Maine Archives and Museums meets at Museum L-A

LEWISTON –  Maine Archives and Museums (MAM) recently held its quarterly board meeting at Museum L-A.  The organization serves as a network for Maine institutions and individuals who identify, collect, interpret, and/or provide access to materials relating to history, living collections, and culture. “Museum L-A is pleased to have hosted this meeting,” said Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Museum L-A’s executive director. “It gave a chance for museums and historical societies in this area to hear first-hand what MAM can do for them.”

Each quarter the full Board of Directors meets at different locations around the state to provide an opportunity to hear from local organizations and guest attendees. MAM offers local and regional workshops for historical society and museum professionals, staff, and volunteers. Its Annual Conference is a place to gather with others with similar interests in Maine history, living collections, and culture to share ideas, network, and review and acquire the skills to manage our state’s cultural resources. This year’s conference is scheduled for Friday, October 28 at the Newport Cultural Center. A 21st-Century Skills Workshop co-hosted by Maine Historical Society and MAM will take place at the same location the day before: Thursday, October 27. Membership in MAM is open to institutions and individuals. The next MAM board meeting will be held on Oct. 28 at the conference site. Guests are welcome. More information about MAM is available at its website: www.mainemuseums.org.

Museum L-A was chosen by the Maine Archives and Museums as the location for its quarterly Board of Directors meeting. Pictured from left are: George Squibb, Patty Henner, Joanna Turow, Pat Burdick, Jane Bianco, Jay Adams, Edna Comstock, Jessica Skwire Routhier, Rachel Desgrosseilliers of Museum L-A, and Leigh Hallett.

Museum L-A author talk:
         Tragic tales of factory girls

LEWISTON – The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories is the topic of Museum L-A’s author talk and book signing on Wednesday, July 20 at 7 p.m. The program is free of charge.

In this illustrated talk, Dr. Elizabeth De Wolfe will relay the tragic real-life story of a woman known as Mary Bean, a nineteenth-century factory girl who met her unfortunate end in Saco in 1849. When Mary Bean’s body was discovered, pulled from an icy brook in April 1850, residents were aghast and they eagerly followed the investigation and subsequent trial of Dr. James Smith, a local physician charged with Bean’s murder.

The intense newspaper coverage and public scrutiny of Bean’s death revealed that the economic success of the textile factories had a terrible cost: the virtue – and perhaps the very lives – of the young women who worked there. DeWolfe will share some of the tragic tales that found their way into sensational fiction about Maine mill girls in the 19th century. Often dramatic, the stories warned parents of the unfortunate circumstances that could befall young people, especially young women, who went to work in the factories. Filled with despicable villains and tragic deaths, this fiction warned its young readers that the best way to stay safe was simply to stay home. The book, published in 2007 by Kent University Press, was honored with book awards from the New England Historical Association and the Northeast Popular Culture Association.

DeWolfe is Professor and Chair of the History Department at the University of New England in Biddeford. She earned her Ph.D. in American and New England Studies from Boston University. DeWolfe is the author of three additional books. Her latest release, “Domestic Broils: Shakers, Antebellum Marriage, and the Narratives of Mary and Joseph Dyer” was published in July 2010 by the University of Massachusetts Press.

Free admission at Museum L-A for active duty military personnel

LEWISTON – Museum L-A has renewed its partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2011 as part of the “Blue Star Museums” program. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families.

Last year, the first year of the Blue Star Museums program, Museum L-A was one of only two Maine museums to participate. Additional Maine museums taking part this year are: Brick Store Museum (Kennebunk), Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine (Portland), Colby College Museum of Art (Waterville), Fifth Maine Regiment Museum (Peaks Island), L.C. Bates Museum (Hinckley) Maine Military Museum and Learning Center (South Portland), Margaret Chase Smith Library (Skowhegan), Mount Desert Island Historical Society (Mount Desert), Page Farm and Home Museum (Orono), Penobscot Marine Museum (Searsport), and Portland Museum of Art (Portland). Nationally, more than 1,324 museums in all 50 states are participating. A complete list is available online at: www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

“Museum L-A is proud to be part of Blue Star Museums, which gives us a chance to thank our military families for their service, share with them America’s cultural treasures, and to be inspired by their experience with us,” said Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseilliers.

 “Blue Star Museums may be the program at the NEA of which I am proudest,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “Blue Star Museums recognizes and thanks our military families for all they are doing for our country, and simultaneously begins young people on a path to becoming life-long museum goers.”

Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 30, 2011 through to Labor Day, September 5, 2011. The free admission program is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members). Active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active duty National Guard and active duty Reserve members.

Museum program highlights positive changes for L-A area

LEWISTON -  On Thursday, June 2 Museum L-A will host a presentation of “The L/A Area – Look How We’ve Changed,” reviewing the positive changes experienced by the community of Lewiston-Auburn in the past several years. The program begins at 7 p.m. and is free of charge.

Jan Barrett and Susan Stacey will present the results of research and work performed during the past couple of years by the Androscoggin County Chamber’s Regional Image Committee. Barrett is co-chair of the Regional Image Committee and Stacey is Chair of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

 The committee’s extensive work even surprised members as they kept listing all the fine dining, historical attractions, arts, recreation and events – which shows how vibrant  our communities are when you put it all together.

“The community is invited to come enjoy our progress and receive a copy of the work done by the Chamber,” said Museum L-A Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseilliers, who is a member of the Regional Image Committee. “You don’t want to miss this. We hope to have a great turnout.”

Also slated on the program is “Museum L-A: We Are Not Just About the Past,” presented by Desgrosseilliers. “My presentation will show how Museum L-A is not only about the past but we are about inspiration leading to innovation,” Desgrosseilliers noted.

Museum ‘discovery’ now part of George Bush Presidential Library

 LEWISTON – In what began as an intriguing discovery in the far reaches of a basement storage room in Bates Mill #5 is now an official part of presidential history.  A copy of a 1948 film promoting Bates’ “Back to School” line has been officially accepted by the George Bush Presidental Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. 

Print advertisement featuring George, center, and Barbara Bush, right as members of the Bates College Board promoting the Bates Fall 1948 “Back to School” product line. The text in the ad reads: "Victoria. Chosen by Barbara and George Bush of Yale, and admired by Joan Walls of Bennington. ... Joan and Barbara wear easy-to-sew campus fashions in Bates cotton. …Young marrieds on campus make Bates the beautiful basis of a long-range decorating plan. Indispensable at college, these bedspreads and matching draperies stay fresh and bright through four years of wear and washing. After graduation, they are ready to grace a future bedroom of living room. ‘Victoria’ is the favorite pattern of couples surveyed by Bates College Board ... because it looks so lavish, lasts so long." A video vignette of this advertisement is part of a film donated by Museum L-A is now part of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Married Yale University students George “Poppy” and Barbara Bush appear as themselves on the film as members of the Bates College Board, an advisory panel comprised of representative students from the nation’s leading colleges and universities.  Board members would provide feedback to Bates designers and participate in fashion shows and product promotions on film and in print. In the film, the Bushes introduce themselves, are seen participating in group sessions, and filming a vignette promoting the Bates “Victoria” bedspread and curtains, which was also photographed for an advertisement that ran in American Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines.

In accepting the film, Bush Library Director Warren L. Finch Jr. wrote, “we are honored to have this historical film to add to our audiovisual collection.” The library and museum was especially interested in this film since it is one of very few video images they have of the Bushes at that time. Diane Jackson, state office representative for U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe helped facilitate the donation process. The announcement of the Bush Library acceptance was made at the Museum’s Annual Board Meeting and Dinner in April.

Museum L-A presents new awards at annual meeting

AUBURN –  Museum L-A presented four new awards as part of its third Annual Board Meeting and Dinner held April 28 at Martindale Country Club. Eighty people gathered to hear about Museum L-A’s progress from Founder Elliott L. Epstein, Board Chair Edward Cormier, Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseiliers, and Scott Slarsky of DesignLAB architects, the Boston firm doing pre-design work on the Museum’s future home at the former Camden Yarns Mill. U.S. Representative Michael H. Michaud also spoke as did Diane Jackson representing U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe and Carlene Tremblay representing Senator Susan M. Collins.

Board Chair Ed Cormier presents Armand Cote of Cote Crane and Rigging with the Museum L-A 2011 Business Support Award. Also accepting the award was Dan Cote, right.

In his remarks to the gathering, Cormier made note of the Museum’s many accomplishments and plans for the future :

-Exhibit and office space for the museum has grown from 3,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet with additional space for collection storage.

-A  strategic planning process is under way to set a direction for the Museum’s future.  An interpretive-planning consultant, a museum design consultant, an economic-impact consultant, and architects and engineers are currently engaged in the process.

-Through the generosity of board members and the community, the mortgage for the Museum’s future home at Camden Yarns Building was paid off.
Epstein, Cormier, and Desgrosseillies each presented awards to the 2011 honorees:

Inspiration and Innovation Award to Raymond D’Amour – a textile designer at Bates Fabrics and Minette Mills for 50 years. He was the Museum’s first volunteer, and a most valuable adviser and mentor. Ray strongly believed in Museum L-A’s future as a vibrant part of the community and the education of our children.   Georgette D’Amour accepted her husband’s posthumous award.

Heritage Award to Robert Roy Jr. for his commitment to the heritage of the community as clearly evidenced in the restored beauty of the Ironhorse Court complex at the former Maine Central Railroad passenger depot, now known as the Royal Oak Room. It is a showcase of the best of the old, updated with the requirements of the new.

Revitalization Award to Thomas Platz for his vision and dedication to the revitalization of the mill buildings in the Bates Mill Complex and other architectural gems in our community. Also for his long-term support of Museum L-A, providing the space in Mill 1 for Museum exhibits and offices.

Business Support Award to Cote Crane-Rigging for the many times it has helped Museum L-A to preserve equipment stored in Lewiston’s old mills by moving it to safe storage. Cote Crane has moved heavy machinery from the textile and shoe industries and also has helped move equipment from the site of the future Museum L-A.

Desgrosseilliers’ presentation focused on the museum’s role in the community. “We are not just about the PAST,” she noted. “We are about inspiration that leads to innovation. We don’t have to go very far to find the giants who give us that inspiration. We look to the stories of our ancestors – workers who built the community.

“It is time for the community to celebrate with great pride what it was many years ago, the many strides it is making in reinventing itself, and move once again toward being the soul of the state of Maine – the Creator, the Inventor, and the Innovator of the Future. Our awardees believed.

“I thank each and every one of you and, this is what I ask of all of you. I want you to be believers and I am counting on you. We can do it.”

Walking Tall: A Tour of Today’s Shoe Industry in L-A

LEWISTON -   Join Museum L-A on Thursday, May 5 for a morning of tours showcasing three facilities still engaged in manufacturing in the shoe industry.  Participants will get a first-hand look at the innovation and the tradition that gives these companies their edge. There is no fee to join the tour, but pre-registration is required. 

A bus will leave from Museum L-A and visit Falcon Performance Footwear, Pamco Shoe Machinery, and Rancourt & Company Shoecrafters, returning to Museum L-A after the final tour. The entire program will run from 9 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m.

Hand-sewer at Rancourt & Company Shoecrafters in Lewiston

“Museum L-A wants to show that work involving highly-developed skills, creativity and innovation is not only part of Lewiston-Auburn’s past but is still happening today behind closed doors in our community,” said Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Museum L-A’s executive director. “This tour is a chance for people to see that the local shoe industry is still very much alive,” Desgrosseilliers continued.

Falcon, which recently moved from the Roy Continental Mill in Lewiston to an Auburn industrial park, has been making footwear locally for 45 years. Starting with the manufacture of children’s shoes, Falcon shifted its focus to work boots in 1990. In 2007, Falcon formed a strategic alliance with Globe Firefighter Suits to manufacture a revolutionary new boot for firefighters. Falcon introduced the Mining boot in 2009 and introduced two new boot styles last fall at the National Safety Council Show in San Diego.

 A leader in the re-manufacturing of shoe machinery for over 50 years, Pamco prides itself on the highest quality remanufactured shoe machinery in North America. Tour participants will see how still-in-demand antiquated machinery is being rebuilt for the footwear industry. Pamco recently started manufacturing its own parts and have gone global.

At Rancourt & Company three generations of shoemakers are at work manufacturing hand-sewn shoes for men including father and son, Michael and Kyle Rancourt. Since 1964 the Rancourts have been making traditional moccasins the same way moccasins have been constructed for over a hundred years. Rancourt exports shoes globally and its high-end clientele includes Ralph Lauren.

The tour is limited to 18 participants and space is filling fast.  For more information or to register, call Museum L-A at  207-333-3881.

L.L.Bean and New Balance – Shoemaking in Maine today

LEWISTON – There is no more shoe making in Maine…Not true, as evidenced in Museum L-A’s next installment of its “Voices” lecture series on April 14 at 7 p.m.  “Stepping into the Future: Shoes for Today and Tomorrow” features representatives from two of Maine’s best known companies – L.L.Bean and New Balance – sharing their insights about innovation, design and manufacturing of footwear.  The program is being held in conjunction with the Museum’s current special exhibit: Portraits & Voices: Shoemaking Skills of Generations. 

“In preparing the shoe exhibit, it was heartening to see that there are still skill sets needed to do hand sewing of high-end shoes as well as specialized boot-making and the art of creating sport shoes,” said Museum L-A Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseilliers. “Companies are facing the challenge of convincing the younger generation that the shoe industry is alive and well as they search for engineers and skilled people to help them keep up in their new technologies and product development.”

 The “Voices” panel will be comprised of Jack Samson, Senior Manager of L.L. Bean’s manufacturing facilities in Lewiston and Brunswick, and Raye Wentworth, New Balance’s plant manager in Norridgewock. They will talk about the history of their companies, how their products have evolved and how their companies are meeting today’s challenges.

“Museum L-A is not just about the past,” Desgrosseilliers continued. “We are all about connecting – connecting generations but also connecting the past with the present and future as well as communities with the great inspiration and innovation still found in existing, highly-recognized manufacturing firms.  This program will show that quality shoe making is not only central Maine’s legacy but is still a vibrant and important industry today.”

All are invited to come and learn the future of shoemaking in an awakening of skill sets highly prized in the past that could open the door to great possibilities for the future.

Museum L-A celebrates with mortgage burning bonfire

LEWISTON -   The public is invited to join Museum L-A staff, board and supporters for a celebration on Saturday, April 16 to burn the mortgage marking the retirement of the debt to their new home at the former Camden Yarns Mill. “The Museum now owns the land and building free and clear and we’d like the community to help us celebrate since they helped us make it happen.,” notes Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Museum L-A’s executive director.  “It’s a big step forward for us and for the community,” she added.

 The April 16 event will run from 6-8 p.m. at the Beech Street location, adjacent to Simard-Payne Memorial Park – formerly known as Railroad Park.  The centerpiece of the evening will be a bonfire for the burning of a replica mortgage.  The bonfire will be built with the help of Abenaki District Boy Scout troops and their time helping will be credited toward their community service requirements.  They will also be in charge of roasting marshmallows for s’mores and serving hot chocolate.  Other activities include music for all to walk or dance across the nearby trestle footbridge to celebrate a bright future for the Twin Cities and Museum L-A; a bridge and candle lighting program; the unveiling of a sign marking the site as “Future Home of Museum L-A” and  meeting the icon who has been chosen to represent the future Museum.

 As part of a fun activity, Museum volunteers will have a 50 gallon drum at the site and are challenging the community to each come with a dollar bill as we try to fill the drum with dollars that will go toward the next phase of the project. The Museum staff and Board also challenge local businesses to collect dollar bills at their place of business and come down to drop their marked “bags of money” to help fill the drum.  “Don’t be shy,” says Desgrosseilliers, “because if it starts filling up, we will find a way to make more room in the drum.

“We are going to have a lot of fun and we hope the community will join us,” Desgrosseilliers said. “Paying off the mortgage in these difficult economic times in such a short time is a remarkable accomplishment and well worth celebrating.”  Now that the mortgage is paid off, the Museum will focus on raising funds to move into the next phase of development of the property which is the Interpretive Plan of the Exhibits and the Schematic Design of the new Museum L-A.

Museum L-A has just completed a structural evaluation of the Beech Street building.  Selected demolition and stabilization work will be happening throughout the summer and fall. The plan is to preserve as much of the original structure as possible and plan enough space in Phase I of the project to transfer existing Museum activities.

Parking is available at the garages on Chestnut and Lincoln streets as well the lot behind Yvon’s Supersonic Car Wash on Lincoln Street and at the corner of Lincoln and Cedar streets.

Volunteers are needed to help in preparation for the event as well as at the event itself.  All interested should call 333-3881 or email info@museumla.org.

Museum L-A resumes the popular “Voices” lecture series on March 24 with the documentary film Roughing the Uppers, The Great Shoe Strike of 1937 followed by remarks by noted Maine labor leader Ed Gorham. The program is being presented in conjunction with the museum’s current special exhibit Portraits & Voices: Shoemaking Skills of Generations. There is no admission fee for this program, which begins at 7 p.m. in the museum’s first floor gallery.

 Produced in 1992 by the late Bates Professor Robert Branham, Roughing the Uppers documents the Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike of 1937 through interviews with local historians and residents who lived through the events.

Gorham is well known for his 40+ years of service to the labor movement in Maine, 35 of which was with the AFL-CIO. He began as the organization’s Legislative Liaison, was elected Secretary-Treasurer in 1977 and the Maine AFL-CIO President in 1999. He retired in 2009.  His work led to major legislation to benefit Maine workers.