BETHEL — The Bethel Historical Society has announced it has received a $500 grant from the Maine Humanities Council for its 2011 Lecture Series. The theme for this year, which is the 45th anniversary of the society’s founding, will be “Maine Explorations: Encountering the Past in the Pine Tree State.”

Five lectures, presented at various times during the year, will be supported by the grant as well as matching funds from the society’s Hall Memorial Fund and the Stanley Russell Howe Lecture Fund.

“Once again, we are very pleased to receive the support of the Maine Humanities Council and most grateful that it helps makes possible this year’s program offerings,” said Stanley R. Howe, society associate director, in making the announcement.

Providing the first lecture at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16, will be Benjamin Harris, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire, who will speak on “Dr. John George Gehring and His Bethel Clinic.”

The next lecturer at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, will be Jane E. Radcliffe, art historian and museum collections specialist, who will make a presentation on “Folk Art Murals of the Rufus Porter School: New England Landscapes 1825-1845.” Radcliffe is co-author of a new book on the subject and will sign copies after her illustrated talk.

The third lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 16, and will feature Andrew DeRoche, PhD, lecturer in American history at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He will present “From Bethel to Norway via the Congo: Margaret Joy Tibbetts and U.S. Foreign Relations 1949-1964.”

This year’s Hall Memorial Lecture, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, will be given by Thomas A. Desjardin, PhD, historian, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. His topic will be “Reluctant Warriors: Mainers React to the Outbreak of the Civil War.” This year marks the beginning of the sesquicentennial of the “War Between the States.”

The series will conclude with the first annual Stanley Russell Howe Lecture, which will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the “Weeks Act,” which provided for the establishment of the White Mountain National Forest, Richard W. Judd, PhD, Col. James C. McBride professor of history at the University of Maine, will discuss “Environmental Legacies: Land-Clearing, Forest Use and Conservation in Northern New England, 1820-1920.”

All of the lectures are free and open to the public. They will take place in the exhibit hall of the Dr. Moses Mason House at 14 Broad St. For additional information about the programs, plus other events and exhibits taking place at the Bethel Historical Society, visit www.bethelhistorical.org.

For more information, those wishing may call 824-2908 or 800-824-2910 or email [email protected].