by Mary Grow

Former state legislator, current Kennebec County Judge of Probate, and, she hopes, always community supporter Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell was guest speaker at the Vassalboro Historical Society on Sept. 21.

Her informal talk, blending biography, local history, serious lessons and humorous anecdotes, brought applause and laughter from audience members, most of them friends of long standing..

One subject was the Vassalboro Community School building, now 33 years old. Mitchell said her role was as a legislator supporting Maine’s 1979 Percent for Art law, which requires that one percent of the budget for state-funded construction projects be used for art.

The result was the handprints of Vassalboro’s kindergarten class in a cement wall at the building’s entrance and the nature murals, a subject chosen by community members, decorating interior walls.

Mitchell’s late husband, Jim, with Bill Sleamaker, Harvey Boatman and former Superintendent Leon Duff, led the movement for school consolidation in Vassalboro. It was not an easy sell, Mitchell said; residents were accustomed to their neighborhood schools.

Jim Mitchell recommended finding “the most beautiful spot” in Vassalboro to site the school, as one way to garner support, Libby Mitchell said. She thinks he succeeded, with the location at the intersection of Bog and Webber Pond roads.

Currently, school officials are grappling with the problem of afternoon traffic congestion as parents arrive to pick up their children, an issue Mitchell is following with interest.

Mitchell was born in South Carolina; she demonstrated that she has never been able to shake her southern accent. When then-president Bill Clinton visited Maine, she said, the state legislature passed a resolution naming her as his interpreter.

Jim Mitchell graduated from Yale Law School, but was not enthusiastic about practicing law. So when he was offered a job by former Maine Governor Ken Curtis in 1971, the Mitchells – by then with the first two of their four children – moved to Maine.

They bought an 1840 farmhouse on Riverside Drive, almost opposite Vassalboro’s Riverside fire station. Mitchell was wearing a miniskirt and her husband had a beard when they met its owner in her house full of antiques; Mitchell surmised the woman found them a bit odd, but she sold them the house anyway.

Mitchell served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1974 through 1984. She first ran, she said, after the decennial redistricting left Vassalboro heavily Republican. While she painted the interior trim in the living room, her husband and a political friend were talking about what Democrat would want to be a legislative candidate.

One of them suggested Libby run. She did, and she won, perhaps partly thanks to the Watergate scandal, partly because, she said, she loved door-to-door campaigning, meeting people and finding out what they wanted and needed.

After a break, Mitchell was again elected to the House from 1990 through 1998, serving as speaker the last two years. Elected a state senator in 2004, in 2008 she was chosen Senate President, making her the first woman in United States history to have been leader of both houses of a state legislature.

Her husband, meanwhile, was Kennebec County Judge of Probate. After his death nine years ago, she was urged to run for his position. Still numb with grief, she agreed, won and is now in her third term.

Mitchell wondered whether she was qualified for the job, in spite of her husband’s habit of talking about cases with her. A lawyer friend reassured her, telling her, “Do what you always do: listen to both sides and be compassionate and be fair.”

“I don’t do politics any more,” Mitchell told her audience; “I’m sort of a recovering politician.” Judicial impartiality prevents her from any activity that might conceivably create an impression of bias.

Each Maine county has its own Probate Court, which deals with and stores the wills of people who die in the county. The Kennebec County’s collection is currently being digitized, Mitchell said. She answered several procedural questions, and invited anyone to arrange a visit.

Mitchell cited her career changes as examples of a life rule she learned years ago: have a prepared mind, so you can take advantage of lucky accidents. Later, she added, “If you wait until you’re qualified, you may not do anything.”

She also offered a specific recommendation: “If you don’t have a will, please write one.”

Throughout her talk, Mitchell emphasized the value of community cooperation, people helping each other. As a legislator, she tried to understand all sides of an issue and to find out what apparent opponents had in common.

As a judge, she theoretically works two days a week, but responds whenever staff call her about a problem. She hopes people leave her court “with a sense of justice.”

Mitchell added several items to the Vassalboro Historical Society’s collection, including hand-written documents from the 1770s and later, and early photos of former town residents.