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AJ:Diane Dyer, the society’s director, said the move
in part is to make the society more accessible. Right now, the society gets
about 25 people visiting per month, but she is sure there could be more. "A lot
of people don’t even know we’re here," she said. The community center, on the
other hand, is a far more visible location, she said, and first-floor access
there will make visiting the collection even easier. Right now, visitors
must travel up a steep flight of stairs. "The idea was to make it more available
to people," [president Mike] Sanphy said. The other goals, he added, are to make
the collection safer. Its new home, he said, will have fire alarms and
sprinklers, something the society doesn’t have at the legion building. The city
also won’t have to pay $600 per month in rent to house the collection, either,
Sanphy said.
-John C.L. MorganRelated: On Location: Westbrook Historical Society (June 24, 2008)
NameWestbrook Historical SocietyMeeting TimeFirst Wednesday of each month, 1:30pMeeting Place17 Dunn Street, 2nd floorMembership Requirements$10 annual duesPhone(207) 854-5588Websitewww.westbrookhistoricalsociety.orgOfficersDonna Conley, PresidentByron Dyer, Vice-PresidentRowena Walton, SecretaryNancy Curran, TreasurerNumber of Members110Year of Establishment1975Though established in 1975, the Westbrook Historical Society has called the second floor of the Stephen W. Manchester Post 62 building on Dunn Street home since 2001. The society strives to live up to its motto ("A society that preserves the past") by collecting and preserving artifacts and documents from throughout Westbrook's history and sharing these relics with the public.The historical society has a large collection of historical artifacts that includes clothing (civilian as well as military and law enforcement), genealogical and vital documents, histories of Westbrook's neighborhoods and schools, photographs, and private diaries. The society also houses newspapers from numerous decades, city reports, and a thorough documentation of Westbrook's private and public cemeteries. Though the Westbrook Historical Society is a membership association (membership is $10 per year), the society's vast collection is open to the general public on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 9a to 12p. - John C.L. MorganDisclosure: I'm a card-carrying member of the Westbrook Historical Society, but please don't air negative radio spots advertising this fact.
My favorite professor at the University of Southern Maine was a history professor who had a tendency to recycle his jokes and one-line zingers. The same jokes I chuckled at as a sophomore in his "U.S. History to 1877" class, for instance, were the same ones I rolled my eyes at as a senior in his "Democratic Theme in American Society." Now that I've put myself on the spot, I'm unable to comb my brain for some sparkling examples. But the one that has stuck with me was his repetitive reference to any local historical society as a hysterical society. Which is ironic considering the Spanish philosopher George Santayana referred to a country without memory as a country of madmen.The irony, of course, lies in the simple statement that the Westbrook Historical Society remains a stout bulwark against Santayana's city of madmen. It is, in other words, a house of memory that inspires greater amount of sanity than hysterics.Despite what you may think after spending numerous Saturday mornings joshing with the regulars.- John C.L. Morgan
Did you know the American Legion Post No. 62 on Dunn Street was named in honor of Stephen W. Manchester, the first Westbrook citizen to die in World War I? Manchester was killed in the battle of Soissons-Rheims in France.Source: Fall 2006 Westbrook Historical Society newsletter (Philip E. Curran, editor)John C.L. Morgan
Did you know the warship S.S. Westbrook Victory was launched in Baltimore, Maryland in 1945? According to this Westbrook Historical Society newsletter, the cargo vessel was named in honor of Westbrook, because the city was the "community most typical of the State of Maine."I smell a new slogan brewing.- John C.L. Morgan
Speaking of the Westbrook Historical Society, I found this nugget in the program for a Westbrook High School pep rally in 1945: "The football team of 1945 was very successful, winning three games and losing six games." [Emphasis mine]Another gem--this time unrelated to the football team--was featured on the program's last page, which contained the strait-laced "Do's and Don'ts" of the rally. One of the commands sternly reads, "Don't wear a 'W' unless you have earned it."Indeed.- John C.L. Morgan
You just never know what you might dig up at the Westbrook Historical Society. This morning, I found this advertisement in the 1912 edition of The Enterprise, a pamphlet published by the The Westbrook Board of Trade.Obviously, the ad was published before the negative connotation of the swastika was so brutally seared into the universal mind of mankind.- John C.L. Morgan
Suzan Roberts Norton, the vice-president of the Westbrook Historical Society, has a new blog which features some Westbrook history. For Westbrook-related posts, click here and here. And, for all my SoPo (that would be South Portland for all you un-hipsters out there) readers, here is a link to Norton's virtual shrine to that city's Redbank neighborhood.- John C.L. Morgan
A couple days ago, I wrote a post about Westbrook native Beverly Jensen's stellar short story in this year's edition of the Best American Short Stories collection (you can read my earlier post, "Wet Wool, Warm Whiskey, and a Cold Church" here). To close that post, I hoped that a collection of Jensen's work would be published in the future. Fortunately, such a project is underway. Sort of.
Earlier today, I talked with the late Mrs. Jensen's sister, Paulette Maloney of South Portland, and she said Mrs. Jensen's stories have been organized, edited, and sent to publishers. So though I don't have a publishing date to report, or even affirmation that such a collection will be actually published, I have been assured it is being worked on. In the meantime, I recommend you devour Jensen's short story, "Wake" in the Best Short Stories collection.
To close with a bit of local trivia, Beverly Jensen's mother Idella Jensen (who, by the way, is a main character in "Wake") ran Jensen's Drive-In Store, which used to be a grocery on the site of Digby's Variety, a convenience store on New Gorham Road. I just thought I'd enrich your lives by dropping that bit of intel into your laps. You're welcome.
- John C.L. MorganP.S. I'd like to bellow a big shout-out to Donna Conley, Byron Dyer, and Diane Dyer of the Westbrook Historical Society for their help this morning.
