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BETHEL — On Sat., March 25, the Society will present its annual Women’s History Month program in the South Dining Room of the Bethel Inn, starting at 2 p.m. Anne B. Gass, author of “Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse & Maine’s Fight for Woman Suffrage,” will present a lively account of Maine native Florence Brooks Whitehouse’s efforts to win women voting rights in the decisive final years of the campaign (1914-1920).
Considered radical for picketing the White House, Florence Brooks Whitehouse helped win woman suffrage against a backdrop of conservative views of women’s roles, political intrigues, World War I, and the 1918 influenza epidemic. The great-granddaughter of Florence Brooks Whitehouse, Anne Gass’s book (which will be available for purchase) derives its title from the rose as a symbol of the women who opposed women’s suffrage.
Anne Gass is a graduate of Reed College and received a master’s degree from the University of Maryland. She authored an article on the subject of woman suffrage in “Maine History,” the journal of the Maine Historical Society. She regularly lectures on Maine suffrage history at conferences, historical societies, libraries, and other events. This free event at the Bethel Inn is open to the public.
Academy’s Past Showcased in Long-term Display:
Coming later this spring at the Robinson House will be the “Gould Cabinet,” named for a pioneering teaching tool originally created in the late 1840s by Academy founder and Principal Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True (1812-1887). This long-term exhibit installation will allow visitors and Gould alumni to view changing displays of objects, photos, books, and manuscripts from the Society’s collection, as well as the “Gould Academy Archives,” which is now on permanent loan to the Society for preservation and research purposes. With the recent completion of the “Charles R. Huntoon Center for Archives, Library and Museum Collections,” the Society is particularly well equipped to handle the proper storage and management of materials relating to what began as “Bethel Academy” in 1836. Anyone with items relating to the school they may might wish to donate should contact the Society at 207-824-2908 or info@bethelhistorical.org.
New Collaboration
The Bethel Historical Society is pleased to announce a partnership with the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust to inventory American Heritage sites within the A.T. landscape in western Oxford County. Involving GIS mapping technology, the “Appalachian Trail Maine: Next Century” program will eventually provide users with a wealth of practical and interesting information.
The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust has undertaken this project with the assistance of the National Park Service and Appalachian Trail Conservancy, in addition to many local community partners in towns up and down the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Society staff met recently with Simon Rucker, Executive Director of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, who explained the project in detail through an excellent PowerPoint program.
