Happy Women's
History Month!
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Victoria Mansion is closed for the season.
We hope to see you when we re-open in May!
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In this newsletter:
- Women's History Month Spotlight: Mae Ford Haviland
- Women's History Month Spotlight: Sabina Grady
- Help Us Reach Our Annual Fund Goal!
- Upcoming Events & Programs
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Women's History Month Spotlight: Mae Ford Haviland |
The Italianate villa at the corner of Danforth and Park streets was saved from an uncertain fate in 1940 by Dr. William Holmes and his sister Clara Holmes, and opened as Victoria Mansion, an historic house museum, the following year. In 1943, the Victoria Society of Maine Women of Achievement was founded, and Victoria Mansion was the headquarters of the Society's activities, which focused on the Victorian period and honoring Maine women in history. The first president of the Victoria Society was Mae Ford Haviland. Since 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the Victoria Society becoming stewards of the house, we wanted to take a moment this Women's History Month to reflect on Haviland's contributions to Victoria Mansion's history.
Mae Ford Haviland (1874-1978) was an accomplished pianist and organist. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Mae taught music lessons in piano, piano-forte, and organ. Born in Vermont, Mae began living part-time in Maine with her husband Foster Lane Haviland in 1910; they moved to Portland full-time in 1923. In Portland, Mae was active in the Rossini Club, a women's music organization, of which two of the Libby daughters, Alice and Mary Louise, were also active members.
Under Mae's leadership, music played a vital role in the daily activities of the Victoria Society, with several regular meetings culminating in a small performance. Mae led the Society through its earliest years, when membership involved a mix of Victorian-themed social activities and awarding titles of accomplishment to women in Maine's history in addition to regular tours and overseeing much-needed upkeep on the building. The earliest preservation projects from the 1940s-1970s were focused on the exterior, to keep the building structurally sound.
Throughout her life, Mae collected historic hymnals, and published articles about hymnology. Her extensive collection of early American hymnals was bequeathed to the Victoria Society after her death, and they remain on the shelves of the Mansion's first-floor Library along with a plaque in Mae Ford Haviland's name. Her leadership helped to guide the Mansion through its earliest years as a museum and historic institution, and we are grateful to her efforts, and those of the women in the Victoria Society throughout the 20th century.
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Above: American Hymn Book Collection, Gift of Mae Ford Haviland
This shelf is situated furthest from the Library door in Victoria Mansion. Two cases house the expansive hymnal collection bequeathed by Mae Ford Haviland to the Victoria Society.
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Women's History Month Spotlight: Sabina Grady |
Sabina Grady with a Libby grandchild on the Mansion's steps, ca. 1920. |
Have you heard about Victoria Mansion's research initiatives? Through our Unwilling Architects Initiative, we are learning more about the lives of the people known to have been enslaved by the Morses in Louisiana, and through our Backstairs Lives Initiative, we are learning more about the women and men who worked at Victoria Mansion for the Morse and Libby families as domestic servants.
In collaboration with the Maine Irish Heritage Center, Site Manager Michelle Josephson, guide Hannah Field, and volunteer Matt Barker have turned up a wealth of information about several members of the domestic staff, most of them immigrants or children of immigrants. One person we have begun to learn more about is Sabina Grady, one of many strong Irish women who came to Portland with hopes of a better life.
Sabina (pronounced Sa-BYE-nah) was born in Glennafosha, County Galway, Ireland in 1897. There were limited economic opportunities for women in Ireland at the turn of the century. She had three aunts who had already made the trip from Galway to Portland to work as domestic servants and encouraged Sabina to join them. It is possible that Sabina was introduced to the Libby family by their former maid, Katie Steed, one of Sabina’s aunts. Sabina’s middle name was Catherine, likely after her aunt Katie.
Sabina started working for the Libbys as a maid in 1916. Libby granddaughter Alice Cutter Willman remembered her fondly as “wonderful”. Sabina is the only servant for whom we have a photo that was taken at the Mansion. Pictured above is Sabina on the front steps in 1920 with a Libby grandchild, possibly Austin Chamberlain.
Sabina left the Mansion in 1923 when she married local laborer Michael Jennings. They lived near the Mansion on Brackett Street in Portland's West End. Sabina was very active with the women’s guild at nearby Saint Dominic’s Church, hosting many strawberry festivals, Christmas fairs, and bridge club events. Just before World War II, she earned Red Cross certification in home hygiene/care of the sick and in nutrition. This education surely would have been useful when she returned to work following her husband’s death in 1958. She was an aide at Mercy Hospital on State Street for many years before her death in 1970.
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This Portland Press Herald article from April 26, 1951 highlights Sabina Grady's activities at St. Dominic's Church, today home of the Maine Irish Heritage Center, down the street from Victoria Mansion. |
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Help Us Reach Our Annual Fund Goal! |
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Victoria Mansion relies on the support of our community near and far to help us realize our mission to conserve, maintain, and restore this one-of-a-kind property and share its history with the public. Our mission is put into practice every day, with preservation often happening in the public eye, such as our ongoing project to conserve the decoratively painted surfaces of the Stair Hall. Some maintenance and restoration goes almost unseen, such as off-site work to recreate a missing series of balustrades from the Mansion's front façade. Ongoing research initiatives help us better represent the Mansion within the context of its period to scholars, students, and our everyday visitors.
Support from our community helps us fund the much-needed care this historic structure requires, allowing us to consult with some of New England's top experts in historic preservation, as well as to bring our history curriculum, A Century of Change, to Maine classrooms at no cost to the school.
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We are now only $5,000 away from meeting our $50,000 Annual Fund goal! Help us reach our goal with a donation between now and the end of our fiscal year on March 31st with a gift of any size at the link here. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us in our 2022-23 fiscal year.
When you give to the Annual Fund, 100% of your gift goes directly to support Victoria Mansion, making the greatest possible impact on our educational and curatorial programs, restoration initiatives, and ongoing maintenance—all while allowing us to move the Mansion’s top priorities forward. |
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Paintings conservators Gianfranco Pocobene and Corrine Long take infrared photos of the trompe l'oeil frames on the second floor prior to beginning conservation. Tests were done to determine if graphite was used to write portrait information on the walls before paint was applied. |
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Site Manager Michelle Josephson interprets the life of Libby-era domestic servant Hannah Shine to visitors at our 2022 opening day educational tour, "And Yet She Achieved: Eight Maine Women Who Changed Our World." |
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Sand painting sample panel by longtime Mansion consultants John Leeke and Peter De Paolo, from pre-treatment (left) to primer (center) to one and two coats of paint with brownstone sand blown in (right). |
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Fragile Red Bedroom textiles laid out for cleaning by Conservation Technician Vivian Cunningham. Textiles are kept in climate-controlled storage in the former trunk room on the 3rd floor of the Mansion. |
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Upcoming Programs & Events |
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We don't have any public programming scheduled at Victoria Mansion in the near future,
but there are many Mansion-connected events coming up!
Keep an eye on our Events page for tickets and more information about upcoming programs. |
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Collaboration between Maine Historical Society, Greater Portland Landmarks, the Fifth Maine Museum, Osher Map Library &
Victoria Mansion
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We are looking forward to summer - and to Portland Explorers summer camp! We haven't been able to host a summer camp since 2018, and this year we're pleased to partner with Maine Historical Society, Greater Portland Landmarks, Osher Map Library and the Fifth Maine Museum on this week-long camp for students ages 9-12.
Go behind the scenes and learn from experts at five of Portland's top museums, get a glimpse of life in long-ago Portland through exciting activities and special field trips, work with artists, museum curators, historians, educators and volunteer docents, and explore photography, cooking, arts and crafts, and even spooky cemetery symbols!
Portland Explorers camp runs from August 7-11, 2023. Cost is $250/members (of any of the partner museums) and $300/general public. Space is limited - register at the link below!
Questions about Portland Explorers? Contact Staci Hanscom, Victoria Mansion Director of Education & Public Programs, at shanscom@victoriamansion.org or (207) 772-4841 ext. 104.
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We are looking for docents and part-time paid guides to join us for 2023!
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Members enjoy year-round free admission, discounts in the Museum Shop, and invitations to exclusive events. Become a member today to assist in our conservation efforts and receive the first news about upcoming Victoria Mansion events and programs. |
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The Staff of Victoria Mansion
Timothy Brosnihan, Executive Director
Ann O'Hagan, Director of Development
Stacia Hanscom, Director of Education & Public Programs
Siobhan Lindsay, Conservator
Brittany Cook, Development & Communications Coordinator
Molly Kingsbury, Museum Shop Buyer & Merchandiser
Sue Flaherty, Visitor Services Coordinator
Michelle Josephson, Senior Site Manager
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