Healing Wounds: "A Story Best Left Untold" and "Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives"

Malaga Island descendants gather at Maine State Museum exhibit

"The Maine State Museum is the repository of your things; it tells your stories, the good and the bad." J.R. Phillips, Maine State Museum Director

With this shorthand of the Maine State Museum's mission, director J.R. Phillips began the ceremonial opening of "Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives" yesterday.  "(Malaga's story) had an unhappy ending," Phillips nodded to the crowd of Malaga Island descendants gathered in the exhibit gallery, "but it wasn't the end of the story, really, because all of you are here."

Governor LePage meets descendant Marnie Voter at exhibit

"It took courage to do it, putting something on exhibit that's bad," said Malaga descendant Charmagne Tripp, referring to the forced eviction of island residents in 1912. Tripp traveled from Connecticut to visit the exhibit and speak at the ceremony. "The thing that stood out most to me was the loss of (our ancestors') opportunity, what could have transpired - land ownership, education, business. It was a great loss." But Ms. Tripp's remarks turned upbeat when she announced an initiative to found a scholarship fund for Malaga Island descendants, one that would be managed by the Maine Community Foundation.

Malaga artifacts excavated by Univ. Southern Maine archaeologists

One of those listening closely to Tripp was Governor Paul LePage. The governor entered the exhibit early, closely examined the historic documents and artifacts, and mingled with descendants. Pointing to one of the Malaga Island photographs, he said, "That house there looks better than what I grew up in." 

One of the beautifully-conserved Malaga artifacts on display

Phillips reminded exhibit attendees of Governor LePage's experience growing up below the poverty line when he invited LePage to the podium. Becoming the second Maine governor to issue an apology (Baldacci being the first), LePage said "To the descendants, I say we apologize for this hardship we caused you. We did similar things to Native Americans. And the largest KKK rally occurred in Maine against French Catholics." The Governor called up and embraced a descendant, praising her for her college studies. LePage then surprised the audience by announcing that he would introduce legislation in the next season to help support the Malaga scholarship initiative with State funding. "It's up to all of you," he cautioned, "to contact your representatives and get their support."

In the tight-budget world we inhabit, we're always asked "what does success look like?" I consider a culture history project successful when it brings people together, encourages them to see the world in a new way, and creates the possibility for an alternative future. By that measure, and more, both newly-opened museum exhibit "Malaga Island, Fragment Lives" and the prior documentary project "Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold" have set the standard.

For additional information about Malaga Island, see:

A Story Best Left Untold

Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives

Portland Press Herald

Heritage in Maine

Malaga Island Exhibit Opens at Maine State Museum

Visitors Examine Scrapbook in Malaga Island Exhibit - P. Erikson photo

Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives, the newest exhibition at the Maine State Museum in Augusta, opens to the public on Saturday, May 19, 2012. The museum will be open free of charge all day. Even if you can't make opening day, this is one you won't want to miss in the coming year.

The exhibition tells the controversial story of the poor community of diverse ethnicity that lived on Malaga, a 42-acre island at the mouth of the New Meadows River in Phippsburg, Maine. Archaeological artifacts, historical photographs, objects, documents, and news stories from 1850 -1912 bring the story to life. It has been called "A Story Best Left Untold."

"The Malaga Island community, numbering about 40, included fishermen, laborers, and their families. They were caught in a time of great change for Maine in the early 1900s. As fishing and shipbuilding economies declined along the coast, Maine officials looked to tourism as a new source of economic growth.  Not pristine or traditional, Malaga Island's community did not conform to a marketable image of mid-coast Maine.  Racism, eugenics, and social reform also played a part in the resulting government-sanctioned effort to send people from their homes.  All traces of the community were removed, even the school and cemetery, " explained Museum Director J.R. Phillips in a press release.

Malaga Island Family (courtesy Maine State Museum)

In 1912, Maine's state government evicted the people who lived on Malaga Island.  "For nearly 100 years, Malaga Island was scarcely spoken of, except negatively. Descendants and people in surrounding communities felt the need to hide the island's painful past.  When archaeologists from the University of Southern Maine began excavations on Malaga, the long-missing fragments of peoples' lives began to re-surface to provide a record of a multi-faceted, vibrant community.  These archaeological fragments form the core of the exhibit and, with historical photographs and documents, allow us to glimpse and understand more about Malaga Island's people," adds Curator Kate McBrien.

Maine State Museum Chief Educator Joanna Torow comments "Teachers are already expressing great enthusiasm for using materials and programs about Malaga Island to explore civil rights, civic engagement, and the role of government in Maine, both past and present." Given my involvement as an instructional consultant for the Malaga educational program, this Heritage in Maine blog will be a forum for discussing some of the challenges and opportunities of teaching this subject matter.

"Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives," will be on view at the Maine State Museum in Augusta from May 19, 2012 - May 26, 2013.  Opening day activities will include gallery talks by University of Southern Maine archaeologists, the Maine State Museum's curator, and a representative from Maine Coast Heritage Trust.  Educational activities for school-age children and their families will be available all day.

On the Move: Museum Loans and the HMS Boxer Cannon

Guest Article by Holly Hurd-Forsyth, Registrar for the Maine Historical Society 

hotlinks added by Patricia Erikson

American warship Enterprise engaging HMS Boxer in 1813 off Monhegan Island (courtesy Library of Congress)

In 1894, the Maine Historical Society (MHS) loaned a British cannon to the City of Portland. We have good reason to believe that this is the same cannon recently loaned to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath for their upcoming exhibit commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 (see the series of photos documenting its move here).  Negotiations continue between MHS and the City of Portland to settle the cannon-ownership question.  Loan? Question of ownership? You may not expect to see these terms associated with museums.

200+ year old cannon leaves storeroom

 

under City Hall staircase

In the words of Seneca, “There is no delight in owning anything unshared.” It might surprise people that this sentiment resonates in museums, thought by some as dim and dusty repositories where objects are locked up tight. In fact, most museums are willing and eager to share their collections on a short-term basis with other museums, and do so frequently. Active museum loan programs are a product of healthy collaboration between collecting institutions. The visiting public benefits by enjoying wider access to cultural heritage objects that they wouldn’t normally see.

British cannon leaves Portland City Hall, April 2012

At Maine Historical Society (MHS), there are currently 12 active loans and five pending loans to museums throughout Maine, the United States, and Canada. All categories of MHS collections are shared - from formal oil paintings and fine furniture, to manuscript letters, maps, and diaries. Even more humble, but no less fascinating, objects - from scratchy wool military blankets to flag fragments and inkwells - are sought after in museum loans. Although the history of lending collection items between museums is long, loans weren’t always carefully monitored in the past; informal transfers were more the norm.

Cote Crane & Rigging lifts HMS Boxer Cannon

A loan lasting 118 years (as is the case with the British cannon) is unusual, of course. Most loans now last a year or less. In today’s professionally-managed museum, loans are carefully vetted and tracked. Facility reports are reviewed, insurance coverage obtained, and paperwork exchanged – all to ensure the objects’ safe return to its home institution. - H.H.F.

**For additional photos and an interview with Holly, see the recent Press Herald article. If you would like to see the cannon, plan on visiting the exhibit Subdue, Seize and Take: Maritime Maine in the Unwelcome Interruption of the War of 1812 at the Maine Maritime Museum opening May 26, 2012. Also, self-professed history geeks are welcome to read "Enemies at Sea, Companions in Death" or schedule a tour with Spirits Alive to visit the Captains' graves in Eastern Cemetery. For another guest article about a reappearing cannon, see Donald Soctomah's guest article here.