Program Archive
Chebacco Chats Archives can be found HERE
Chebacco Chats Archives can be found HERE
In this September 24, 2024 presentation, Jenna Jandreau, author of the article “Learning from LaRue” published in the 2024 edition of Chebacco, talked about LaRue Spiker's prolific writing and photography in the area, and the impact both her creativity and conscience had on the people and places of Mount Desert Island.
On Thursday, September 11, 2024, author and historian Mac Smith for a discussed his latest book “Plain Madeleine: Mrs. John Jacob Astor in Bar Harbor” documenting Madeleine Astor’s life and the Astor presence in Bar Harbor, putting her story in the context of Bar Harbor's Golden Age
On August 28, 2024 University of Maine lecturer and MDI Historical Society Collections Manager Dr. Patrick Callaway spoke about his 2024 Chebacco article 'The Mount Desert Island Committee for Peace, 1962-1966.'
This talk was a preview of Anna Durand’s upcoming ‘Chebacco 2025” article exploring how MDI goods (like lumber and dried fish) were traded for molasses, sugar, and salt, which were in turn sold in local stores and incorporated into family recipes, undermining the claim that New England and Maine were outside of the economic structures of slavery.
On July 18, Ella Kotsen discussed her research and inspiration for her 2024 Chebacco article Ruth Moore’s Microcosm: Narratives that Deconstruct Notions of Inside and Outside. Gott’s Island/Tremont author Ruth Moore wrote narratives that told local working-class stories while also exploring the unique perspective offered by being “from away.” . The program was a collaboration between the Northeast Harbor Library and the MDI Historical Society.
Affordable and available housing has reached a crisis on Mount Desert Island and difficult conversations are taking place in every community about possible solutions. How did we get here?
On Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. Raney Bench from the Mount Desert Island Historical Society, and Susanne Paul and Noel Musson with the Housing Solutions Initiative presented "Housing, Historic Struggles, and Thoughts on the Future”
On June 12, 2024, Carl Little shared a slide talk based on his 2024 Chebacco essay, Mary Cabot Wheelwright’s ‘Journey Towards Understanding.’ This talk took place at the Northeast Harbor Library.
On June 13 at 7 p.m. at Jesup Memorial Library, Anne Kozak presented slides tracing the development of the Wild Gardens Of Acadia, as well as highlights from the last 63 years. The 2024 issue of the MDI Historical Society’s history journal Chebacco explores how summer and year-round residents have changed Mount Desert Island through initiatives that broaden and enhance living and visiting here.
On May 30, 2024 Mollie Cashwell spoke about the Jesup Memorial Library's Print Room and her research while writing her article for the history journal Chebacco.
On Thursday, April 25, 2024 at the Jesup Memorial Library, Dr. Patrick Callaway, lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Maine and Collections Manager at the MDI Historical Society shared how British authorities saw downeast Maine and interacted with Mainers in peace and war.
On Friday, March 22, 2024, we welcomed Brent Richardson for an evening of storytelling from 20th-century Mount Desert Island.
On February 7, 2024 MDI Adult Education invited MDI Historical Society Director Raney Bench to present “Wicked Pissah! -Storms, Survival, and Sea Level Rise” and share the impacts of some of Maine’s worst weather and how climate change is accelerating storm severity and sea level rise.
On January 17, 2024, Raney Bench, executive director for the MDI Historical Society, presented a brief history of the Klan in Maine, including their presence on Mount Desert Island.
On January 28, 2021 the MDI Historical Society held its annual Community Bean Supper online, featuring beloved storytellers Earl Brechlin and Dennis Damon, telling stories old and new. Damon and Brechlin both collect stories to carry on a long tradition of gifted men and women who share our collective history through tales of adventure, humor, mishaps, and the occasional haunting. They were joined by Dr. Bill Horner, founder of the Society’s bean supper, offering a humorous explanation of the gastronomical impact of consuming beans, and Sharon Joyce, owner of Ambrosia Cooking School and author of “A Culinary History of Downeast Maine,” sharing recipes and ingredients found among Downeast bean recipes. Participants share some of their tips and secrets for cooking the best beans, even if those are “beans from away.”
In addition to the virtual presentation, the Society compiled a digital cookbook of the most beloved recipes from the annual event. The book includes many varieties of traditional New England baked beans, in addition to recipes of “beans from away,” brown bread, side dishes, and pies and cookies. The ebook can be purchased HERE
The Mount Desert Island Historical Society book club met on Monday, December 4, 2023, to discuss “Women of the Dawn” by Bunny McBride
Terese Miller examines the mill locations, products, and families involved in this industry across MDI from 1762 until the early 1900s.
The Mount Desert Island Historical Society book club met on Monday, October 16, 2023, to discuss "Windswept" by Mary Ellen Chase.
Raney Bench shares tales of storms and survival from our past and what they tell us about our future.
Audrey Ryan discusses the modern aspects of Maine's smuggling history, exploring marijuana and hashish smuggling in the 70s and 80s
Tim Garrity and Jaylene Roths talk about one of the worst cases of mutiny and mass murder in American maritime history, on board the Berwind.
Libby Bischof features photographs by Lucy McMullen Dodge, taken while living on Mount Desert Rock in the early-1900s.
Steve Bromage, Executive Director of the Maine Historical Society (MHS), joined us at the 2023 Virtual Baked Bean Supper.
Raney Bench, moderates a conversation with Porter Fox, author of “The Last Winter.”