Free Lecture Series

With a Community Outreach Grant from the Maine Humanities Council, Spirits Alive presented a series of 3 lectures in winter 2010. All lectures will took place on Saturdays at 10:00 am at Maine Historical Society in Portland, Maine. They were popular, standing-room only events! Admission was free and refreshments were provided. A question and answer session followed each lecture.

January 30 - "Native Americans of Casco Bay"
Emerson Woods Baker II is a history professor at Salem State College whose fieldwork and research has centered on Maine, a place where English, French and Native American cultures collided. He also spoke about Native American burial practices.

February 27 - "Privateering on Casco Bay"
James L. Nelson, author of George Washington's Secret Navy, brings America’s historical connection with the sea to life through fiction and nonfiction. His writing covers a wide range of America’s maritime heritage, from piracy in Colonial Virginia to the naval action of the Civil War. Mr. Nelson will talk about privateers—armed private ships licensed to attack enemy shipping—in New England.

March 27 - "The Historical Development of Munjoy Hill"
Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, presented a lecture with accompanying postcard images of the Hill. Born in Portland, Mr. Shettleworth has been researching, speaking, and writing about Maine history since he was a teenager. He has been on the commission since 1971 and director since 1976. The Eastern Cemetery has been part of the East End, where Munjoy Hill is located, since 1668. See how the area around it has changed while it has stayed mostly the same.

Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. All lectures are open to the public.