South Portland Historical Society invites you to come to its Cushing’s Point Museum on Sundays to visit with some interesting local authors. These will be drop-in events, so you can stop in to visit with the author at any time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Books are available for purchase in the museum gift shop.

This Sunday, Nov. 13, Russell Dole will be on hand to talk about Joshua Chamberlain and Maine’s role in the Civil War. Russell is a retired history teacher who now lives in South Portland with his wife. We have been blessed with his involvement with our historical society. He is an incredibly knowledgeable docent at the museum.

Russell’s first book, “In Search of Honor – Rockland to Round Top: A narrative of Maine, Joshua L. Chamberlain, and the Twentieth Maine Regiment,” was published in 2018.

“In Search of Honor” begins the story of a young man’s coming of age. With the passing of Maine Civil War hero Joshua L. Chamberlain in 1914, Benjamin Dean, the narrator, goes back to the mid-1800s to recount the circumstances surrounding his first meeting with the man who would become his mentor.

“Book I: Maine” chronicles the Dean family’s beginnings along Penobscot Bay and the fateful year of 1853. From the rocky shores of the Maine coast, to the forests of the Maine Woods, Benjamin takes us on the journey that will change his life forever.

“Book Two: Bowdoin,” released in 2019, is a continuation of the story. Benjamin Dean is now 18 years old and back in Rockland in 1857 as the federal government is struggling to come to grips with the national divide brought on by the disagreements concerning the institution of slavery and its extension into the western territories.

“Book Three: The Union Forever” was published in 2021 and follows Dean as he has tough decisions to make as the divided nation goes to war.

“Book Four: The Twentieth Maine Regiment” has just been released and we will have all four books available for purchase in the gift shop.

On Sunday, Nov. 20, Ron Romano will be at the museum to talk about anything related to cemeteries. In the world of Maine’s old cemeteries and gravestone carvers, Romano is one of the state’s most recognized authorities. Active locally with Portland’s nonprofit Friends of Eastern Cemetery and nationally with the Association for Gravestone Studies, Ron is the author of four cemetery-themed books, the first of which was “Portland’s Historic Eastern Cemetery.”

For his next book, Ron researched the fascinating life of stonecutter Bartlett Adams who moved to Portland in 1800 and opened the area’s first stonecutting shop. Through his research, Ron has attributed to the Adams shop nearly 2,000 gravestones in over 150 Maine cemeteries, including some in South Portland. Ron recorded his findings in the book, “Early Gravestones in Southern Maine: The Genius of Bartlett Adams.”

Ron recently published two new books: “Billboard Monuments of Maine” and “Curious Gravestones in Northern New England.” The two books offer a fascinating look at the unique billboard-style headstones of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

On Sunday, Nov. 27, we’ll be visited by Jean Flahive.

Jean is a skilled researcher, talented writer, and the author of several children’s and young adult books, some of which include the very popular “Billy Boy,” a novel based on the real story of Billy Laird, a Civil War soldier who was executed at Fort Preble, “Railroad to the Moon” (a spin-off novel from Billy Boy), “The Canoe Maker,” a children’s book about a young boy who goes into the Maine woods with his father, a master canoe maker in the Passamaquoddy tribe and the children’s book, “The Old Mainer and the Sea,” a fictionalized tale of a day at sea about a real person, a dory fisherman, Eben York, from Chebeague Island, who rowed almost daily into Portland Harbor to sell his catch.

Another book by Jean Flahive is “Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride,” a young readers historical fiction that tells the tale of a Maine farm girl who is changed by the arrival of the electric trolley in her community. Jean has woven many interesting facets of local and world history into the story: the fight for women’s right to vote, the outbreak of war in Europe and the entry of the U.S. into World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic, and the construction and operation of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railway.

The Narcissus is also woven into the story. The Narcissus is the only surviving electric trolley car from that interurban line and is currently undergoing restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport.

These authors’ books and other local history books are available for purchase in the museum gift shop. Proceeds from sales support the South Portland Historical Society and its museum. We also have just released our 2022 Christmas ornament, Willard Square. The ornaments are currently only available at the museum, but we’ll have an announcement next week with more information and an update on other locations where you’ll be able to find them.

Our museum at Bug Light Park is now open for its holiday season hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Dec. 18. To reach the South Portland Historical Society, call 207-767-7299, email us at sphistory04106@gmail.com or mail to 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

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