“A nation is a group of people who share—or believe they share—a common culture, ethnic origin, language, historical experience, artifacts, and symbols.”
- Colin Woodard, American Nations (2011)
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In that book, in American Character and, most recently, in Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood, Freeport-based author-journalist Woodard examines competing forces and narratives that have informed or challenged our sense of national identity and unity. Both his award-winning volumes and Portland Press Herald columns offer insights, particularly for readers mulling contentious times. And so, an issue about change.
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It’s the eve of a Presidential inauguration, and the landmark inauguration of our first female, black, and Asian-descended Vice President. Reason to look forward. And, as we anticipate those auspicious events tomorrow, let’s recall an earlier inauguration. It’s one from nine decades ago, when our country was desperate and despairing. (And it has both a Maine and a Maine State Museum connection.)
Mary Knowlton Bond (left, with her husband Rufus) was born to Belmont, Maine farmers in 1898, and she later worked as a registered nurse. In 1933, while living in New York, she journeyed to Washington, DC with her lawyer husband to attend the March 4th inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
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At the peak of the Great Depression, the country was still beset with economic woes. The populace eagerly awaited a change of administration and Roosevelt’s remarks that day. Thousands attended the ceremony at the U.S. Capitol and millions more listened to the radio broadcast. (Here you can watch his speech or read it.)
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Top: The Bonds stand at the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. Middle: Parade seat tickets for the Inauguration of the U.S. President and Vice President. Here: Commemorative panoramic photo of the event. (MSM 75.131) |
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After successful careers in Manhattan, Marjorie and Rufus Bond retired to Waterville, Maine. Seven years before her death in 1982, Marjorie donated a collection of paper materials to the Maine State Museum. Along with the inauguration souvenirs above, the collection includes family papers and 1916 records for the Belmont Ladies Sewing Circle, of which Marjorie was a co-founder. |
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Transitions at the Museum |
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Like most of our country, the Maine State Museum has experienced significant changes over the course of the past year. Among the most positive was the appointment in October of MSM’s new Curator of Archives Zachariah Selley - who discovered and provided the Bond story and its illustrations.
This new staff member joined the museum after seven years as Associate Head of Collections and Archives at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and with many years in public libraries prior to that. Here's a brief Q&A to introduce him.
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Where did you grow up, Zach, and what led you to archival work?
ZS: I’m originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, and I moved to the Paciic Northwest about 25 years ago. I started out working in photography – my own fine art work and photography for others. I enjoyed the printing and processing part of it, but as digital photography became more of the norm, my career shifted into print music publishing. I’d initially studied music history and philosophy. But libraries and archives always attracted me.
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How did you train for that work? |
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ZS: Along the way, I acquired a Master’s in Library and Information Science and, in parallel, an archives training certificate for specialized work with rare books and unique materials.
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Tell us some highlights of your work while at Lewis and Clark. |
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ZS: Not surprisingly I got to immerse myself in the fascinating history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I was also able to work extensively with the archives of Oregon poet William Stafford (1914-1993) and to create a collection on Oregon Poetic Voices for the college and community.
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What drew you across the country to Maine and this museum? |
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ZS: I’ve always loved New England. On vacations in the fall, I would often come east and make long leisurely drives through Maine and Vermont. When I came out for my first in-person interview last July, I was tremendously impressed, both by the scope and depth of the exhibitions I was able to view, and by the passion and professionalism of everyone on staff, especially while contending with the conditions brought on by the pandemic and subsequent building closure.
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How do you view your new role?
ZS: My charge is to identify historically important material in the manuscript collections, and to grow them, to help fulfill the museum’s mission. In other words: enriching and supporting research, exhibits, and education activities to showcase what is best, most important, and most distinctive about Maine.
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Don't Forget: Register for Friends' Annual Meeting: Getting Back to Nature
Join us online next Tuesday, January 25 at 4 pm, with Curator of Life Sciences and Archaeology, Paula T. Work, Museum Director Bernard Fishman, and special guest, Judy A. Camuso, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. To receive a link, call (207) 287-2304 and leave your name(s), email address, and telephone number; or email that same infomation to this address. Deadline: Friday, January 22.
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As always, and especially now, we appreciate your support of the
Maine State Museum and the Friends..
Until our next “connection,” please stay safe and healthy!
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