Selected Grants From June 2006
biddeford
Different Lives
$3,000: Biddeford, Maine is a former mill town whose residents have traditionally been factory workers and largely Franco-American. The arrival of the private University of New England in the 1970s drew a professional class supported by labor from city residents. When UNE outsourced many of the jobs held by Biddeford natives, the discord between these communities became impossible to ignore. Inspired by Studs Terkel’s Working, a team from UNE decided to explore the class divide in Biddeford through the lens of labor. Scholars have conducted over fifty interviews with Biddeford residents from a cross-section of occupations. Community partners including the Heart of Biddeford, Saco Valley Land Trust, and the Biddeford-Saco Rotary helped identify interview subjects, while UNE personnel from Media Services, Creative and Fine Arts, History, and the Office of Multicultural & GLBTQ Services lent their expertise. The final product will be a documentary film and companion book entitled “Different Lives.” Look for screenings starting this fall, or contact UNE Media Services at (207) 602-2434 for more information. > University of New England
lewiston
Being Somali in Lewiston
$3,000: United Somali Women of Maine will produce and disseminate a multimedia educational DVD called Being Somali in Lewiston: Fostering Community Dialogue and Learning Through Image and Reflection. Professor Lacey Gale and photographer Kate Lapides generated the raw material for the project by interviewing Somali immigrants, particularly women and girls, in consultation with USWM staff. The fruits of their fieldwork—over 600 photos and sixty pages of interview transcripts—will be archived at the Maine Folklife Center and also distilled into a 15-minute DVD. Local musician Harum Hussein will contribute a soundtrack, while Robin Fleck, the English Language Learner Team Leader for the Auburn school system, will help to develop a curriculum guide. The curriculum guide will help educators, community leaders, and service providers use the DVD as a catalyst for discussion with a variety of inter- and intra-community audiences. To obtain a copy of the complete educational package, please contact USWM Director Fatuma Hussein at (207) 753-0061. > United Somali Women of Maine
portland
Malaga Island Radio Program
$3,000: The story of Malaga Island is part of the enigmatic history of race in Maine. In 1912, forty-five poor, black, Irish, Portuguese, and “mixed-race” residents were forcibly removed from the island by the state because they were considered a blight on the coastal landscape and a financial burden to the town of Phippsburg. For years, this story has remained hidden, but it has recently resurfaced as a research topic and the subject of a 2005 Newberry Honor book entitled Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. WMPG radio will produce a 30-minute documentary program to build on this resurgent interest and reveal some of the connections between this hidden history and current attitudes toward race in Maine. The program will air in the fall of 2007. Updates on production and airdates will be available on WMPG and at www.wmpg.org. > WMPG-FM
rockport
A Girl’s Point of View Book Club
$4,750: In 2005, Mainely Girls of Rockport received funding from the Maine Humanities Council to expand the Girls’ Point of View Book Club from the successful model established on Vinalhaven five years before. By creating a lending library to offset the cost of books, Mainely Girls was able to launch new clubs in Bath, Limestone, Boothbay, North Haven, Damariscotta, Belfast, and Islesboro. The clubs introduce high school girls to young adult fiction and nonfiction depicting strong, resourceful female characters developing self-respect and autonomy—in sharp contrast to the girls they’re used to seeing on TV and in the movies. Adult women facilitators help the girls connect with, learn from, and talk openly with their peers about the books, fostering a lifelong enthusiasm for reading and discussion. In 2006, Mainely Girls is adding thirty new sets of books to the lending library and established twenty new clubs across the state. To learn more (or to find out how to start a club in your area), please contact Natasha Irving, program director, at (207) 230-0170 or megirls@midcoast.com. > Mainely Girls
searsport
Faces of a Maritime Town
$4,950: In 1880, ten percent of all the master mariners in the United States came from Searsport, Maine—a town of only 2,500 people. For many years, the Penobscot Marine Museum has displayed photographs of over 300 Searsport ship captains. In 2006, museum staff and scholars will update and expand on this display, incorporating elements that reflect the true diversity of a maritime community: wives, shipyard workers, and others who played indispensable roles in the voyages of Maine#8217;s famous Down Easters and other vessels. The lives of approximately 15 captains will be researched and interpreted through touch screen technology and printed tour cards to put a human face on the age of sail. To learn more, visit www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org or call (207) 548-2529. > Penobscot Marine Museum
