On July 6, the Chebeague Historical Society opened the doors of its new Museum of Chebeague History in the former District 9 schoolhouse. Nearly 350 persons attended the dedication.
The school, built in 1871, and its 1970s addition were transformed from an endangered building to a functional research and exhibit facility. Most of the original features have been preserved, including the building’s exterior façade and Italianate ornamentation. Much of the interior has been preserved as well, including the windows, beadboard walls and ceilings and the painted blackboards. A lobby designed by architect Carol Wilson separates the school from the addition.
Thanks to the generosity of the MBNA Foundation, the building has archival storage and a state-of-the-art shelving system. An outbuilding on the grounds houses a public bathroom, which is open daily. Over $500,000 was raised through a grassroots fundraising effort.
The Chebeague Island Historical Society was founded in 1984 and has been a vital part of the community since then. While the opening of the museum is the culmination of a dream, the society is already looking to the future. The society has discussed hosting an island history conference where historians and other social scientists could come together to discuss the islands of Maine from various perspectives. The society is also hoping to attract local schools to its exhibits.
Islands are enigmas to many people, and the Chebeague Island Historical Society hopes that those who visit the Museum of Chebeague History will leave with a better understanding of the evolution of island communities.
The Museum will be open from 1-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are gladly accepted.
In her words
The Museum’s first exhibit is entitled “In Her Words … The 1878 Diary of Clara Mabel Hamilton.”
Mabel, as she was known, was 13 years old when she kept her diary. In it, she meticulously recorded everyday life on the East End of Chebeague. The diary is more than teenage drivel about boy-crazy girls, although there is some of that: it describes an island community with all of the trappings of a Victorian middle-class neighborhood. She writes about the ordinary and the extraordinary. Her mother goes to Portland to see “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” performed on stage. Her cousins hear P. T. Barnum give a speech when his circus comes to town. A voracious reader, she does what many Victorian diarists failed to do – she tells us what she reads and describes an informal network of personal lending libraries. Mabel comments on the works of novelists such as Dickens, Trollope and Stowe as well as poets Byron, Tennyson and Longfellow. Her original puzzles are printed in the Portland paper and she attempts to collect articles for an island publication. She describes her mother’s summer boarding house and alludes to her father’s work as a rock sloop captain in Portland Harbor, which allows him to work a five-day week. These examples just scratch the surface of Mabel’s entries.
Visitors will find their preconceptions of islands challenged. Were islanders isolated? Did they have stores or a post office? What were their clothes like? Did they have boat service? How did they celebrate their holidays? What subjects did they study in school? What were the children’s aspirations? How did people get around? Was Great Chebeague an isolated fishing station or was it a Victorian middleclass community? Mabel’s diary transports us back to 1878 as we attempt to find the answers to such questions about the past.