This photo was taken sometime in the 1950’s from atop the hill adjacent to Camp Keyes. Vehicles pictured include a mixture of different Army trucks from the time period. (Photo: Maine Army National Guard archives)

For over 100 years, Camp Keyes has been known as the headquarters for the Maine National Guard, in Augusta. But how did that site on the hill come to be chosen? Who is it named for? Who trained there, and why? Come listen as Captain Jonathan Bratten (historian for the Maine National Guard) answers those questions and describes the role that Camp Keyes has played in five different conflicts and for generations of Maine soldiers and airmen.

The February speaker, Captain Jonathan Bratten, is the Command Historian for the Maine National Guard. In this capacity, he has produced multiple articles on the history of Maine’s soldiers, appearing in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Army History, On Point, and Army Magazine. He has also appeared in the Smithsonian Channel documentary, Americans Underground: Secret Cities of World War I and served as a historian in France for the Army’s World War I Centennial commemorations. Additionally, Captain Bratten is the commander of the 251st Engineer Company and a veteran of Afghanistan. He and his wife live in Portland.

The Kennebec Historical Society February Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted). The presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hope Baptist Church, located at 726 Western Avenue, in Manchester.

With the same patriotic fervor as Maine’s response to a call for troops in the Civil War, more than 35,000 men and women across the state joined the armed forces in 1917-18 to fight in aid of America’s European allies against the Germans as well as to redress German destruction of American vessels in the North Atlantic. Mainers also provided vital support to the United States and the Allies through war-related industries, like shipbuilding, munitions, textiles, and agriculture, while purchasing more than $100 million in war bonds and donating bandages, books, and other comforts of home to the troops. This illustrated lecture presents many newly discovered historic photographs, including real photo post cards of the period, to tell the story of recruitment, bond drives, shipbuilding, war-related industries, and knitting socks for the soldiers. This chapter in Maine’s past comes alive in these century old pictures.

A native of Portland, Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., attended Deering High School, Colby College, in Waterville, and Boston University, and was the recipient of honorary doctorates from Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, and the Maine College of Art. At the age of 13, Shettleworth became interested in historic preservation through the destruction of Portland’s Union Station in 1961. In 1971 he was appointed by Governor Curtis to serve on the first board of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, for which he became architectural historian in 1973 and director in 1976. He retired from that position in 2015. Mr. Shettleworth has lectured and written extensively on Maine history and architecture and served as State Historian since 2004.

The Kennebec Historical Society September Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted). The presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 19, at 6:30 p.m., at the South Parish Congregational Church, located at 9 Church Street, in Augusta. The program will be preceded at 4:30 p.m. by a potluck supper and at 6 p.m. by the society’s annual meeting and election of officers and directors