Zoom By "Zoom In" at Maine Historical Society

Who isn't zooming around these days, trying to keep up with work, the kids in summer mode, and the promises offered by hot sunshine and ripe strawberries? Here's my advice to Mainers: don't forget to be a tourist in your own backyard and check out the rich history that saturates the places around us. Whether you'd like to do this from your laptop or in a museum gallery, the Maine Historical Society on Congress Street (right) can take you on tour.

Tonight I stopped by the opening of the museum's new exhibit "Zoom In: New Approaches to Maine History." This exhibit takes the dramatic changes under way in museums globally and moves them to the center. What changes? The adaptation of museums to the digital age.

With increasingly univeral access to the web, museums have been working hard to use digital technology to provide better insight into the collections which they curate. The Library of Congress, for example, established the stunning American Memory project. From 17th century broadsides to 1950s Coca Cola advertisements (right) to anything else you can imagine, they not only have it in their collection, but they can show it to you, digitally, while you're still in your pajamas with coffee in hand. None of this is easy or straightforward.

Inspired by American Memory, the Maine Historical Society raised funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and crafted its own, Maine Memory project in partnership with more than 200 Maine museums and historical societies statewide. Maine Historical Society Director, Richard D'Abate recently visited the Library of Congress and acknowledged this relationship: "We’ve always kept an eye on the LOC [Library of Congress], as both a model and an inspiration. Their pioneering work with online collections, for instance, directly influenced the creation of the Maine Memory Network. But being there made me think again of what it is we aspire to: collecting fine and significant things, showing the complexity and variety of history, increasing the store of human knowledge and sharing it broadly."(summer 2010 MHS newsletter)

Now, Candace Kanes (left), Maine Memory Network Curator and Historian, has curated a gallery exhibit that draws upon images and text from the Society's Maine History Online component of the Maine Memory project. Candace has been compiling a large number of Maine historical narratives and providing them online. Her "Zoom In" exhibit shares some of these compelling stories by drawing from Maine History Online images and text

Did you know that WWII prisoners of war picked potatoes in Maine (right)? Or, to stick with the potato theme, if you've never seen the Maine Potato Blossom Queen serenade her subjects, then you must explore this chapter of 1960s history. Maine History Online exhibits combine historic television footage, such as this, with digital scans of historic photographs and photos of artifacts. In "Zoom In" these are supplemented with artifacts from the Maine Historical Society collections and contributing partners. Computer stations and video screens in the gallery allow visitors to explore the ways that online resources can enhance their perception of Maine history.

The exhibit runs from June 25, 2010 – May 29, 2011 so there's plenty of time to pick those strawberries and drop the kids off at camp before you visit the gallery or click on Maine History Online.

Of Hoop Skirts and Porta Potties

You might guess that wearing a Civil War era hoop skirt could be a challenge unto itself. "Personal space" takes on a whole new meaning when you effectively bump into people even though your body is still a few feet away from them. If you northerners thought snow parkas were bulky, think again.

A number of ladies appeared to float gracefully about the grounds of Washburn-Norlands Living History Center this weekend for a Civil War rally. Carolyn Lawson, a reenactor from the Third Maine Volunteer Infantry, shared (discreetly, that is) how a Victorian lady would don a hoop, as well as countless other undergarments, including a chemise, drawers, corset, and so on with the help of the manikin (right). She explained the many layers and their function.

I was not among those who "floated gracefully." Rather, I caught myself stepping on my dress once or twice and looking around to see if anyone had noticed. When one is new at something, it's often desirable to keep a low profile. I found that was difficult at the reenactors' encampment. When I entered the row of tents on my route to "the necessity", someone shouted "lady in the camp!" and all the men jumped to their feet, faced me, and whipped off their caps. Uncomfortable doesn't begin to describe the cultural experience. I was later reminded that I should have been escorted, rather than wandering alone, when I entered the camp.

It didn't seem fair that on my first day on a hoop-skirt-wearing adventure, I should also have to navigate a porta potty. My skirt and I exited the confined space rather like a seed would be spat at a target. Later, I learned that there was a more "spacious" privy available, thank heavens.

When the public gates opened and visitors sauntered in for the day, it was much easier to walk about freely and enjoy all that the rally had to offer. During the Civil War, soldiers and their families exchanged letters at an unprecedented rate and this was no exception at the rally. The men shared their war experiences during a slow moment at camp (left) and the women wrote back to them from the civilian camp (right).

As the wife of the Third Maine's Captain, Carolyn could have stayed with her husband, but she chose to set up her tent near the other ladies who, as single women or wives of enlisted men, were required to stay in the civilian camp.  Her quilt, books, and painted cloth floor transformed her small canvas tent into a welcoming retreat (left).

The camp held other surprises, too, such as this puppeteer (right) from the 20th Maine Regiment who prompted an extraordinary Abe Lincoln to dance as he sang "Lincoln and Liberty."

The rally's over now. The reenactors have returned to their regular jobs and packed away their blue and gray...and also their hoops. Who knew that a trip to the porta potty could be such an adventure?