The Manuscript Collection contains the papers of individuals, such as students, professors, presidents, and archives of organizations, such as the archives of the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) predecessors (Gorham Academy, Gorham Campus Collection, Portland University, University of Maine, Portland, Portland Junior College). There are also collections of photographs, printed material, and other material culture about USM and collections supporting the curriculum. The collections date from the 19th century to the present.
Collections in the Manuscript Collection
Arranged alphabetically by creator.
Dorothy Westman Abbott and Frances Hawkes Hale Collection, 1948-1997 (GEN-MS0072)
Abbott, Dorothy Westman, 1907-2007
Hale, Frances Hawkes, 1928-2011
Dorothy Westman Abbott is a 1927 graduate of Gorham Normal School and a life member of the alumni association. She was born in Boothbay, Maine in 1907 and died in 2007 at the age of 100. Frances Hawkes Hale is a 1952 graduate of Gorham State Teachers College. She married fellow student Donald Hale on the day of their graduation, June 9, 1952. She was born in Gorham in 1928 and passed away in Boothbay Harbor in 2011. Collection includes papers, photographs, ephemera, and realia related the class of 1927 and the class of 1952, and their reunions in the years 1972, 1977, and 1997. Also includes two scrapbooks of Frances Hawkes Hale from her junior and senior years, several issues of the bimonthly newsletter “GSTC Industrial Arts Students,” and a 1950 panorama of the Golden Anniversary Convention of Kappa Delta Phi Fraternity at Hotel Somerset, Boston, Massachusetts.
1 Linear Feet
Unprocessed
Herbert C. Adams Collection, (GEN-MS0033)
Adams, Herbert C.
Herbert Adams is a native of rural Oxford County. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1989 to 1996, where he was a member of the Utilities and Energy Committee. He returned to the House in 2003, representing the Parkside and Bayside neighborhoods of Portland, which include the most densely populated and ethnically diverse square mile in Maine. Adams also served on the Portland School Committee, representing the West End, from 1997 to 2004. A co-founder of the Parkside Neighborhood Association, created to combat inner-city issues such as crime and substandard housing, Adams was chosen by Newsweek Magazine in 1990 as “One of Fifty Americans Who Made a Difference.” He was the recipient of the EPA Outstanding Service Award for his work on clean air and clean water issues in the Casco Bay region. In 2005 he received the Maine People’s Alliance “Against the Tide” award for his defense of voting rights and social justice issues. As a writer, Rep. Adams’ work can be seen on various PBS, A&E and History Channel shows about Maine and American history. He is author or contributor to many books, including the award-winning “Bold Vision: the History of the Portland Park System” (2000). He also serves as an adjunct lecturer in Maine Government and Civics at the University of Southern Maine. The Papers contain personal and professional papers, including material on the decommissioned Maine Yankee nuclear power plant and the Greater Portland Martin Luther King Jr. Day Committee.
6 Boxes (8.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Henry A. Shute Research Materials Collection, 1938-1944 (GEN-MS0064)
Adams, Scott, 1909- (Collector)
Collected by Scott and Barbara Winn Adams, these materials accompanied a large number of the author’s books when the Edith C. Rice Collection of Children’s Literature was bequeathed to University of Southern Maine. 2 letters from Shute to Scott Adams (Susanna’s father?), 1 letter from the editor of the newspaper Exeter News-Letter to Scott Adams, handwritten bibliographic notes, page from a bookseller’s catalog offering 2 Shute 1st editions, 3 published memoirs of Shute with accompanying correspondence, a clipping of a brief obituary in the New York Times the day after his death, and a photocopy of a photograph and article on the author on the front page of the Exeter News-Letter, accompanied by 2 remembrances.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
September 11th Collection, 2001-2002 (GEN-MS0014)
Albert Brenner Glickman Family Library (University of Southern Maine)
The newspapers were acquired by the Library by subscription and gathered into this collection by the Head of Special Collections following the events of September 11th. The Collection consists of hard copies of Maine newspapers to document how the events were covered in Maine, and a remembrance ribbon presumably produced during University of Southern Maine’s 2002 Remembrance events.
2 Oversize Boxes
Hayden Anderson Papers, 1919, 1921-1978 , 2024 (GEN-MS0022)
Anderson, Hayden L. V.
Hayden L. Anderson was an educator and historian of Maine. The papers contain draft and notes for his book, “Canals & Inland Waterways of Maine”; research material on canals in Maine and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (the C&O); lantern slides, photos, maps, notes of canals, locks, mills, aqueducts, and shipbuilding in Maine. The papers also consist of paper and printed records, photographs, and a few objects dating from the 1920s-1970s documenting Anderson’s personal life, his education, and his career as a high school teacher in Maine, including the high school run by the Gorham Normal School. The collection contains records of his hobbies, such as hand radio, photography, and scouting. Collection includes two unprocessed addenda.
10 Boxes (10.75Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder, 43 Megabytes
Miriam Andrews Papers, 1974 (GEN-MS0017)
Andrews, Miriam Eunice
Miriam Andrews was a Gorham Normal School music teacher from 1922 to 1960. She had attended the New England Conservatory of Music and Julliard School of Music in New York. She continued her education at Columbia University’s Teachers College where she received her Bachelors’s and Master’s degrees. During her teaching tenure at Gorham Normal School, she directed plays, organized concerts and operettas, and in 1925 compiled a music book for the school called Songs of Gorham Normal School. The Papers consist of an audiocassette recording and transcript of a 1974 interview with her, an undated photograph, and a copy of the 1928 revision of her songbook.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Francis L. Bailey Papers, 1877-1884, 1945 (GEN-MS0015)
Bailey, Francis Louis, 1894-
Dr. Francis L. Bailey (1894-1981) was an educator who served as President of Gorham State Teachers College. The papers consist of materials from Bailey’s personal collection, including certificates awarded to Bailey in 1945 as well as correspondence, newspaper segments, and administrative documents pertaining to the Maine Pedagogical Society, a branch of the Maine Educational Association.
0.25 Linear Feet (1 Box) + 2 Oversize Folders
Batchelder-Haley Letters, 1906-1918 (GEN-MS0002)
Batchelder, Abigail E.
Abigail E. Batchelder and Cora M. (Giles) Haley, graduates in the Second Class of 1899 of Gorham Normal School, lived and taught in Japan at the turn of the 20th century. The collection consists of letters to their former landlady and mentor, describing the people, landscape, and society there.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Birney Family Papers, 1898-2013 (GEN-MS0046)
Birney family
The four Birney “Girls”, Lois, Elvira, Margaret, and Martha, from New Gloucester, Maine, were born in the early 20th century and lived through some very challenging times including the death of their father at a young age and later loss of their home. The Papers particularly documents the lives of Martha and Elvira Birney, two unmarried sisters who lived together on a farm in Oxford, Maine (at the time of purchase the property was part of South Paris, Maine). They were always surrounded by family and friends and kept diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, mementos, and records that tell a bit about the story of their lives.
6 Boxes (8.5 Linear Feet) + 13 Objects
Libby Bischof Gorham Campus Postcard Collection, approximately 1800-1909 (GEN-MS0048)
Bischof, Libby
Forty-eight color and black-and-white printed photograph postcards ca. 1800-1900s of University of Southern Maine Gorham campus, purchased by the donor from various sources in Maine and online.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
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Luther I. Bonney Papers, 1933-1974 (GEN-MS0012)
Bonney, Luther I.
Luther I. Bonney was born in Turner, Maine in 1884. After graduating from Bates College in 1906, Bonney was involved in education for the rest of his life. He was a Professor of Mathematics at Middlebury College, Vermont from 1907-1927, and Dean of Portland Junior College, one of University of Southern Maine’s progenitor schools, from 1933 until 1958. The Papers consist of histories he wrote, poetry, WWII letters from former students, honorary degrees, and a taped 1974 interview of Bonney.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
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Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin Papers, approximately 1955-2009 (GEN-MS0052)
Bowdoin, Lorraine Grace Libby
Lorraine G. Libby grew up in Portland and graduated from Portland High School in 1955. She studied Junior High education at Gorham State Teachers College, graduating in 1959. At GSTC, she was active in Commuter’s Club, SEAM (Student Education Association of Maine), and the Outing Club. The papers contain materials from Gorham State Teachers College for prospective students, a program from Recognition Day at GSTC, May 1957, and educational materials for student teachers, ca. 1955-57. Addenda includes scrapbooks, ephemera, books, and artifacts related to Bowdoin’s primary education, life as a teacher, and membership in professional organizations.
28 Boxes + 10 Oversize Boxes, 5 Oversize Folders, 18 Objects (20.5 Linear Feet)
Unprocessed
Kenneth T. H. Brooks Papers, 1921-1971 (GEN-MS0013)
Brooks, Kenneth T. H.
Kenneth T. H. Brooks received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and masters and doctoral degrees from Boston University. He served as President of Gorham State Teacher’s College from 1960-65, then continued as President of Gorham State College from 1965-1968 and Gorham State College of the University of Maine, 1968-70. He stepped down when Gorham merged with the University of Maine at Portland. He wrote See the Green and White Advancing: A History of Gorham Normal School, Teachers College, and State College 1878-1970, which was published in 1995. Kenneth Brooks died on December 4, 1995. This small miscellaneous group of papers focuses on Brooks in his role as head of the Gorham teaching institution from 1960-1970. The chronological file contains honors he received from other academic institutions as well as several of his grade school and high school papers.
3 Boxes (1.25 Linear Feet)
Leo Brooks Photographs, 1932-1933 (GEN-MS0011)
Brooks, Leo, 1909-1993
Leo Brooks was an artist who was also a linotype operator at the New York Times. He worked in a variety of media, including jewelry and painting. He worked for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, making a photographic record of life in the city during the Great Depression. The collection consists of reproductions of photographs taken in New York, in 1932 and 1933. Possibly acquired by the University Art Gallery for an exhibition.
3 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet)
Lillian E. Brooks Diary, 1936-1939 (GEN-MS0068)
Brooks, Lillian E., 1916-1939
Lillian E. Brooks grew up in Mexico, Maine and went to New York City to become a nursing student in 1935. The diary documents the daily life and work of a Maine woman who aspired to be a nurse. Brooks recorded her daily lessons and duties as a nursing student, her work as a store clerk and a waitress, and other day-to-day activities in New York City, Mexico, Maine, and Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
2 File Folders
Thomas Carper Papers, approximately 1980-2011 (GEN-MS0031)
Carper, Thomas
Originally from Cornish, Maine, Carper is a Professor Emeritus who taught poetry and creative writing at University of Southern Maine from 1967 to 1997 and currently divides his time between Maine and France. This collection contains poems, writing logs and published works of poet Thomas Carper. The papers include multiple drafts showing revisions of the poem along with the final version. Collection includes an unprocessed addendum, which includes correspondence with poets, writings, and USM personnel, and teaching records.
8 Boxes (8 Linear Feet)
Thomas Carper Typescript Poems, (GEN-MS0056)
Carper, Thomas
Typescript copy of Summer Poems by Thomas Carper.
1 File Folder
Frank M. Coffin Papers, (GEN-MS0042)
Coffin, Frank M. (Frank Morey), 1919-2009
Frank Coffin was born in Lewiston, Maine in 1919 and died in 2009. He attended Bates College, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School. His impressive career included serving as U.S. Representative to DAC (Development Assistance Committee) in Paris and Deputy Administrator of the Agency for International Development as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957-1961. He was a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Coffin is also the author of four books. The papers contain a range of materials including speeches, correspondence, drafts of his books, and news clippings.
1116 Boxes (124 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 6 Oversize Folders
Thurston/Corthell Memorabilia, approximately 1870-1907 (GEN-MS0030)
Corthell, William J.
W. J. Corthell was the first principal of the Western State Normal School in Gorham, founded in 1878. The other collector may have been Marjorie Thurston, class of 1907. The Memorabilia consists of artifacts and photographs found in Special Collections.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 1 Object
Glenn Cummings Papers, 1945-2022 (GEN-MS0074)
Cummings, Glenn A., 1961-
Glenn A. Cummings is an educator and politician who served as President of University of Southern Maine from 2015 to 2022, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008, and other elected and appointed roles in Maine, as well as deputy assistant secretary for the United States Department of Education in the Obama administration. The papers include personal papers, photographs, digital files, and memorabilia related to Cummings family history; early life and education in Bath; Maine; post-secondary education; career as a high school teacher and university professor at Gorham High School, Southern Maine Community College, and University of Southern Maine; and professional and political roles in the Maine House of Representatives, U.S. Department of Education, G. W. Hinkley Foundation/Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, University of Maine Augusta, and University of Southern Maine.
17 Boxes (17 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folders, 12 Objects, 5510 Megabytes
Unprocessed
Early 20th-century German Print Collection, 1914-1983 (GEN-MS0027)
Curley, Karen S. (Donor)
Printed materials acquired by the donor’s father while serving in West Germany during the Cold War. The Collection contains 37 items, books, and ephemeral material. Materials deal with German history from the beginning of World War I to the end of World War II. Dates span 1914 to 1983, with the bulk evenly spread between the periods of 1915-1923 and 1934-1942. The collection includes propaganda, war humor, poems, songs, and a film promotional leaflet; stories from German prisoners of war during WWI; and materials related to revolution (following World War I). The two issues of Stern magazine were published in 1983 but present articles on Adolf Hitler’s diaries, which were soon afterward exposed as a hoax.
2 Oversize Boxes
Kenneth M. Curtis Collection, 1949-2004 (GEN-MS0026)
Curtis, Kenneth M. (Kenneth Merwin), 1931-
Kenneth M. Curtis served as Governor of Maine from 1967 to 1974. He subsequently served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and President of Maine Maritime Academy. The bulk of the Collection consists of papers related to his tenure as Governor, including campaign advertisements, speeches, state records, news releases, and photographs. There are also copies of the book written about his governorship, The Curtis years, edited by former aide Allen G. Pease, and his biography, Kenneth Curtis of Maine: profile of a governor, by Kermit Lipez, also a Curtis aide.
75 Boxes (32.5 Linear Feet) + 4 Oversize Folders, 17 Objects
Detroit Publishing Company Photographs, approximately 1890-1910 (GEN-MS0053)
Detroit Publishing Co.
Thirty-four matted black and white prints.
4 Oversize Boxes
Eileen Eagon Papers, (GEN-MS0003)
Eagan, Eileen
Material about ROTC on campus and sexual harassment policies.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
Ilene Elowitch Papers, (GEN-MS0037)
Elowitch, Ilene F. (Ilene Frances), 1948-
Ilene Frances Elowitch (d.1999) was a part-time instructor of Communications at USM from 1980 to1984. She received her Bachelor of Arts at Elmira College and her Master’s Degree at the University of Maine at Orono in Speech Communication. The Papers consist of poems and journals written by Elowitch.
6 Boxes (2.75 Linear Feet)
Walker Evans Photographs, (GEN-MS0005)
Evans, Walker, 1903-1975
Walker Evans was a self-taught photographer who pointed a new direction in American documentary photography in the 1930s. In the mid-1930s, he worked for President Roosevelt’s New Deal Resettlement (later Farm Security) Administration, taking photographs intended to alert America’s increasingly urban society to the plight of the rural poor during the Great Depression. The collection consists of reproductions from the Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Photograph Collection, used in a 1978 exhibition at the University Art Gallery.
3 Oversize Boxes
Fitts Family Collection, 1882-1945 (GEN-MS0019)
Fitts family
Bertha Rice Fitts was born in 1870, in Waterford, Maine. After graduating from Gorham Normal School in 1894, she became Master’s Assistant and eighth-grade teacher in Westbrook, Maine, before accepting a similar position at a grammar school in Quincy, MA. While in Quincy, she boarded with Mrs. Calvin Fitts, and in 1899 married her son, Arthur Fitts. She was involved in the Southern Branch of the Gorham Alumni Association for many years. The Collection consists of primarily late 19th c. commercial photographs of teachers and students of Gorham Normal School, plus photos of Gorham Normal School buildings, Bertha Fitts and her family, and a GNS Alumni Massachusetts Branch announcement for 1945.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
MJ Friedman Confederate 100 Dollar Note, February 17, 1864 (GEN-MS0075)
MJ Friedman was a student at University of Southern Maine in 2023. Collection includes a $100 bill of the Confederate States of America, which Friedman found in the lining of a jewelry box purchased for crafting years before at Goodwill in Gorham, Maine.
1 File Folder
Unprocessed
Gorham Academy Archives, 1803-1993 (GEN-MS0041)
Gorham Academy (Gorham, Me.)
Gorham Academy was formed in 1803 after Massachusetts granted land to the town of Gorham, Maine, now part of the University of Southern Maine campus. The private high school operated under various names until 1877. The collection covers aspects of students’ lives, administrative meetings, and many records of the academies’ financial records. The bulk of the collection is administrative records that include founding documents, Board of Trustees meetings and minutes, Treasurer’s reports, Bonds, Deeds, and much administrative correspondence.
6 Boxes (3 Linear Feet )
Gorham Campus Archives, (GEN-MS0049)
Gorham Normal School (Me.)
Five institutions of higher education formerly occupied the Gorham campus of University of Southern Maine: Western State Normal School (1878-1879), Gorham Normal School (1879-1945), Gorham Teachers College (1945-1965), Gorham State College (1965-1968), and Gorham State College of the University of Maine (1968-1969). Collection includes administrative records, publications, photographs, and memorabilia related to the institutions’ staff, faculty, and classes of students.
92 Boxes (50.5 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Boxes
Adelaide Street Hall Sheet Music Collection, 1895-1899 (GEN-MS0059)
Hall, Adelaide Street, 1882-
Adelaide Street Hall was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Medford. Her father was involved in local politics and had a fabric and dye factory. When they moved up to Port Clyde (after 12 years in Mexico), they entertained artists and musicians. The collection contains 7 pieces of sheet music with illustrations and lyrics reflecting racist stereotypes of African Americans.
1 Oversize Folder
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Eleanor Humes Haney Papers, 1979-1999 (GEN-MS0018)
Haney, Eleanor Humes
Eleanor Humes Haney was a feminist theologian and community activist in Maine from 1979 until her death in 1999. The papers cover issues related to her work, including feminism, anti-racism, LGBT issues, and the environment.
5 Boxes (2.25 Linear Feet)
Harriet Putnam Henry Papers, approximately 1941-1996 (GEN-MS0029)
Henry, Harriet P.
Harriet Putnam Henry became Maine’s first woman judge in 1973. Her expertise was in marine law and coastal management. She also has an extensive civil service record, including advocacy for women judges and works with child abuse and child welfare. She was active with the Maine Humanities Council, where the Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book was named in her honor. The papers consist of publications and writings of Henry and others.
2 Boxes (0.75 Linear Feet)
Albert Howard Print Ephemera Collection, approximately 1450 to 2016 (GEN-MS0060)
Howard, Albert A.
Albert A. Howard was a book collector and catalog librarian at University of Southern Maine. Collection contains materials related to Howard’s rare book collection and collecting interests, including correspondence with publishing houses, such as Püterschein-Hingham and the Anthoensen Press, and their invitations, announcements, dinner menus, newsletters, prospectuses, advertisements, and thank-you cards. Old and rare book fragments, typesetting and calligraphy samples, and book arts ephemera serve as examples of early printing and typography in English, Latin, Greek, and German, and include works by William Addison Dwiggins and Bruce Rogers.
0.5 Linear Feet (1 Box)
8 Oversize Folders
4 Hanging Items
Doris Roberts Humphrey Papers, 1926-1928 (GEN-MS0044)
Humphrey, Doris Roberts
Doris Mae Roberts Humphrey (1907-2002) of Gray, Maine, was a teacher educated at Gorham Normal School. Papers contain a a teaching contract for East Gray School dated September 1926, and notebook labeled “Drawing Grade 8” from Gorham Normal School 1928 with lessons and drawings.
2 Folders
View Finding Aid (coming soon)
Scott F. Hutchinson Papers, 1968-1974 (GEN-MS0043)
Hutchinson, Scott F.
Scott F. Hutchinson was born in Gardiner, Maine, but grew up all over New England because of his father’s job with New England Telephone Company. He attended Northeastern University and served in the Army during the Korean War. After the war, he went into banking in Maine. Hutchinson met Kenneth Curtis, at the time Maine’s Secretary of State, in the mid-1960s, at an event at which he was representing his employer. A friendship developed between the two men, and soon after, Curtis asked Hutchinson to be treasurer for his gubernatorial campaign. Hutchinson subsequently acted as treasurer for other Democratic candidates, most notably Edmund Muskie and George Mitchell. The Papers contain financial records and correspondence of Kenneth M. Curtis’ campaigns, and a styrofoam Panama-style hat saying “Curtis was here.”
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
Lina Gordon Papers, approximately 1922 (GEN-MS0045)
Joyce, Lina Gordon, 1902-1991
The papers contain a panoramic photograph of Gorham Normal School Summer School 1922, as well as an Industrial Arts course notebook for grades 1-6.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Edwin Kulawiec Papers, (GEN-MS0039)
Kulawiec, E. P. (Edwin P.)
Edwin Kulawiec was an associate professor of educational leadership at USM from 1988 to 1994. He was well known as a translator and scholar of the Jewish-Polish educator, Janus Korczak. The collection contains papers and books both written and collected by Prof. Kulawiec on the subject of Janusz Korczak and his theory of education.
4 Boxes (4 Linear Feet)
Priscilla Jenkins Lanks Papers, 1957-1963 (GEN-MS0070)
Lanks, Priscilla Jenkins
Priscilla Jenkins Lanks is a 1961 graduate of Gorham State Teachers College. At GSTC, Lanks served as the Secretary for her class and President of the House Committee, worked on the yearbook (Hillcrest) and the student newspaper (The Observer), and was a member of several clubs. Papers include the secretary’s notebook for the sophomore and junior year of the class of 1961, many pieces of ephemera related to the GSTC campus experience, and some personal
correspondence.
0.25 Linear Feet
Unprocessed
William W. Layton Collection, 1838-1866 (GEN-MS0004)
Layton, William W., 1915-2007
William W. Layton is an amateur American historian and collector of historical artifacts in Virginia who donated these items in honor of the creation of the Gerald E. Talbot Collection. The Collection consists of 10 original manuscripts, an original lithograph, 2 facsimiles, and 14 transcripts and/or photocopies of the manuscripts, regarding Mainers for years in the 19th century, with an emphasis on William Pitt Fessenden and the US Civil War.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Shep Lee Oral History Collection, 2006-2007 (GEN-MS0034)
Lee, Shepard, 1926-2010
Fuller, David, (Motion picture director)
Shepard Lee (1926-2010) was a car dealer of Lewiston, Maine and a member of several boards of directors for organizations related to the University of Southern Maine, including the Muskie School of Public Service and the University of Maine School of Law. The collection contains interviews with Lee and his family and friends used in the production of a video about Lee’s life, in honor of his 80th birthday. The material was produced by David Fuller of Airstream Pictures, and includes a spiral bound volume of interview transcripts, 24 mini digital video cassettes of the interviews, and 2 CDs of transcripts and background documents.
1 Oversize Box + 4 Megabytes
Edward L. Libby Papers, approximately 1903-2020 (GEN-MS0055)
Libby, Edward L., 1903-1969
Edward L. Libby was born in Portland, Maine in 1903. He graduated from Kennebunk High School 1922 and married Clara M. Martin in 1930. He served in the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut and Portland, Maine. He was the adoptive father of Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin, a 1959 graduate of Gorham State Teachers College.
7 Boxes (4.75 Linear Feet) + 3 Oversize Boxes, 4 Oversize Folders, 5 Objects
Marilyn Weymouth McLeod Papers, 1892-1986 (GEN-MS0069)
McLeod, Marilyn Weymouth
Marilyn Weymouth MacLeod is a 1951 graduate of Gorham State Teachers College. Includes photographs, clippings, ephemera, and publications related to MacLeod’s college years at Gorham State Teachers College between 1947 and 1951. Also includes a rolled panorama of the Gorham Normal School class of 1922, featuring McLeod’s mother, Gladys Achorn, and inkjet reproductions of photographs from Achorn’s time as student in the 1920s.
0.25 Linear Feet
Unprocessed
Maine State Nurses Association Archives, approximately 1914-1999 (GEN-MS0035)
Maine State Nurses’ Association
The Archives consists of records of the Association from 1914 to the 1990s. It includes meeting minutes, correspondence, scrapbooks, committee reports, newsletters, pamphlets, periodicals, and bound books.
26 Boxes (26 Linear Feet)
Waldeck E. Mainville Papers, (GEN-MS0040)
Mainville, Waldeck E.
Waldeck Mainville joined the Mathematics faculty of the University of Maine in Portland in 1965 and retired from University of Southern Maine in 2005. The papers contain professional papers, looseleaf binders and VHS tapes documenting Mainville’s career.
6 Boxes (6 Linear Feet)
Raymond A. Martineau Photographs, (GEN-MS0067)
Martineau, Raymond A.
Matted black and white photographs of Gorham campus. Signed by Raymond A. Martineau.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
John Mitchell Papers, 1947-1977 (GEN-MS0038)
Mitchell, John, 1916-2007
John Mitchell was a Professor in the Department of Industrial Education & Technology at Gorham State Teacher’s College/Univ. of Maine at Portland-Gorham from 1947 until 1977. The papers consist of his professional and teaching papers.
7 Boxes (7 Linear Feet )
Katherine E. O’Brien Papers, 1947-1998 (GEN-MS0001)
O’Brien, Katharine E. (Katharine Elizabeth)
Katharine E. O’Brien (d. 1998) was raised in Portland, Maine. She taught mathematics for more than 30 years at Deering High School in Portland, of which she was an alumna, and was a published poet. The papers include typescripts of her poems, correspondence, photographs, and miscellany.
3 Boxes (1.25 Linear Feet)
Jane and Robert Pickett Papers, 1949-1953 (GEN-MS0020)
Pickett, Jane Niles
Robert Stanley Pickett and Jane Niles Pickett attended Gorham State Teachers College from 1949 to 1953. The papers contain materials concerning academic, athletic and student social activities at Gorham State Teachers College in the early 1950s, including a scrapbook and newspaper clippings.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Brenda Plummer Ration Book, approximately 1943 (GEN-MS0073)
Plummer, Brenda J., 1958-
Mayberry, Henrietta J., 1863-1946
Brenda Plummer was born in Westbrook, Maine in 1958 and grew up in the area. Collection consists of a War Ration Book Four issued by the United States Office of Price Administration during World War II. The book belonged to Etta J. Mayberry (1863-1946), a family friend who lived in the donor’s childhood home. The book has several partially used pages of stamps for coffee and unidentified food stuffs.
1 Folder.
Joseph Porter Papers, 1810-1924 (GEN-MS0016)
Porter, Joseph, 1778-1849
Joseph Porter was a ship captain of Freeport, Maine. The papers primarily document the travels of his ship, the Eliza Ann, in the years 1809-1812, although they span the years 1810-1924. They contain 55 original documents, and other materials, including correspondence, accounts, cargo lists, crew lists, receipt for wages, port forms, a Bill of Health and a Roll of Equipage. Also included are documentation on Porter’s ship America in 1815, and the building of a corvett (vessel of war) in 1816.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Portland Campus Beech Tree, 2023-2024 (GEN-MS0077
Witham, Aaron
This collection of a ca. 2 ft wedge from the 219-year-old Beech Tree on the USM Portland campus as well as digital photographs, film, and text documenting the tree and its removal in September 2023 due to damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Lee.
1 Object, 688 Megabytes
Unprocessed
Portland Junior College Archives, 1933-1994 (GEN-MS0050)
Portland Junior College (Me.)
The Portland Junior College is a vital part of the history of the University of Southern Maine, particularly the Portland campus. It was opened in 1933 at the tail end of the Great Depression to provide quality and affordable schooling in Portland for young men and women. The dean was Luther I. Bonney, who would remain the dean until the school’s merger with the University of Maine system in 1957. The school, backed by Dean W. Lord from Boston College, was hosted in the YMCA for several years until the college was forced to close with the imminent entry of the U.S. into World War II in 1943. The school reopened in 1946, holding “pre-college” or “catch up” courses for veterans or anyone who needed it a semester before reopening all formal classes. The college, quickly outgrowing the YMCA, found a temporary home in two other buildings in Portland while a search for a permanent campus for the college was conducted. The old Deering estate was purchased for this purpose. Classes on the new Portland Junior College campus began in 1948. The majority of this collection’s material dates from 1933 to 1958. Included are administrative and financial records, various pieces of memorabilia (diplomas, newspapers, physical objects, etc), minutes, interviews, photographs, programs and brochures, and publications.
22 Boxes (22.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
View Selected Digitized Material
Portland University Archives, 1921-1960 (GEN-MS0028)
Portland University
The Archives contains materials documenting the history of Portland University, one of the University of Southern Maine’s predecessor institutions.
7 Boxes (3.25 Linear Feet)
Georgia Shaw Prescott Papers, approximately 1960-1989 (GEN-MS0032)
Prescott, Georgia Shaw
Georgia I. Robertson, also known as Georgia I. Shaw Prescott Robertson, was a University of Maine-Gorham alumna who published poetry under the name Georgia Shaw Prescott. The papers include her poetry and prose, correspondence dating from the 1960s and 1970s, artwork by Ruth Churchill Scott, illustrator of Ms. Prescott’s book of poetry, correspondence mainly dealing with getting her book published, and music lyrics she wrote under the name Georgia Shaw Prescott Robertson in the 1980s.
5 Boxes (2.5 Linear Feet)
Edith Meserve Rice Papers, approximately 1940-2002 (GEN-MS0021)
Rice, Edith Meserve
Edith Meserve Rice was a student at Gorham Normal School 1942-1946 and was active in the Alumni Association from the 1970s through the 1990s. The papers include photographs and other material documenting Rice’s life as a student at Gorham Normal School in the early 1940s, as well as alumni news, songs of Gorham Normal School and the State of Maine, and information about Gorham State Teachers College and the University of Southern Maine.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Betty D. Robinson Papers, (GEN-MS0063)
Robinson, Betty Dix
Betty Robinson is a Tree Street Youth Board Member and Professor Emeritus, Leadership Studies, University of Southern Maine.
2 Box (2.75 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Walter E. Russell Papers, 1874-1945 (GEN-MS0008)
Russell, Walter E., 1869-1948
Dr. Walter E. Russell, born Fayette, Maine, August 6, 1869, died in 1948, preacher and educator, was Principal of Gorham Normal School from 1906 to 1940. He graduated from Maine Wesleyan Seminary and attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He taught in New Britain, Connecticut for a year before coming to Gorham. Noting a lack of qualified high school and lower school teachers in Maine, he emphasized the 1930’s on building up a source of qualified teachers for the state. The Papers span the period 1874-1945, the bulk of them 1870s-1880s, consisting of writings on education and allied topics as well as his sermons. There are a small number of printed items and a photograph of the1928 School Summer Session. Russell often used printed material as scrap paper, so forms usually found in the office of an education administrator of the time occur in these Papers.
2 Boxes (0.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Ben Shahn Photographs, (GEN-MS0006)
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969
Ben Shahn was an artist who used photography primarily as a starting point for paintings. He was employed in the New Deal Resettlement (later Farm Security) Administration as an artist, but also assisted with the photographic projects. The collection consists of reproductions from the Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Photograph Collection, used in a 1976 exhibition at the University Art Gallery.
3 Oversize Boxes
Payson Smith Collection, (GEN-MS0062)
Smith, Payson, 1873-1963
The collection contains items related to Dr. Smith’s career as an educator and his life beyond, including early childhood aptitude tests from the first half of the 20th century.
11 Boxes (16.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Howard Solomon World War I Posters Collection, (GEN-MS0057)
Solomon, Howard M.
Fourteen World War I propaganda posters.
14 Hanging Items
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James Sullivan Papers, 1971-1993 (GEN-MS0054)
Sullivan, James V., 1924-2004
The papers contain clippings and photographs related to Dr. Sullivan for whom the gym on the Portland campus is named.
1 Oversize Folder
Harriet Sweetser Letters, approximately 1890-1899 (GEN-MS0010)
Sweetser, Harriet
Harriet Sweetser attended Gorham Normal School in the 1890s. She became a teacher and the first Administrator of Home Economics for the Maine State Department of Education. The collection contains letters Sweetser wrote home describing her daily life as a student.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
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T. A. Huston & Co. Chocolate Box, (GEN-MS0024)
T. A. Huston & Co.
In the early 1920s, T. A. Huston & Co. of Auburn built a 7-story bakery building in Portland, which became the Glickman Library of USM in the early 1990s. This is the original packaging of “Clover Leaf Chocolate Peppermints,” produced by T. A. Huston & Co.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
T. A. Huston & Co. Salesman’s Catalog, approximately 1912 (GEN-MS0025)
T. A. Huston & Co.
In the early 1920s, T. A. Huston & Co. of Auburn built a 7-story bakery building in Portland, which became the Glickman Library of University of Southern Maine in the early 1990s. This is a 3-ring binder containing a color facsimile of a salesman’s catalog.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
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Margaret C. Tibbetts Papers, 1925-1928, 1976 (GEN-MS0071)
Tibbetts, Margaret C., 1906-1976
Margaret C. Tibbetts was a 1926 graduate of Gorham Normal School, born in Dexter, Maine in 1906. After graduating, she taught in Maine and New Hampshire before becoming a nurse. She served as the director of McLean Hospital School of Nursing and Nursing Service in Belmont, MA, until her retirement to southern Maine, where she was active in the alumni association. Papers include a photograph album, autograph album, handmade book illustrating “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”, other art projects, a printed teacher contract and certifications, a box of GNS lapel pins, a box of gold GNS stickers, and name tags from the 1976 class reunion.
0.5 Linear Feet
Unprocessed
Pat Tryon World War I Poster, (GEN-MS0058)
Tyron, Pat
Poster, “Have you a Red Cross service flag?”. Framed 22 1/2 in x 29 1/2 in.
1 Hanging Item
Farm Security Administration Photographs, 1936-1943 (GEN-MS0007)
United States. Farm Security Administration
Reproductions from the Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Photograph Collection, used in a 1974 exhibition at the University Art Gallery. The photographs are by Jack Delano, John Collier, Edwin Locke, Carl Mydans, Arthur Rothstein, Marion Post Wolcott, Russell Lee, Edwin Rosskam, Fenno Jacobs, Walker Evans, Herbert Mayer, Gordon Parks, and Walter Payton. Places represented include: in Maine, Aroostook County, Ashland, Bath, Boothbay, Caribou, Fort Kent, Fryeburg, Houlton, Lille, New Sweden, Presque Isle, Rockland, Saint David, Soldier Pond, and Van Buren; in Vermont, Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Castleton, Essex Junction, Hardwick, Lowell, Manchester, Morrisville, Orange County, Proctor, Rutland, Springfield, Tinmouth, Tunbridge, Windsor County, and Woodstock; in New Hampshire, Amoskeag, Franconia, Manchester, and Shelburne; in Connecticut, Berlin, Canterbury, Colchester, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, Norwich, Southington, Suffield, Taftville, and Windsor Locks; in Massachusetts, Concord, Lowell, New Bedford, Northampton, Plymouth, Provincetown, Quincy, and Truro; and in Rhode Island, Johnstown and Newport. The images include those of farmhouses, farming activities, farm families, woodsmen, and logging activities, as well as streetscapes, landscapes, portraits of individuals, and scenes from special events, such as a Memorial Day parade, an American Legion convention, the Vermont State Fair, and a barrel-rolling contest in Presque Isle, Maine. The dates of the original photographs are 1936-37 and 1939-43.
7 Oversize Boxes
University of Maine in Portland Archives, (GEN-MS0051)
University of Maine in Portland
University of Maine Portland operated from 1960 to 1970 on the University of Southern Maine Portland Campus.
5 Boxes (4 Linear Feet)
USM HTY132: United States History Since 1877 Oral History Collection, approximately 1993 (GEN-MS0047)
University of Southern Maine. College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. History Department.
This collection consists of transcripts of interviews conducted by students in Joyce Bibber’s US History course.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Sally G. Vamvakias Papers, approximately 1990-1999 (GEN-MS0009)
Vamvakias, Sally G.
Sally G. Vamvakias served on the University of Maine System Board of Trustees in the 1990s, including a stint as Chair of the Board. The papers consist of drafts or edited typescripts of speeches, remarks, and legislative testimony Vamvakias gave during her 10-year tenure as a Trustee.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Robert Walkling Papers, approximately 1960-1999 (GEN-MS0036)
Walkling, Robert
Robert Walkling joined the Physics faculty of the University of Maine in Portland in 1969 and retired as Associate Professor Emeritus from University of Southern Maine in 2006. The Papers contain University of Southern Maine newsletters, faculty notices, Honors publications, and a variety of other materials related to the University.
8 Boxes (7.5 Linear Feet)
Maurice Whitten Papers, approximately 1929 and undated (GEN-MS0061)
Whitten, Maurice Mason, 1923-
Maurice M. Whitten (1923-2021) was a professor of chemistry and physical science at Gorham State Teachers College and University of Southern Maine from 1955 to 1983. Papers include one folder of minutes and notes from the Faculty Affairs Committee at University of Southern Maine and an analytical balance given to Whitten by the University of Southern Maine Chemistry Department on his retirement.
1 File Folder + 1 Item
Esther Wood Papers, (GEN-MS0023)
Wood, Esther
Esther Wood taught Social Sciences and History at Gorham Normal School from 1930 to 1972. She regularly wrote columns for the Christian Science Monitor and received many awards, including “Woman of the Year” from the Blue Hill Chamber of Commerce and a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Colby College. In 1973, the University named a dormitory building on the Gorham campus in her honor. The papers consist of her lecture notes on the history of New England from the 16th century through the colonial period and the Revolutionary War to the founding of the State of Maine in 1820.
3 Boxes (1.25 Linear feet)
Oliver Woshinsky Papers, approximately 1950-2015 (GEN-MS0065)
Woshinsky, Oliver H.
Oliver Woshinsky was a professor of political science at University of Southern Maine beginning in 1971. The papers include student work related to Woshinsky’s research on incentives for political participation, course files for University of Southern Maine Political Science courses, photocopies of course readings and draft articles (including many by political scientist James L. Payne, Woshinsky’s classmate at Oberlin College in the 1950s). Also includes some personal papers, family history research papers and photographs of the Woshinsky, Hanson, Ewing, and other families.
12.5 Linear Feet (17 Boxes)
Hattie E. Yates Papers, 1880-1884 (GEN-MS0066)
Yates, Hattie E., 1863-1885
Hattie E. Yates was an 1883 graduate of Gorham Normal School, born 1863 in Baldwin, Maine to Jeremiah B. and Eliza Harding Yates. She taught in Hiram, Maine in 1884 before her death at age 21 in 1885. Papers include paper bond notebooks used in class, correspondence between Hattie and her mother, receipts, and program for second class of 1882 examination and graduation, Gorham Normal school.
0.25 Linear Feet
Unprocessed