Collection Timeline

1802 to approximately1980

1802
Select Sentences

1826
Geography for Beginners

1833
<p>In the decades after the American Revolution, schools began to open for girls. Previously, they had mainly been educated at home. The curriculum of these academies tended to focus on subjects that were considered appropriate and useful to young women. Geography was one such subject, and mapmaking was used as an exercise for the students to practice their penmanship and artistry. Several of these "schoolgirl" maps in the Osher Map Library's collection feature ornate floral designs. Emma Willard, an early pioneer of women's education, also saw maps as a tool for improving students' memory and analytical skills.</p><p>Mapmaking in the early years of the United States is intimately linked to the process of creating and charting American identity. Abigail Frothingham Perley was 16 when she created her Map of Matrimony. Although the map is imaginative and humorous, it points to some of the very real anxieties she may have felt given that marriage was one of the only paths open to young women at the time.</p>

1835
<p>In early nineteenth century America, the temperance movement was inspired by a concern for society's moral and physical wellbeing. Many reformers believed that only through total abstinence could the family, home, and society be saved from the destructive effects of alcoholism. Women's sphere of influence was limited to the home, but they were seen as the first line of defense in the fight to preserve future generations. Those who supported the temperance movement were expected–as part of their moral responsibility–to instruct their children, refuse to serve alcohol in their homes, and even encourage their family members to pledge themselves to "teetotalism," or total abstinence.</p><p>Published in 1834, this edition of the periodical Temperance Recorder includes a "Highly Important Certificate" of abstinence with facsimiles of three US presidents' signatures. The accompanying dramatic illustration shows a family, including young children, taking the pledge. Although women's enthusiasm for the temperance movement was fueled largely by practical concerns for their family's safety and economic security, here the biblically-inspired text points to the current of religious sentiment that inspired early reform efforts.</p>

1842
The Lowell Factory Girl

1853
Last Leaves of American History: comprising a separate history of California

1872
The temperance movement was gaining momentum when Currier & Ives published this lithographic print in 1872. Here, the "Tree of Temperance" spreads its branches over a scene of bucolic nineteenth-century American life: A peaceful farmyard on the right, while on the left a family makes their way to church. Physical health, prosperity, and happiness form the trunk of the tree. Its "fruit" are the myriad virtues and rewards that the temperate individual could expect to embody and receive, including love and charity, success, self respect, and even a "crown of life," meaning eternal life. The church's ornate Grecian columns echo the Classically-inspired architecture seen in many of the United States' monuments and government buildings. As a product of this historicizing ethos and of a Protestant value system, the image suggests that there is a direct correlation between spiritual, personal, familial, social, and civic wellbeing.

1882
Boott Cotton Mills

1887
Alcohol sales had become a significant sector of the US economy by the second half of the nineteenth century. Temperance became a concern not only in the domestic realm but in the political, thus limiting the participation of women, who could not yet vote. Nevertheless, they found ways to make themselves heard. In 1873, a group of women marched through the streets of Hillsboro, Ohio, peacefully protesting at each of the saloons. Carrie Nation became infamous for her "hachetations," in which she vandalized establishments that sold alcohol. As this map from shows, had Nation visited New York City she would have found a staggering number of targets for her demonstrations. With the founding of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1874, women were able to organize themselves and lend a powerful public voice to the fight for prohibition.

1888
Temperance Movement

1895
Game of Bicycle Race

1899
Ad for "Elixir Uterin," found in a 1899 issue of Le Messager. Newspaper has yellowed with age, and the ink is faded. The ad contains an image of a nun. The nun is holding a bottle of elixir, and a sign that says: "Emplatre des 7 douleurs." Roughly translated this means it will treat 7 different illnesses.

1900
Game of Bicycle Race

1906
A Safety Guide for those contemplating a trip on the sea of matrimony

1913
Votes for women a success: the map proves it
In the early years of the twentieth century, both the movements for Woman Suffrage and for Temperance and Prohibition used persuasive maps in an attempt to drum up support for their respective causes at local, state and national levels. This technique became even more popular in 1913 and beyond, when both groups began pursuing federal legislation in the form of constitutional amendments in support of these reform movements. There was a good deal of overlap in the causes–many women who were advocating for their right to vote supported prohibition (the legislation of alcohol purchase and consumption), and many members of the prohibition movement believed that women should have the right to vote. Women were frequently involved in causes of moral and social reform at the turn-of-the-century, and this “moral mapping” (there are several examples in this exhibit) was one of many techniques they embraced to advance their movements.

1915
<p>This rare ephemeral fan was produced for the 1915 convention of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA), an organization leading the call for a suffrage amendment to be added to the Massachusetts State Constitution. The map side (shown here) depicts the United States, with each state outlined and shaded according to the voting status granted to women: black (no suffrage), white (full suffrage; “free states”), and shaded (states where suffrage was on the ballot in 1915). Notice that the women of the West had far more voting rights than women in the East. The verso reads: “Keep Cool! There will be nothing to worry about after we get Votes for Women; Election Day November 2.”</p><p>The MWSA was founded in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone, and others, and, by 1879, Massachusetts women had won the right to vote in local school committee elections. While the MWSA counted 58,000+ members by 1915, the proposed amendment for full suffrage was still defeated by a margin of 2:1. The women of Massachusetts, like their counterparts in Maine, only gained the vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. In 1920, the MWSA became the Massachusetts League of Women Voters.</p>

1916
<p>Discouraged by the suffrage movement's numerous defeats at both the state and federal level, in 1907 journalist Bertha Damaris Knobe wrote an article aimed at reinvigorating her fellow campaigners through a change of perspective. She wrote about their successes rather than failures. Recognizing the power of visual aids, she also created a map illustrating the states where women had won the vote. While this included only four states at the time, the map successfully translated a complicated legal and social tapestry into something more readily understood, and proved to be a powerful and motivating tool.</p><p>In 1908, anti-alcohol activist Mabel Dufford followed suit by producing a map that illustrated the progress made in the temperance movement. While this pamphlet from 1916 discusses temperance in rousing terms, it is the juxtaposition between the two maps on the cover that illustrate the power of visual aids and serve as a testament to a sustained and concerted effort, of which women were a driving force.</p>

1936
The Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL) was formed by Mrs. Jessie Daniel Ames (of Texas) in Atlanta in November of 1930, in response to a marked rise in the lynchings of Black men in the South during the early years of the Great Depression. Their group’s philosophy was “based on the belief that a continuous educational program, carried on day by day in the home, in the school, in the press, and in the church will end lynching by public demand.” Secondly, they aimed to emphasize, at all times, “the repudiation of the claim that lynching is necessary to the protection of white women,” a claim frequently made by the individuals and public mobs who enacted these heinous crimes. Their work followed the NAACP’s special committee on anti-lynching legislation (1916) and the longstanding demographic work on lynching begun by the Tuskegee Institute in 1882. Mrs. Ames, the Director of Women’s Work in the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, began the ASWPL with only 12 members, and, by 1936 when this pamphlet was printed, more than 32,000 women, across the thirteen Southern states, had joined the cause–primarily promoting the eradication of lynching via education offered through religious and civic groups they already belonged to. The ASWPL ended their work in 1942, feeling that enough significant progress had been made. However, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) has documented nearly 6500 racial terror lynchings in the US between 1865 and 1950, and a federal antilynching act (the Emmett Till Antilynching Act) was not passed into law by Congress until March of 2022, more than a century later.

1938
Frances Willard (1839-1898) dedicated her life to social reform and the empowerment of women, breaking through barriers that had traditionally kept women out of political discourse. After spending her early life New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin, she embarked on a teaching career that took her from one-room school houses to prestigious secondary schools throughout the Northeast. In 1873, she became the first Dean of Women of the Women's College at Northwestern University. After a disagreement with the President of the university, Willard resigned and turned her attention to the women's temperance movement. She helped found the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1874, was elected President in 1879, and traveled the country campaigning and establishing local chapters of the WCTU. This alone was remarkable at a time when the belief that women should not speak in public was still prevalent. One Maine woman noted that Willard was the first woman she had ever heard address an audience. While the WCTU's original focus was the temperance movement, Willard expanded the organization to include many different causes, including women's suffrage, civil rights, and education and labor reform. She saw the WCTU as an instigator of social transformation and a way to train women to enter into local and national politics. This map depicts locations and memorials named after Willard.

1960
Geographical Guide to a Woman's Heart

1965
Twentieth Century Americans of Negro Lineage

1973
Reckitt had founded the Maine chapter of NOW in 1973 and this letter is the response to NOW's concern that female interscholastic sports are not supported at the same level as as male sports.

1974
Reckitt, as the state coordinator of NOW, testified at a hearing for the Maine Human Rights commission, urging "equal employment opportunities... prohibition of sex discrimination in public facilities."
Reckitt, who served as the swimming director at the Portland YMCA from 1970-1979, was suing Westbrook for choosing a less qualified male candidate the the position of pool director for the Junior High School.

1976
Formal notification that the Westbrook School Board voted unanimously to pay Reckitt damages. Reckitt pursed social reform through her work with NOW and through the courts.

1977
This letter, which Reckitt filed under "Ageism and Women and Wage Discrimination," urges people to support LD842, which would establish state programs to help displaced homemakers, that is women left without financial support due to divorce or death of a spouse. There is a great deal in Reckitt's papers about displaced homemakers and the wage discrimination women faced.
Right next to the materials for the February 9, 1985 NOW meeting, Reckitt kept a copy of draft Maine legislation. Such legislation would not pass in Maine until 2005.

1978
Cartoon depicting the harm of traditional gender roles on page 11 of this issue of Le F.A.R.O.G. Forum. The cartoon includes three cels, the first depicting a couple on a picnic enjoying themselves. The second, depicting a woman frustratedly doing piles of dishes by herself. The third shows the couple doing the dishes together.

1979
Membership ID card for the Maine Civil Rights Commission, listing Madeleine Giguere as Chairperson, 1979.

1980
Typed seminar presentation, given at the University of Maine Orono in 1980.
Newsletter covering work of the commission in various states, listing Madeleine Giguere as the chairperson for Maine, 1980.
Large, hand-drawn map depicting French language speakers in New England, created by Madeleine Giguere, using information from the 1970 census. Population centers such as Lowell, Lewiston, and Woonsocket are listed.

1981
Typed conference presentation about the sociology of Franco-American work, given at the University of Toronto in 1981.

1982
Small, single page pamphlet advertising Georgette Berube's run for governor of Maine. Front shows a picture of Georgette, a darked haired woman with thick black rimmed glasses, smiling while wearing a blazer and campagin button that reads "Berube." The back of the pamplet lists quick facts about her candidacy.
Larger pamphlet advertising Georgette Berube's run for governor of Maine. This is a tri-fold brochure, the front of which depicts a smiling Georgette standing in front of the Maine State House. When opened, the same promotional picture of Georgette from the other pamphlet is visible, along with an image of Georgette with her children, 22 year old Michele and 15 year old Claude. The rest of the brochure outlines facts about her and her stances in more detail.
Letter from Charlotte Michaud to Madelieine [Giguère]

1984
Although Reckitt would move to Washington in 1984 to become executive vice president of National Organization of Women in Washington, D.C., there was now a network of shelters pooling resources to address battered women, rape, lobbying FEMA for funds, hosting conferences, and setting shelter standards.
Apparently Maine was concerned that passing ERA would allow for state funded abortions and allow for gay/lesbian marriage, but the opinion of the Maine Attorney General was that ERA would not support these rights. Reckitt, now Executive Vice President of NOW, received a copy, but it also shows her ongoing interest in Maine pasing ERA.

1985
For the strategy meeting on lesbian and gay rights, NOW put together a packet of information including the meeting agenda, a draft informational pamphlet, an outline for a PAC manual on lesbian and gay rights, and draft resolutions to guide NOW's campaign.

1987
Reckitt was one of the founders of the Family Crisis Shelter in 1977, to support and advocate for women suffering from domestic abuse. She served as its executive director from 1979-1984 and 1990-2015. This was probably Reckitt's single greatest contribution to social reform in Maine. 1977 was also the year that the National Women's Conference took place in Texas. Those from Maine returned to work on battered women's shelters, but the legislation they sponsored to fund such centers failed. So not only did Reckitt create a center, but with the other Maine women, disappointed by the legislature, founded the Maine Women's Lobby in 1978.

1988
The National Lesbian Rights Conference was sponsored by NOW. Reckitt made notes throughout the agenda, but her annotations on pages 6 and 7 show her steady commitment to ERA, lesbian and gay rights, and helping all women.

1999
Vermette, Jean. Je Me Souviens: On Person's Experience with Male-to-Female Sex Reassignment Surgery. Bangor, ME: Maine Gender resources and Support Service, 1999. Publishing her first hand account, like her workshops, both empowered other trans people and educated society. Her closing section is a call for acceptance and a demand for respect.

2000
In 2000, the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (later EqualityMaine) honored Vermette's educational work with its Great Pioneer Award. Vermette concludes that acceptance across the LGBTQ spectrum is what we are all working toward.

2007
Turning to advocacy, Vermette testified against laws which would harm trans people. Commonly known as the "bathroom bill," LD1589 sought to restrict trans youth from using the bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms matching their gender identity. Vermette used common sense to argue the bill was unnecessary, and pointed out the law went against medical and psychological standards.
Vermette continued to advocate publicly for trans youth. In response to stories about a citizen urging his grandson to harass a trans child using the female restroom, Vermette reminds readers that the law protects trans youth and that "everyone deserves to be treated with dignity."

2009
Vermette founded and published the Family Affairs Newsletter online from 2004-2009. It was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the state of Maine only. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board. In the last issue edited by Vermette, she jokes "Being manically powerful over the past seven and a half years has not always [been] easy..." The newsletters catering to the LGBTQ+ community were a vital resources. They spread news, and advertised LGBTQ+ businesses, organizations, and services.

approximately1980