MAINE: 200 Years of Social Distancing. It’s a slogan that addresses our past and acknowledges the present. In 1820 we tried distancing ourselves from Massachusetts. We’re still working on it.
The past isn’t really past. Look at Bethel’s Main Street: most of it has been repurposed, recycled. Has our history made us frugal, not to say cheap?
The Bicentenary encourages us, as individuals, families or classes, to explore Maine’s history, at home, at school (or home school), when travelling… A good book is a good way to start. William D. Barry’s Maine: The Wilder Half of New England is lively and informative. Local libraries have local history books, pamphlets, etc. Local librarians will be happy to help (though socially distanced).
Cemeteries (the older the better) make great history field trips. Death’s Heads, Angels, Willow and Urn: tombstone decoration shows us what our ancestors thought about death. Age at death records the terrible toll of childbirth and children’s diseases. War: there weren’t many Euro-Americans in Maine in the 1770s, but the record of more recent wars is substantial; men who died fighting, others who remained proud of their past service. Families: so that’s who the nearby hill is named after. Personalities: the common stories and individual quirks of inscriptions.
Local historical societies and museums are beginning to re-open. Check schedules, and conditions of admission. Many have good stuff online. Professional and amateur historians have spent months, sometimes years, preparing Bicentennial material. The Maine Historical Society has produced a great exhibit, “State of Mind: Becoming Maine”. Also available online at www.mainehistorical.org . And, statewide, many Bicentennial events and exhibits have simply been postponed to next year.
Nag older relatives and old friends (at a safe social distance). Ask them about the past, their past; do some reading and browsing first, so you have questions that interest you and them. What was school like seventy or eighty years ago? How did they find their first job, learn to drive? Do they remember their grandparents or great grandparents? (That can take us back a long way.) Most of us enjoy recalling the past.
David R Jones is an historian by preference and profession.
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