One historian’s mid-20th-century efforts rescued a number of true Maine stories from certain obscurity, and he launched one local hero into the realm of American legend.

Author and historian John J. Pullen as he appeared on the dustcover for his 1966 book “A Shower of Stars.” Courtesy of Stackpole Books

John James Pullen was the third of four children born to Orrin D. and Jean Reed Pullen on Dec. 17, 1913, in North Amity, Aroostook County, Maine.

Young John was educated at the Ricker Classical Institute, a co-educational preparatory school in Houlton. By 1930, John showed early promise in writing and public speaking when he earned a “gold medal” in public oratory. By 1935, Pullen had graduated from Colby College in Waterville.

When World War II broke out, John Pullen enlisted in the United States Army and attained the rank of captain, eventually serving from 1941-1946 while teaching recruits at Fort Sill, and then serving in the 9th and the 65th Infantry Divisions in the European Theater. After the war, Pullen worked as a reporter for the Kennebec Journal before entering a career in advertising.

In the 1950s, Pullen began researching a nearly forgotten Maine regiment of Civil War volunteers whose incredible service of valor and desperate daring during the Battle of Gettysburg had saved the Union from certain defeat. Pullen’s devotion to in-depth research and detailed accuracy led him to archives all over Maine, Washington and Pennsylvania.

By 1957, Pullen’s book “The Twentieth Maine,” was heralded as “high scholarship” and one of “the best regimental histories” of the American Civil War. Pullen’s saga, which became a best seller, told the tale of Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine from their boot camp days at Camp Mason in South Portland through each battle they encountered and through the entire war.

Pullen’s work received immediate honors for its clarity, thoroughness and attention to detail as “it captures the imagination and stirs the enthusiasm of readers.”

On June 14, 1958, at the 153rd commencement at Bowdoin College, an “honorary doctorate in letters” was bestowed upon Pullen for his work. In his lifetime, Pullen would also receive honorary degrees from Colby College and the Ricker Institute.

Joshua Chamberlain’s former home, now a museum, in Brunswick. Steve Collins / Sun Journal file photo

For Pullen, his own work wasn’t finished and he was concerned that much of “Maine’s history [was] being cast into an abyss.” In April 1964, John J. Pullen delivered the first Gannett Lecture at Colby College, where he urged the creation of an official Maine archive to preserve, restore and document the fading records and artifacts of the Pine Tree State’s vanishing history.

And there were many more Maine histories Pullen set out to rescue. In 1966, Pullen wrote “A Shower of Stars,” about Maine’s 27th Civil War Regiment.

Although this brief Union regiment was positioned to defend the nation’s Capitol, they “had neither fought nor bled” at anytime during their enlistment. However, the 27th Maine surprisingly received 867 Medals of Honor for their Civil War service — a first in American history that has never been repeated. It was a controversial decision, and Congress recalled the medals and purged the recognition in 1917, finding that the 27th Maine hadn’t met the criteria for the nation’s highest military honor.

Through the 1970s, Pullen published other topics such as, “Gentleman This is No Humbug: The Invention of Anesthesia,” “Patriotism in America: A Study of Changing Devotions” and “The Transcendental Boiled Dinner.”

By 1983, Pullen once again focused on a Maine topic when he published a biography, “Comic Relief: The Life and Laughter of Artemus Ward, 1834-1867,” saving another nearly forgotten legend of Maine.

Then in 1999, Pullen published “Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero’s Life and Legacy,” detailing the frantic 1880 count-out election and Chamberlain’s defense of Maine’s Capitol from a contentious political coup d’état.

And in 2002, Pullen published his last work and introduced younger readers to the life of Joshua Chamberlain with his children’s book, “Something Abides.”

In his lifetime, through his books, public speaking and published articles, John J. Pullen had rescued a number of Maine’s obscured stories from the ash-heap of history. “There are thousands of stories to be saved” from Maine’s history, Pullen once said, and “every story deserves to be told again and again.”

And Pullen’s works made the true heroic tales of Maine’s Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine Regiment some of America’s most legendary stories in the American Civil War. Today, Pullen’s works are relied upon by scholars, teachers, authors, historians, students and Hollywood filmmakers.

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003, John J. Pullen died at the age of 89, at his Willow Grove Home in Brunswick. His remains were returned to Aroostook County where he was interred in his hometown of Amity.

John J. Pullen’s “Twentieth Maine” is considered “responsible for revitalizing interest in Chamberlain,” saving many of Maine’s nearly lost histories and for rescuing some of the best of our Stories from Maine.

Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.