“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us.”
James Baldwin
Stories from the past shared in hopes of inspiring a better future for us all.
Glacier Stories is a series of short videos of Mainers telling stories, songs, and poems about a moment or a place in Maine’s history that has special meaning to them. To show how long stories have been told here in Maine, we built a glacier out of used boat shrink wrap in Evelyn’s Tavern’s parking lot. The pandemic meant we had to postpone our fabulous musical theater performance – MAINEUSA: the history of Maine from the Ice Age till Now – but we still wanted to share the kind of history that doesn’t get written in books. So we asked 20 everyday Mainers to share an everyday story. And they did – funny, moving, shocking, scary, inspiring.
We are deeply grateful to the Maine Bicentennial Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town program, and our individual contributors for their generous support of Glacier Stories / MAINEUSA.
Welcome to Glacier Stories
We at Art At Work share these stories from the past in hopes of inspiring a better future for us all.
Storyteller: Ellen McKenzie
Pride – Part I
family stories: Maine from the 1800s to now
Pride – Part II
Portland’s Underground Railroad
Pride – Part III
two hundred years being Black in Maine
Storyteller: Mihku Paul
Land Acknowledgment for Maine
so many ways to love this place called Maine
Calling the Whales
Passamaquoddy drums & a churning sea
Psalms for Cetaceans
a beautiful prayer song for the whales
Storyteller: Claude Morgan
Ferry Village: Lost & Found
neighborhood stories from former Mayor and City Councilor
A Dark and Stormy Night
scary, mysterious, wet…a good Maine story
Storytellers: Kate and Sadie Weed
A Ghost, A Witch, A Legend
Maine has lots of good ghost stories
The Cove
a young girl looks and listens with memory and imagination
Storyteller: Lee Chisholm
Casco Bay Love Story
a love story with a twist you won’t forget
Sebago Lake
memories of a day from long ago as fresh as yesterday
Storyteller: Alain Igiraneza
From Home, To Home
a young boy from Burundi finds home on Cumberland Street
Read All About It, Pt. III
a perfect time to sit down and listen
Storyteller: Peter Weed
Driving to Blue Hill After a Heavy Snow
there are more than just two Maines
Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge
tragedy, understanding, and a bridge
Blizzard & Among the Islands
a working man’s ocean,
where weather can mean life or death
Whale Watch
the swell of the ocean,
the threat of Nor’easterlies
Postcard
centuries-old family roots reveal layers of connection and betrayal
Storyteller: Maya French
Eggemoggin Reach
skiffs, seals, and spruce trees
Tooth Fairy Jig
to many of us, ‘Maine’ means ‘fiddling’
Storyteller: Michael Shaughnessy
Chief Polin, Abenaki
an Abenaki leader fights for the river he belongs to
Presumpscot Stories
falling in love with a river
Learn more about the MAINEUSA project and performance at www.maineusa.us.
“The destiny of the world is determined less by battles that are lost and won
than by the stories the world believes in.“
– Harold Goddard