Portland Harbor Museum offered a special thanks to its members with a slide show and lecture by photographer Jack Kennealy. Response was so enthusiastic, the museum staff scheduled two presentations and both were standing room only.

Mr. Kennealy is “from away,” but has lived in Maine for eight years and like so many others, he spent many summers in Maine as a child on family vacations. He is enthralled with light, especially the light of dawn and very early morning, and his photos of the Maine coast taken at these early hours were spectacular. With a doctorate in physics and a career in biotechnology behind him, Mr. Kennealy has started a new life in which he “celebrates what is beautiful” and offers the public gorgeous pictures of the Maine coast featuring lighthouses, boatyards, peaceful coves, smashing surf and fog-bound harbors.

With spring at hand, the staff of the Portland Harbor Museum is working hard to prepare for the opening of the museum on Friday, April 21. Hadley Schmoyer, curator, is up to her knees in sandbags and barbed wire as she works on the new exhibit entitled “Harbor Forts: A Look Behind the Walls.” The museum gift shop will also open under the watchful eye of Linda Johnson. The shop carries many special items of Maine interest – books, CDs, toys, prints and maps as well as the usual postcards, key chains and mugs. The museum will be open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. until May 26 when it will be open every day of the week.

As you can imagine, volunteers are a necessity to guide visitors through the exhibit and to man the gift shop – it’s a great way for seniors to find interesting work in a friendly atmosphere and at an absolutely beautiful location at Fort Preble on the Southern Maine Community College campus in South Portland.

The history of broadsides

“A Riot of Words or Broadsides & Ballads, Posters & Proclamations” is the current offering at the Maine Historical Society, and it is a fascinating exploration of Maine history on paper. We intended to spend an hour but ended up dragging ourselves away after two hours and wishing we had more time. Broadsides, large sheets of paper printed on one side and then either plastered on walls or handed out free to anyone, were the preferred form of advertising or for getting out news for nearly five centuries.

The society has a wonderful collection, including an original proclamation of 1756, “His Majesty’s Declaration of War against the French King,” signed by George II and ending with the words, “God Save the King.” Many local broadsides were the work of one Joseph Wood who ran a print shop in Wiscasset from 1866 to 1879, who became a member of the Maine Historical Society in 1890 and eventually donated a number of his works to the society. They provide an engaging look at the concerns of the citizens of a small Maine village, such as, under the picture of a prancing horse, the words “New Shoeing Shop! Bring All Lame Horses – Many a Poor Old Lame Horse can be made to go along easy, by good Shoeing.” Temperance posters proclaimed “The Saloon Must go! – Lecture in Town Hall of Farmingdale, Wed May 6 1890 – Subject; The Liquor Power in Politics.” Another broadside advertised that “The Ladies of the Episcopal Society by request will repeat the Tableaux and Statuary on April 22 at the City Hall, Saco.” Tickets were 25 cents and ice cream was for sale. Doesn’t that sound like a great night out?

World War I posters covered another wall of the Society, in glorious color as contrasted to the black and white broadsides. A particularly interesting one depicted destroyers in heavy seas, and a lieutenant in uniform, blindfolded, with arms outstretched says “Will You Supply Eyes For the Navy?” Small print beneath reads “Navy ships need binoculars and spy-glasses – glasses will be returned at Termination of War, if possible. One Dollar Will be paid for each one accepted. Tag each article with your name and address and send to Hon Franklin D. Roosevelt, Asst Sec’y of Navy, c/o Naval Observatory Wash DC.” The exhibit will be at the Society until June 11 – it is a must see for history lovers.

Remarkable Maine women

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Friends of the Scarborough Public Library invited Cape Elizabeth author, Kate Kennedy, to speak about her book “More Than Petticoats – Remarkable Maine Women.” Ms. Kennedy, who taught writing at Portland High School for 20 years, and who now conducts writing workshops, explained that her contract for the book required her to find between 10 and 15 outstanding women born before 1900 with strong connections to Maine, preferably from different social classes and ethnic backgrounds and with varied accomplishments. She found 13 extraordinary examples, some famous and some not so well known, and has told their stories in brief, but revealing biographies.

We learned about Florence Nicolar Shay, Penobscot basketmaker and tribal advocate; Kate Furbish, botanic artist (do you remember “Save the Furbish lousewort!” rallying cry of environmentalists back in the 70s?); Josephine Peary, wife of the famous Arctic explorer but an indomitable explorer in her own right; and Lillian “La Nordica” Norton, the world-famous opera soprano from Farmington.

One of the most intriguing women was Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby who represented the state of Maine at the Second Annual Sportsmen’s Exposition at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1896. Dressed in a hunting suit of tanned green leather with matching tall laced boots and a perky green and red hat, she stood in front of a log cabin and fish tanks full of live Maine salmon and trout demonstrating fly-fishing and extolling the pleasures of a vacation in the Maine woods. Every one of the women described by the author demonstrated great courage and an independent spirit that allowed them to make significant contributions to society. The book also offers an excellent bibliography for those readers interested in finding out more about these remarkable women from Maine.