Andy O Brien Historical Articles

They Petitioned, They Protested, They Went to Jail & They Won

As the 19th century drew to a close, Maine suffragists continued to push for the right of women to vote, but it wasn’t easy dealing with an intractable state Legislature full of men who were either indifferent or downright hostile to the cause. . . .
Maine Women Continue the Fight for Voting Rights & Fair Treatment

When Cynthia H. Crabtree Abbott of Hancock set out to do an errand at the local general store in September of 1869, she had no inkling that she would spend the next several days on the run after making a harrowing escape from an insane . . .
When Maine Suffragists Fought for Their Right to Vote

When Lavinia Snow sent for a reporter from the Courier-Gazette to write her obituary in the fall of 1916, she knew there was a good chance that she might not see the spring. But at 90 years old she had lived a long, extraordinary . . .
Remembering Peterborough — Warren’s 19th Century Free Black Colony

About a mile off Route 1, on the other side of the train tracks and down a little path through the woods in Warren, lies a memorial to Peterborough, a long lost settlement that was once a thriving community in the 19th century. . . .
When the Fire of the Ku Klux Klan Burned Hot in Maine

On an August evening nearly 92 years ago, hundreds of Rocklanders gathered on Middle Street (now Talbot Avenue) for what the Courier-Gazette then described as “one of the most remarkable scenes in Rockland’s history.” . . .
A Message to Mainers Waving the Flag of the Confederacy

It was a beautiful 4th of July morning as we drove up Route 17 on our way to the annual Whitefield 4th of July Parade. In little towns across the state, Mainers were preparing picnics . . .
When the Irish Refugees Came to Maine

Maine's people are diverse," wrote former Senator George Mitchell in the preface to "They Change Their Sky: The Irish in Maine," a collection of essays edited by Maine historian Michael Connolly . . .
The Struggles of a Local Chinese Artist in the Era of Exclusion

When I. Nee Lee emigrated from Hong Kong to the U.S. in 1902, it was not an easy time to be Chinese in America. It was the year that Congress made permanent the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act . . .
The Lost History of the Rockland Recording Studio

When local musician Spike Hyssong began searching for a second copy of an album recorded by his grandfather in 1969, he had no idea that he was about to discover a rich piece of the city's cultural history. The Harborside Gospel Quartet . . .
Recalling Midcoast Maine's Forgotten Labor Past

From Rockport to St. George and the islands of Penobscot Bay, the land is pockmarked with the deep pits of an industry that long ago was the economic engine for the midcoast. . . .
The March that Sparked a New Era for Civil Rights in Maine

Fifty years ago last week, 100 Mainers made the journey to the nation's capital to join over 200,000 people for one of the largest mass demonstrations in US history and what would become . . .
Adas Yoshuron and Rockland's "Jewish Colony"

"Once upon a time, when our grandparents and great-grandparents were knocking at America's doors, America took them in," former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler told the members . . .
British Raids and Privateering: The War of 1812 Comes to the Midcoast

Two hundred years ago was a turbulent time to live on the coast in the District of Maine, then still part of Massachusetts. The newly established United States was in its infancy and the Napoleonic Wars . . .

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