Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Portland
By John William Babin and Allan M. Levinsky
Forward by Herb Adams
History Press 2015
Pages 142 Price $21.99 paperback

This interesting book states,“The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is the oldest brick structure on the Portland Peninsula. It was built on a site originally inhabited by Native Americans, who named the town Machigonne. The city name  changed a number of times; in 1633 Casco, in 1658 Falmouth and in 1786, the year the Wadsworth Longfellow House was finished, the citizens of Falmouth formed a separate town they renamed Portland.” Maine was once a part of Massachussetts but became a state in 1820. Longfellow’s history coincides with the  growth of Portland.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27 in 1807 in Portland, Maine, in a wooden home facing the harbor, near what was the Grand Trunk Station, now the Marriott Hotel Residence. He died in 1882 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As an infant, Longfellow moved with his parents to the brick home on Congress Street that we all know as the Wadsworth Longfellow House. It is here that his father had a law office and where Longfellow grew up and carved the “Rainy Day” poem into one of the  walls of  a back room off the kitchen.

This slim book has a wealth of information in it with wonderful letters reproduced from Longfellow and photographs of artifacts as well as special poems. Longfellow’s parents, Stephen and Zilpah, had eight children. Henry attended private schools as a youngster and graduated Portland Academy at the age of 14 in 1821. He attended Bowdoin College at the age of 15 in 1822. Letters to his mother from college in 1823 reproduced in the book are interesting to read.The boys had to be at college at 6 a.m. for prayers!

The book is filled with historical facts surrounding Longfellow’s youth including that the Maine Historical Society was founded in 1822, making it the third oldest historical society in the country. Massachusetts is the oldest founded in 1792. New York is the second oldest founded in 1804. Longfellow’s father, Stephen, served as President of the Maine Historical Society and Henry served as librarian at one time.

After graduating Bowdoin College, Henry traveled to Europe and became fluent in foreign languages. When he returned in 1828 he wrote a letter to the President of Bowdoin College, William Allen, asking for a job teaching Modern Languages. He was given an appointment to teach there but not at the same salary as other professors. Under those conditions he refused the position. A compromise was made when he agreed to work in the library one hour a day and he would teach Modern Languages such as; French, Italian, German and Spanish.

A chapter on Longfellow’s sister, Anne Longfellow Pierce, who eventually gave the Longfellow House to the Maine Historical Society in 1901, was very interesting, including her portrait by Joseph Greenleaf Cole in 1830 as well as another photograph of her in in 1890. Photographs of the Wadsworth Longfellow building and a hidden view of a Children’s Gate leading to the Longfellow garden is lovely. For those of you who love history and the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I recommend this precious book and a visit to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House in Portland.

Hours open: Closed Mondays, Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Open Sunday noon to 5 p.m. For more information call 774-1822. (Interesting that the the telephone number is the date in which the Maine Historical Society was founded.)

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Baskets of Time : Profiles of Maine Indian Basket Makers
By David Shultz
Pub. by Home and Away Gallery, Kennebunkport, Maine 2017
Pages 145 Price $45.

“Baskets of Time” is an artistic treasure containing  photographs of hand- made contemporary baskets created by outstanding Native American basket weavers across the state. What attracted me to this book? I love woven objects created from the environment in Native American culture. In addition,the artistic layout and photography in the book, with its marvelous space around art objects impressed me.

Maine Indian hand-woven baskets are a tradition which I enjoyed reading about. The book states that all four Wabanaki tribes in Maine — the Houlton Band of Maliseet, the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the Passamquoddy Tribe, near Pleasant Point, and the Penobscot Nation, near Indian Island — continue to make baskets based on old traditions which have not been lost but handed down to the next generation. Most baskets are made from brown ash trees and different types of grass with different colors. (Not all brown ash trees are suitable for basket weaving but are selected with special care.)

The book has a wonderful map which reveals the approximate locations of the original four tribes and further states that different tribes had different styles even though the same materials were used. Historically these objects were not signed or dated. In fact the book states as an art form they were ignored by anthropologists.

Now a renaissance focused on handmade creativity is emerging because of the natural beauty and intricate design of Native American objects. In fact the complex designs of some of the classic traditional baskets found in Native American culture can be compared to contemporary Op Art of today.

The  importance  of native American handmade objects, as an art form, including canoes made from birchbark which can be seen in this book, is both visually beautiful and educational. It shows us different styles being created today and tells us, how they are made, and why they are important. Through creativity we find a new and deeper respect for Native American culture.

Theresa Secord, from the Penobscot Nation, was born and brought up in Portland, Maine. She was the Founding Executive Director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance which she headed for 20 years. Secord said in this book, “My first teachers were in their 70’s, and now my teachers are in their 30’s. I remain concerned about the integrity of the values being passed on, such as: generosity, humility, and respect; values to me seem to be endangered in our society today.”

I was impressed with Theresa Secord’s search for the enduring values found in her culture because she is a role model of them.  She is a master basket weaver herself with great talent and humility.  In fact she mentioned in the book that she is still learning and takes lessons from the younger generation. Secord certainly is carrying on the values of her ancestors, by her generosity in supporting other basket weavers as a leader, and through her own forms of creativity in her basket designs.

Other wonderful Native American hand weavers mentioned in the book in separate chapters, with beautiful photographs  of their works include: David Moses Bridges, Pam Cunningham, the Gabriel family, Aron Griffith, Clara Keezer, Molly Neptune Parker, Geo and Jennifer Neptune, Madeline Shay, Richard Silliboy, Sarah Sockbeson and Fred Tomah.

I discovered this book one day at the Maine Historical Society in Portland, and love it. I only wish that the Maine Historical Society would consider creating an exhibition of Native American basket weavers from this book in their exhibition galleries. It certainly would bring to the public a meaningful exhibit for all to see and reflect a deeper understanding of Native American culture and its values.

Pat Davidson Reef is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. She received her Masters Degree at the University of Southern Maine.She taught English and Art History at Catherine McAuley High for many years.She now teaches at the University of Southern Maine in Portland in the  Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Classic Films. She recently wrote a children’s book,”Dahlov Ipcar Artist, and is now writing another children’s book “Bernard Langlais Revisited.”

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