FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018
Contact: Kristen Muszynski
626-8404/ cell: 441-7638   

            
Maine State Archives to host speakers, focus on industries during American Archives Month

AUGUSTA – The Maine State Archives will celebrate American Archives Month this October with a focus on Maine industries, featuring presentations from Cathy Billings and Rachel Desgrosseilliers, as well as two public tours.

The archivists will host tours at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10 and Tuesday, Oct. 23, which will include access to areas that are not normally open to the public. To reserve your spot on the tour, please contact Communications Director Kristen Muszynski with your full name and phone number. The tour will be capped at 20 participants. (No large groups, please.) The Maine State Archives is located in the Cultural Building, 230 State St., across from the statehouse in Augusta.

Following the public tours, the Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum will be co-hosting two Collaborative Encounters presentations at the Archives:

  • Cathy Billings, associate director of the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, will speak about the lobster industry on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m., followed by a book signing with her book The Maine Lobster Industry: A History of Culture, Conservation & Commerce.
  • Rachel Desgrosseilliers, executive director of Museum L-A, will speak about the textile and shoe industries of Lewiston-Auburn on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.

In addition to taking in the tours and speakers, visitors to the Archives can view the current exhibit on Maine’s role in World War I and are encouraged to return in December for the unveiling of the new exhibit featuring items from the collection that relate to Maine’s industries, from fishing to textiles. The Maine Industries poster will be available for download and printing at www.maine.gov/sos/arc along with past Archives Month posters.

On Wednesday, Oct. 3, the Maine State Archives will also be participating in the #AskAnArchivist event on Twitter, in which people from around the world can submit questions for archivists to answer.  To take part in this outreach event, sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, simply include #AskAnArchivist in your tweet and participating archivists will respond.

Visit our website www.maine.gov/sos/arc, our Facebook page, Maine State Archives, or our Twitter account @MEArchives, for information and updates about our plans for celebrating Maine’s state archives this fall.