Write For Chebacco

Call for Authors: Chebacco 2028 -Sinners and Saints

The Mount Desert Island Historical Society is also spreading the word about the 2028 issue of Chebacco. If you are interested in writing for the Sinners and Saints edition, click HERE to email a 100- to 250-word article proposal to Raney Bench by April 30, 2027. The deadline for first drafts is early September 2027, with time for editing and revisions as needed prior to copyediting in December 2027.

About the Issue & Theme: We do history a disservice by claiming "times were simpler." Times were never simpler; each generation faced the most complex challenges of its day. Flattening history into heroes and villains distorts our understanding of real people and their place in the human story. People are complex, and history is never simply one thing or the other. How we judge the past shifts with time, shaped by the values we hold in the present. Most people are a little of both — sinners and saints — and to know their full stories is to see ourselves reflected in their struggles, contradictions, and moments of grace. This edition explores the complexities of human experience on MDI, challenging what we think we know and reimagining the people who shaped this island. By recognizing that historical decisions spring from tangled motivations and are filtered through time and perspective, these articles will reveal how MDI's communities shaped and challenged one another —and why history is relevant to our challenges today. 

Possible topics to explore, but feel free to submit your own ideas: Brothels on MDI • Eugenic science of the early 20th century • Drug smuggling and/or consumers of illegal or smuggled substances • Pest houses • Land conservation vs. accessibility and affordability • Cruise ships, hotels, businesses, tourism • Island characters, enigmas or paradoxes (Capt. Hadlock, Gunnar Hanson, etc) • Nursing Association, libraries, or other civic support nonprofits filling in vital service gaps • Lupine and other beloved invasive species • Changing community and cultural values and removing monuments • Colonialism from the Wabanki perspective • New/Social Media as a community connector & polarizer

About Chebacco: Chebacco is published annually and has won national and regional awards for excellence. The journal is distributed to approximately 800 readers and is available online through our website. Chebacco is printed in full color, in large format, with illustrations and commissioned artwork.  Authors are also invited to give talks about their articles after publication. Each article is approximately 3,000 words long, written in a historically rigorous yet accessible style, and edited by professional editors for accuracy and excellence. For specific guidelines, click here to read our author’s guide.