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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Brooke Caron
I am going to look into Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and some of the history surrounding it as well as some of the reception from the public. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is a story that was published around 2004. The book is a typical coming of age story that is based around the real-life history that surrounds the forceful removal of the residents of Malaga Island off the coast of Maine around 1912. Many of the real-life residents are mentioned in the book even though it is historical fiction, including the Tripp and Easton families. I did find the book an interesting read that does provide a lot of interesting discussion topics, particularly regarding race and discrimination in New England during the time the story takes place, which is not a very well-known part of Maine’s history.
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Unlearning the Narrative: How We Can Better Educate Maine’s Newest Generations on New England’s Role in the Slave Trade, Segregation, and Colonization
Sophie Charest
We’ve all grown up learning the same narrative–the North and South had opposing views on slavery, segregation, and discrimination with the North being the “good guys” and the northern half of the United States being a place where fugitive slaves and all black Americans could go to find the freedom they deserved. Once in the North slaves would be completely freed and the hatred and discrimination of African Americans had a clear cut line between the North and the South. New England fell on the “good half” of that line, so it was only natural to grow up in New England believing the North had never been involved in slavery or exhibited hatred at any time in the course of history. That’s the mindset that’s been taught in public schools across the country for years, especially in New England, where its clean, Puritain history had held up for years.
All across the public school system, from grades four to twelve, public schools have been actively teaching this narrative to their students for hundreds of years. After being fed this information my entire life, imagine my surprise as when a 21 year-old college student I learned that the entire narrative about the place I call home was wrong. There were so many injustices I was just now hearing of and, being an Education major, it occurred to me that I would soon be able to teach this new material to a younger generation that could learn from it. Only by accepting the true history of New England and Maine alike would students and educators be as knowledgeable as they could be and hopefully strive to make improvements in the curriculum to include these important stories of Maine’s history.
This is Unlearning the Narrative: How We Can Better Educate Maine’s Newest Generations on New England’s Role in the Slave Trade, Segregation, and Colonization. In this podcast, we’ll discuss the different tools and topics Maine educators can use to teach their students valuable information about their own public history that was right under their noses all their lives as well as advocate why it is important for students of all ages begin learning this valuable information in their curriculums.
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Acknowledging the Uncovering of Malaga
Eliza Miele and Paige Marcello
We chose this topic after reading Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. We realized how much Maine was involved in the disbanding of families, especially mixed-race families, and we had to know more. So we decided to take a drive down to Phippsburg, Maine, and we also stopped at Pownall Home for the Feeble Minded, which is now known as Pineland Farms. We wanted to see what is known about the two town’s pasts and how much is known about the awful mistreatment of the Malaga people, or any possible signs of reparations to the dedicated to the Malaga people.
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The Voyage of the Ten Brothers Ship
Elizabeth Schepis and Taylor Combs
We’re here to shed light on the story about a ship setting sail from Boston Harbor to West Africa on September 1, 1818. The ship was operated by the sons of the wealthiest merchants from Brewster. We have Meadow Healy to thank for even having this story, because without her time and effort this story would still be left untold.
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Slave Voyages in the North: The Maine Connection to the Transatlantic Trade
Danielle Teacutter
For some strange reason, many people don't believe that New England had any involvement in slavery. The northern states have always been depicted as harboring heroes, abolitionists, and have been on the right side of history. In fact, New England had immense involvement in slavery as well as being home to slave ships that were involved in the transatlantic trade. With Maine having strong ties to the coast and shipbuilding it became an ideal spot for people to get involved in the Triangle Trade, which included the United States, Africa, and the West Indies.
There are people out there that still believe that New England had little to no involvement in slavery. Whether it's because of pride, ignorance, or flaws in our education system some people either don't know about or refuse to believe that New England was highly involved in the slave trade. Today, I am going to talk about the slave trade in New England, specifically focusing more on the State of Maine.
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The Saga of Billy Brown's Grave
Jessica Walker
In the middle of Portland perched at the edge of downtown sits an old cemetery. It's the oldest historic site in Portland, in fact. Stretched across 5 acres the Eastern Cemetery is laid out in what is now a rough triangle that runs between Congress and Federal Street and alongside Mountfort Street. Its bordered on two sides black elegant, black wrought iron fence and is held up by an imposing concrete retaining wall along Federal Street, which stretches about 15 feet high at its peak. The first recorded burial took place in 1717, and most of Portland's early founders rest here.
Wander through and you'll see names like Preble, and Tyng, and Longfellow. Residents from captains of industries to captains of ships called these hallowed grounds home, but it's not just the elites that lie here. No, many of the hardscrabble men and women who anonymously to worked build our fair city share this space, and at last count they that over 7, 000 bodies are buried in the Eastern Cemetery, with the last public burial taking place around the time of the Civil War.
Things have changed significantly in the almost 300 the cemetery has existed. years None more so than the layout of the land itself. The cemetery was constructed with its grand entrance laid out on Federal Street, and when it was established in the late 17th century its elegant entrance welcomed those who came to pay their respects or mourn the many men and women who are buried here. In fact, so many people were laid to rest here that the cemetery itself had to expand gaining more land in 1795 and growing to its current size. Wander through the cemetery from that original entrance and you'll find yourself looking at a spot that was known as "colored ground" tucked away at the back of the northwest corner of the cemetery.
New England’s vision of itself and its history is misleading. New Englanders like to think of themselves as on the right side of history before and during the Civil War—as a staunch supporter of abolitionism and emancipation. The region likes to see itself through the lens of Harriet Beecher’s Stowe’s blockbuster antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but this is a gross oversimplification of the region’s history. Indeed, we now know that New England profited immensely from the slave trade, largely through the vehicle of the maritime industry. These podcasts are created by students from Eve Raimon's ENG 445 Slavery and Public History course. Through this project, students examine notions of public memory in the context of slavery with a specific focus on New England.
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