100 years ago: 1918

At a meeting of the Bates College faculty Monday afternoon, it was decided to close the college to the day students for a week. There is said to be 19 cases of the epidemic at Rand Hall and five at the Frye Street house. The sickness seems to be confined to the women with but one case at Parker Hall. Three of the young women at Rand Hall are not out of danger yet. Exercises were held in the clinic Tuesday morning for the young women, and open-air exercises were held for the boys on the campus as a further precaution. Unless there are further developments, it is not believed that classes will have to be suspended for longer than a week. An order to be observed soon is that all people not connected with the college be excluded from the campus.

50 years ago: 1968

An interesting talk on the early days of the High Street Congregational Church was heard Tuesday evening by the Parish Guild at a meeting at the church. Mrs. Edith Labbie, the speaker, chatted informally about the church, telling her audience that the first Congregational meeting was held at the home of Benjamin Murray. Later, Edward Little donated land for the First Congregational of Danville which, in those days, was located near what was called Lewiston Falls, now the corner of Main and Drummond streets. Among the people she mentioned as having been “giants” of the church were Edward Little, James Goff Jr. and Squire Andrew Giddings, and she said that Squire Giddings served as clerk of the church for many years, and left a valuable legacy in the form of daily diaries and sketches. Another important man she mentioned was Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, the first man to found a school for higher learning for colored people. Howard University was named after this man, who was an attendant at the church, if not a member.

25 years ago: 1993

United We Stand of Franklin and Androscoggin counties will hold its monthly meeting this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Mabel Hastie Lounge in Ricker Hall (High Street) on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington. Subjects will include an update on the effort to defeat the NAFTA Treaty, plans for the upcoming forum with Senator Cohen, and decisions on a proper response to a local educator’s call for the involvement of national borders.

The material used in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspelling and errors may be corrected.