Volume 16, Issue #2 May 2013 Maine Labor History Mural Restored to Public View at Maine State Museum SCORE: POLITICS 1 / ART 1 by Bernard Fishman n March 2011, Maine’s recently-elected seven-foot high labor-history cycle. Moreover, Republican governor, Paul LePage, part of the mural’s $60,000 cost had been ordered that a series of eleven painted paid for with federal funds through a portion Ipanels presenting episodes of labor history of the Federal Unemployment Compensation be removed from their location in Augusta’s law called the “Reed Act,” and the federal Department of Labor building and concealed Department of Labor quickly notified the state from further public view. He expressed the that those funds in this act representing the opinion that the political message evident in the making and value of the mural would have depictions, which showed representational but to be returned unless the work was restored artistically stylized episodes of 20th-century to its original location or to “another state labor struggles in Maine, was too partisan to employment security building.” A lawsuit was have a legitimate place in a state government filed in federal court by two union members and building. “I’m trying to send a message to three artists, though not including Judy Taylor, everyone in the state that…Maine looks at the actual painter of the mural, claiming that employees and employers equally…the murals Ms. Taylor’s free speech rights under the First send a message that we’re one-sided, and I Amendment had been violated. don’t want to send that message,” LePage A flurry of interest in moving the mural to the City said shortly after the mural was taken down. Hall in Portland came to nothing. At that time It later emerged that the governor’s action no state government agency believed it could had in part been sparked by complaints from interfere with the removal or offer a new home business owners, symbolized by an anonymous for the work. Through the whole controversy letter that likened the mural to something from the governor’s spokesperson, Adrienne Bennett, “communist North Korea.” In a blog post by insisted that the administration was committed a local conservative radio host, the mural to finding a more appropriate setting for the had been credited with helping to make the work and to returning it to public display, but in Maine Department of Labor a “militant, angry, The “Rosie the Riveter” panel the meantime its new storage location remained honors the contributions of the thousands business-hating environment.” stubbornly unrevealed, and the court case moved slowly ahead. of Maine women who entered the workforce A fury of public resentment followed. Maine during WWII to help support the war effort. State Representative Diane Russell called the Some months later, a federal judge in Maine action “government censorship at its worst.” A ruled that the governor was within his legal In the foreground are women workers who protest rally of 300 people was soon assembled rights to remove the work under a doctrine of built the Liberty Ships in South Portland in the denuded Department of Labor building protected “government speech,” which overrode Shipyards in the 1940s. space that had previously held the 36-foot long, —continued on page 18 Maine Archives and Museums MAINEAdvertise ARCHIVES &in MUSEUMS the MAM Newsletter Volume 16 • Number 2 • May 2013 NEWSLETTER Maine Archives and Museums www.mainemuseums.org Do you have a great product or service [email protected] that you want Maine’s museums and libraries P.O. Box 46 to know about? Cumberland Center, ME 04021 Consider a quarter-page ad in our quarterly newsletter, (207) 400-6965 which is direct-mailed to Maine’s community The Maine Archives and Museums Newsletter of collecting organizations and published on-line. is published on a quarterly basis as a benefit Ads are $100 per issue for non-members of MAM; $75 for members. of membership in MAM, whose purpose is to develop and foster a network of citizens and For complete specifications, please contact institutions in Maine who identify, collect, Jessica Skwire Routhier interpret and/or provide access to materials Newsletter Editor relating to history and culture. [email protected] (207) 799-7324 Contributions to the MAM Newsletter may be submitted to MAM. Contact information provided above. To purchase copies of the MAM Newsletter, TABLE OF CONTENTS please contact MAM at the above address or Maine Labor History Mural Restored to Public View phone number. at Maine State Museum by Bernard Fishman .............................................................. Cover MAM NEWS .................................................................................................................. 3 Third Class postage paid at Bangor, Maine. Summary of MAM Board of Trustees Actions MAM’s Spring Workshop Series OFFICERS You Can Help MAM Plan President: Jessica Skwire Routhier Save the Date - Recharge your Mission: Ideas to Ignite and Inspire! Vice President: Raney Bench EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS ............................................................................................... 4 Secretary: Candace Kanes DISPATCHES .................................................................................................................. 11 Treasurer: Ellen Dyer Get to Know the Lincoln County Historical Association by Merry Fossel ....................... 12 Presque Isle Historical Society Celebrates 50th Anniversary BOARD MEMBERS With New Cemetery Tour by Kimberly R. Smith .......................................................... 13 Jane Bianco Leigh Hallett New Museum Takes Flight by J. R. Phillips ...................................................................... 13 Heather Bilodeau Sheri Leahan Curran Homestead Stages Fifth Annual Ice Harvest by Bruce R. Bowden ........................ 14 Peter Cook Teresa Myers Follow the Maine Civil War Trail by Kim MacIsaac ......................................................... 14 Rachel Desgrosseilliers David O. Smith Gretchen Faulkner Deborah Staber Additions to Cranberry House by Wini Smart .................................................................... 14 Ellen Tenan SEEN & HEARD ............................................................................................................... 15 Native American Festival and Basketmakers Market Celebrates NEWSLETTER STAFF Its Twentieth Year by Hannah Whelan .......................................................................... 16 Editor: Jessica Skwire Routhier OPPORTUNITIES .............................................................................................................. 17 and Jane Bianco Wyoming Masts to Soar Again Over Percy & Small Shipyard Typesetting & Design: Deborah J. McGee at Maine Maritime Museum by Dave Garrison ............................................................ 20 Printer: Bangor Letter Shop & Color Copy Center, Bangor NEXT ISSUE: AUGUST 2013 Only submissions received by the Editor by June 30, 2013, LEGAL SERVICES will be considered for publication. Contributed by James C. Pitney General Counsel Jessica Skwire Routhier Preti, Flaherty, Beleveau & Pachios 207-799-7324 [email protected] 2 Maine Archives & Museums Newsletter Vol. 16, No. 2 MAM NEWS Summary of MAM’s Spring June 24 Collections Care — L.C. Bates Museum, MAM Board of Trustees Workshop Series Hinckley, Maine, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Actions As part of the Maine Cultural Institutions Outreach This day-long workshop includes two sessions: “Caring For Your Collections on Exhibition,” December 2012 and January 2013 Project (MCIOP), Maine Archives and Museums is pleased to offer valuable professional development led by Ron Harvey of Tuckerbrook Conservation The Board approved a bonus of $500 at the end opportunities for librarians, teachers, archivists, LLC; and “Continuing Crucial Conversations of 2012 for Director Erin Bishop to recognize the and museum professionals throughout the spring. about Collections: A Roadmap to Exploring what extra work she had done for MAM. She works on The Maine Cultural Institutions Outreach Project you have, Discovering who you are, and Learning a contract basis and had done a number of tasks (MCIOP) is a project of MAM supported by what you can do with it,” led by Sheri Leahan, that took her over the contract amount. The board a grant from the Davis Family Foundation. Collections Consultant and Acting Director of the approved a new contract for the director for 2013 MCIOP will attempt to identify local collecting Washburn-Norlands Living History Center. This that includes an increase in monthly hours from institutions in all of Maine’s towns, gather data project is the result of a Connecting to Collections 32 to 36. on their holdings and institutional needs, and statewide planning initiative funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The 2013 budget, previously approved by the connect these keepers of Maine’s local heritage board, is based on the increased hours for the with a larger network of like-minded colleagues director, membership matching 2012 totals, and a through regional workshops and professional You Can Help MAM Plan MAM is now in the final year of its 2009-2013 slight increase in office supplies and fees related development opportunities. The spring workshop Long-Range Plan and has begun the process of to online conference and membership payments. series began in April and continues through June; researching and drafting a new plan to go into The 2013 budget totals $19,438.