EVENTS: Historical groups offer insights to local shipbuilding

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A painting of Josephus, built by Ebenezer Haggett, of Newcastle, in 1876. This painting is on display in the parlor of the Chapman-Hall House. (contributed photo)

On Saturday, July 19, the Damariscotta Historical Society, the Chapman-Hall House, and the Newcastle Historical Society will share with visitors a look at the tremendous work of local shipbuilders at three different locations. Visitors are welcome at the Damariscotta Historical Society and the Chapman-Hall House between noon and 4 p.m.; at the Newcastle Historical Society, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. A Walking Tour pamphlet of Downtown Damariscotta, including the Newcastle Historical Society site, will be available at all three sites.

Between the 1760s and the 1920s, as many as 30 shipyards were called the Damariscotta River and Great Salt Bay home. The Damariscotta Historical Society has newly arranged its collections and now has on display a selection of photos of locally built vessels. The displays will also include a number of ship-building tools recently donated by Calvin Dodge. Mr. Dodge will be available on July 19th to answer questions about the shipbuilding that took place in this area. The Society is located at 3 Chapman Street, in Damariscotta.

The Chapman-Hall House will feature an exhibit of navigational instruments. Two owners of the Nathaniel Chapman Homestead, after it was sold out of the family, John Dickey and William Williams were both mariners; both would have been familiar with the tools necessary to determine if a vessel was on course. Jeff Miller, who reproduced the instruments that will be featured, will discuss the methods of using these tools during the afternoon. The Chapman-Hall House is located at 270 Main Street, in Damariscotta.

At the Newcastle Historical Society, the story starts in 1765 when shipwrights George Barstow and Nathaniel Bryant began building wooden sailing vessels and ends in 1920 when the last large schooner was built not far from where Lincoln Home is today. A display of photographs and narratives showcasing the development of marine vessels from the single-masted sloop to five-masted schooners can be seen at the Newcastle History Society Museum, located at the corner of Main and Pump Streets. Tim Dinsmore, historical archaeologist and president of NHS, alongside other NHS Board Members, will be present to answer questions and provide information on prominent Newcastle shipbuilders.

EVENTS: Learn about the art of rug hooking at Chapman-Hall House

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Chapman-Hall House

Textile artist Kathie Hills will demonstrate and discuss the art and craft of hooking rugs at the historic Chapman-Hall House, on Sunday, August 11, from noon to 4 p.m. Her demonstration is free and open to the public.

Hills will demonstrate the craft and exhibit pieces she has created after learning rug hooking from LaVerne Dickson and Margorie Freeman, local women known for their mastery of this functional art form. A member of the Waldoboro Historical Society, she is well versed in the history of hooked rugs and their significance to Waldoboro.

On permanent display at the Chapman-Hall House are 12 antique hooked rugs, two of which show designs in the early stages of development.

Also included in the exhibit is a copy of the 1884 E.S. Frost Rug Patterns catalog. Edward Sands Frost, of Biddeford, was famous for selling canvases printed with pattern designs for various size rugs, as well as foot stool covers and slippers. Only a few pattern illustrations are printed in the catalog, which offers for sale nearly 200 canvases at prices ranging from 15 cents to $1.25.

The Chapman-Hall House is located at 270 Main Street, Damariscotta.

For more information about the Lincoln County Historical Association visit www.lincolncountyhistory.org and Facebook at Lincoln County Historical Association Maine.

EVENTS: Lincoln County Dems to discuss dark money in politics at Nov. 16 meeting

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 The Lincoln County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will hold its next hybrid meeting on Thursday, November 16, at 7 p.m., at the American Legion Post #42, 527 Main Street, in Damariscotta, and online via Zoom.
The main program will feature a discussion on dark-money funded extremist groups that are active in Maine politics. The guest speaker will be Maurice T. Cunningham, Ph.D., J.D., author of Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization and a former associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Since retiring from that post in 2021, Cunningham has continued his research into dark money in politics, authoring two reports on the dark money threat to public education for the Network for Public Education, Merchants of Deception: Parent Props and their Funders and “A Citizen’s Guide to the School Privatization Movement” (forthcoming).
Cunningham will talk about the involvement in local elections by dark-money funded extremist groups such as Moms for Liberty (M4L), a national organization that has helped organize book challenges in schools around the country over the past year, efforts largely centered around books written by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color. The civil rights and racial justice advocacy organization Southern Poverty Law Center recently classified M4L as an “extremist” anti-student inclusion group. M4L recently formed its first chapter in Maine, based in Kennebec County.
All Lincoln County Democrats and other progressively-minded voters or seasonal visitors are welcome to attend. Pre-registration is not required to attend the meeting in person but is required for non-voting members who wish to receive the Zoom link, phone-in details and reminder emails. Register at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/meet before Noon the day of the meeting to ensure access. They will also do their best to accommodate last-minute registrations.
LCDC voting members will automatically receive the Zoom log on information and reminders by email. Those interested in becoming a voting member must be a registered Democrat in Lincoln County and may make their interest known by indicating such at the in-person meeting, on the meeting registration form https://lincolncountydemocrats.com/meet, or by emailing info@lincolncountydemocrats.com.
Information about the committee, its meetings and other activities may be found at https://lincolncountydemocrats.com.