Many people are not aware that Windham is home to one of Maine’s largest prisons. On Monday, May 22, Windham Historical Society will present a program on the prison, along with its history. The public is invited to attend this interesting program and ask questions of Maine Correctional Center Superintendent Scott Burnheimer and Human Resources Director Brad Fogg. The Society is located at 234 Windham Center Road, in the red brick building next to the school superintendent’s office. The program/meeting begins at 7 p.m. Refreshments will follow.
One of our readers, Mary Lyons, is hoping to find “homes” for some graduation photos of her high school class. Right now, these individual photographs are next to my computer, and if no one claims them, I will take them over to the historical society for safekeeping. They have all been identified with their names when they were high school seniors here in Windham. If you or someone you know is a relative or descendant of one of the following, contact me (892-1166 or kso48@aol.com or write: 111 Tandberg Trail, Windham) and I will see that you receive the picture: Doris Brann, Margaret Masse, Persis Hall, Gayle Bradford, Mary Proctor, Oney Alden, Phyllis Gordon, Dorothy Thayer, Althea Estes, and Ruth Philpot.
These are busy times with graduations, reunions, weddings and trips being planned. Believe it or not, visitors to our town have been coming and going and at the historical society, we’ve already received requests for information from folks as far away as California. Windham is fortunate to have a very large collection of resource material for those seeking genealogy information about relatives who may have lived in Windham – some as far back as the 1700s. Windham Historical Society is also an excellent source for old maps (some showing every house and establishment, with names of owners) and tax records.
It’s always pleasing to be able to show a visitor photos and write-ups about his grandparents – especially if they’ve never seen them. This happens quite frequently. Last summer a memorial service was held at a local church for a man who had lived and died thousands of miles away – but since his parents had been born in Windham, the services were held here. Descendants visited the historical society and were amazed to look at old high school yearbooks, viewing photos of their grandparents and great-grandparents in their basketball uniforms! It gave them a whole different perspective on those “old people” they could barely remember.
There are approximately 160 members of the Society, many of them living out of state. Together their goal is to preserve and protect the history of the town; this rich history is shared enthusiastically with schoolchildren and hundreds of visitors every year. We urge residents to stop in on Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until June when we will also be open on Thursdays. There are many displays ranging from artifacts from the 1700s, clothing, household items, school equipment, old tools, spinning wheels, cemetery records, church records, fire department collections, record books of old stores, and hundreds if not thousands of photographs.
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