Northern Threads Exhibition Opens Eagerly Awaited Part II

Following its successful and well-received Part I, NORTHERN THREADS: Two Centuries of Dress at Maine Historical Society opens Part II on Friday, August 12, 2022.

From flapper dresses to leisure suits, Maine Historical Society (MHS) presents clothing, vintage wear and fascinating stories of Maine people spanning late 19th and 20th centuries (1890 to 1980.) All-new vignettes include Turn-of-the-Century; Designer fashions; the Maine Outdoors; Women at Work and a World at War; Chemistry and Fashion; Bridal and Formalwear; and Silhouettes in Sequence.

New and returning visitors will encounter even more beautifully dressed mannequins, accessories and artifacts beyond those in Part I (which focused on 1790-1889 clothing). Trends, fibers, themes, and narratives will contextualize garments into distinct facets of 19^th and 20^th century Maine and American history. Many visitors will relive memories of parents, grandparents, high school, weddings and proms as they view a progression of styles that were once all the rage. Younger gallery guests attracted to retro and vintage clothing will find inspiration in the variety of surprising patterns, colors, and funky fashions.

Powder blue rental tuxedo, circa 1975

Bergdorf Goodman dress, circa 1925

Central to MHS’ 200th anniversary, NORTHERN THREADS considers how the clothing Maine people have worn reveals the social, economic, and environmental history of our state. For example, the exhibition explores fabric production and accessibility, women’s independence, and the devastating impact of the fur industry.

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Virtual Access: Illuminating history though never-before-exhibited items from MHS’ permanent collection, NORTHERN THREADS also opens unprecedented online public access through the Maine Memory Network. A 3-D virtual tour and detailed digital exhibit (online August 31) increase accessibility 24/7 for those unable to visit the gallery in person, or for guests seeking to explore the MHS Historic Clothing, Costume and Dress Collection portal.

Public Programs: Most public programs are free and virtual, such as Black Fashion History in Maine: Examining the Clothing in Nineteenth-Century Photographs with Karin J. Bohleke on August 9.

Companion Exhibits: The following in-person mini-exhibits rotate within the MHS galleries. Check www.mainehistory.org for these exhibition dates, NORTHERN THREADS programming, and for updates on MHS’ 200^th anniversary activities and events.

• Cosmopolitan Stylings of Mildred and Madeleine Burrage;
• Representing every particular: John Martin’s 19th century fashion illustrations;
• Fashion for the People: Maine Graphic Tees;
• Wadsworth-Longfellow family historic clothing, 1780-1825 on view in the popular Wadsworth-Longfellow House during the peak summer season; and
• Chansonetta Stanley Emmons: Staging the Past

How to see NORTHERN THREADS: Visit www.mainehistory.org/exhibits for details on tickets and admission to the MHS gallery on 489 Congress Street in Portland. Access for MHS members is free; general admission adults $10; children (6-17) $5, and under 6, free. Become a member before you book!

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Northern Threads is made possible by dedicated staff, contributors, partners, and donors, including:

BHA Foundation Fund

Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust

Elsie A. Brown Fund, Inc.

The Coby Foundation for Textiles, Ltd.

The Davis Family Foundation

Down East Magazine (Media Sponsor)

Institute of Museum & Library Services

William Sloane Jelin Foundation

The Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust

Karen and Kirk Pelletier

Deborah S. Reed

The Phineas W. Sprague Memorial Foundation

Doris S. Stockly

 

Notes from the Archives: Duncan Howlett papers

By Nancy Noble, MHS Archivist/Cataloger

Rev. Duncan Howlett (1906-2003) — minister, Doctor of Philosophy, author, social justice activist, and…tree farmer? After an illustrious career in the ministry, Duncan Howlett retired to Maine, and began a whole new career as a tree farmer. Even then, he wouldn’t simply sit on his porch and watch his trees grow. He organized and was the first President of the Small Woodland Owners Association. One can find papers related to his work in Maine at the University of Maine, Orono.

Rev. Howlett’s papers regarding his life before moving to Maine – as well as when he lived in Maine and kept his fingers in his former life as a Unitarian clergyman – are now processed and available at Maine Historical Society. This collection (Coll. 2993) is voluminous (51.25 linear ft.) in content and subject matter.

So, who was Duncan Howlett?

Born in 1906 in Newton, Massachusetts, he studied law at Harvard and spent two years as a lawyer. In 1933, he yielded to a lifelong interest in religion and returned to Harvard where he was awarded the STB degree (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) with honors in 1936, while serving as Minister of the Second Church, Unitarian, in Salem, Massachusetts, having been ordained to the ministry in 1935. Howlett served at that church from 1933 to 1938. From there, he went to the First Unitarian Church in New Bedford (1938-1946). In September 1946 he became Minister of the First Church in Boston, Unitarian, a position he held for the next twelve years. In 1958, he was called to All Souls Church, Unitarian, in Washington, D.C., the position from which he retired in 1968. In May of that year he was appointed to Hubert Humphrey’s presidential campaign staff.

Interested in public affairs during the entire range of his ministry, Howlett also played an active role in Unitarian denominational affairs, serving as President and Chairman of many national organizations, including the Unitarian Historical Society and the Washington, D.C. Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

A prolific author and writer, his works include: Man Against the Church; The Struggle Between Religion and Ecclesiasticism (1954); The Essenes and Christianity; An Interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1957); The Fourth American Faith (1964); The Critical Way in Religion (1980); and The Fatal Flaw at the Heart of Religious Liberalism (1995).

Howlett also wrote No Greater Love: The James Reeb Story (1966). James Reeb served under Howlett as assistant minister at All Souls Church in Washington, D.C. Tragically, Reeb was later murdered while participating in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. The correspondence with the Reeb family is especially heartwarming.

Upon retiring from the active parish ministry in 1968, Howlett became deeply involved in the environmental movement, particularly in the area of forestry, after studying forestry at the University of Maine. In Maine, he organized and was the first President of the Small Woodland Owners Association, popularly known as SWOAM. The conservation of natural resources emphasizing the responsible management of woodlands on the part of citizen forest owners became a “second career” for him. But even while involved in the environmental movement, he still served in the religion and church realm, including as interim minsters at various churches in Westport, Connecticut, and Atlanta Georgia, and Acting Dean of the College Chapel at Mt. Holyoke College. He also continued to write books and travel on Unitarian related trips.

Duncan Howlett was first married to Margaret L. Merritt in 1931 who died just two years later. He later married Carolyn Abbot Chance in 1943 in Summit, New Jersey. He had four children: Margaret (Susan) Howlett Hasty, Albert D. Howlett, Richard C. Howlett, and Carolyn (Lynn) Korth. After living in Center Lovell, Maine, for the last 35 years of his life, Rev. Howlett died in 2003 at age 97.

Duncan Howlett’s papers were given to the Bangor Theological Seminary. When the seminary closed and the BTS records were transferred to Maine Historical Society, Rev. Howlett’s papers were included in that gift.

This collection contains many sermons, correspondence, and printed material. Subject matter includes the Civil Rights movement (including James Reeb), Howlett’s extensive travels, and the general day-to-day business of being a minister in the Unitarian Church, not only locally, but nationally and internationally. Howlett had an inquiring mind, and was interested in many subjects, as one can see from the various files of information he gathered over the years.

One of my favorite parts of the collection is Box 23, which contains materials regarding Howlett’s early travels in the mid-1930s, apparently after his first wife died. This part of his story includes his sailing in 1935 on various ships – including the Cunard White Star “Majestic” – to Paris, Persia, Singapore, and Calcutta — and an overland trip with a friend where they drove in a stock model Ford across Europe and Asia. Mementos and souvenirs in this box are from such exotic places as Agra, British Malaya, Tokyo, Delhi, Japan, Turkey, Hungary, Jerusalem, and Persia. Howlett was a lifelong traveler, and much of Coll. 2993 is evidence of this.

The Civil Rights materials are also fascinating, including hate mail. Rev. Howlett was in the thick of the movement, researching, writing, and preaching about it. From being involved in the grand sweeping movements, to corresponding to church members and international leaders, to the day-to-day details of running a church, this collection is rich in fleshing out this amazing man and the times he lived in. (There is a whole box on the “Sixties” with folder titles such as “Dancing in the aisle,” “Hippies,” and “Protest, dissent, etc.”)

Howlett also corresponded with Karol Grycz-Smilowski (1885-1959), a Polish Lutheran priest who sought to reestablish the Polish Brethren of the period 1565-1658.

 

Duncan Howlett was a mover and a shaker in his world of being a Unitarian minister as well as a social justice activist – there was no separation of church and state in his eyes. Maine Historical Society is honored to be a repository of his records.

Notes from the Archives: Maine’s Violin Makers

By Nancy Noble, MHS Archivist/Cataloger

In November 1996, James Kane sent Maine Historical Society a document about violin makers in Maine, which included the names of the violin makers, where they lived, and their birth and death dates. In his cover letter, Kane described a wealth of research papers on this topic and asked: “Would your organization be willing to eventually accept this material and house it there?”

Twenty years later, in May 2016, Kane sent us 18 notebooks of research papers about amateur and professional violin makers from Maine, including research notes, photographs, and newspaper clippings. Kane died shortly thereafter, in September of that year.

Who was James Kane, and what was his interest in violins?

James R. Kane (1948-2016) was from Portland, Maine, and graduated from Deering High School. He taught bands and orchestras in California for 36 years. His family summered in Maine since the 1960s at their camp on Sebago Lake, which had been in his family since the 1940s.

In 1978 Kane acquired a few locally made violins at an auction, and after trying to learn more about them he found there was very little to be learned from existing data in various books and historical institutions. His interest piqued, Kane researched and collected information on about 200 individuals in Maine who crafted violins, violas, fiddles, cellos, and basses from before the Civil War to the early 2000s.

He researched violin maker names online, in research libraries, historical societies, newspapers, and through writing letters to individual family members and friends. Whenever possible Kane traveled to examine individual instruments for authenticity and craftsmanship. Data collected by Kane verified that 200 Maine craftsmen constructed stringed instruments during the time span from before the Civil War to the early 2000s, for an estimated total of 2,500 to 3,000 instruments.

We are delighted to announce that this collection is now available for research (Coll. 2978)! Photographs of many of the instruments Kane researched can be found in the collection.

This rich collection provides a glimpse into one man’s passion, as well as providing detailed information on Maine’s legacy of violin makers over the past few centuries.

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Below are several items from this collection featuring Henry Harris, considered one of Maine’s most famous violin makers and one of the instrument makers Kane researched.

Henry Harris (1832-1913) of Mercer, Maine, was a cobbler and farmer. Born in Winthrop, Maine to Caleb and Dorcas Harris, he made his first violin when he was 14 years old. Henry Harris was married three times: Abbie Maria Hatch, Ruth Works, and Rose Pickens (1840-1930).

Photograph of Henry and Rose Harris

Photograph of Henry Harris

Photograph of Henry Harris violin