that once were one, remain. As a result, we believe we have created a cohesive beginning to an evolving exhibit.

Special Acknowledgements

We are grateful for support provided by Sheila Libby Alexander, Ursula Baier, Carol Black, Ronald Dolloff, Lee Dunn, Butch Goff, Grapheteria, Mark Heath, Holly Hurd, Val Johnson, Lincoln Merrill, North Yarmouth Historical Society Board Members, North Yarmouth Town Office staff, Sally Semmes Pierce, and Richard Semmes.

The Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP), a partnership between the Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library, is an innovative program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies, and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. The MCHP grows out of the Maine Memory Network, the Maine Historical Society’s nationally recognized statewide digital museum. The Maine Memory Network features a constantly growing online collection of more than 18,000 historical items contributed by more than 200 historical organizations around Maine; more than 100 online exhibits that explore a diverse range of themes and topics in Maine history; lesson plans; a gallery of student history projects; online tools that allow site visitors to create and share their own albums; and much more. This project is supported by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services.