Photo By Staff Sgt. Angela Parady | Bernard Fishman, museum director for the Maine State Museum, and Kate McBrien, the...... read more read more
AUGUSTA, Maine - There they sit, shelf after shelf of dusty books amongst framed black and white photographs. Helmets, and military uniforms, some dating back to the civil war stand on metal racks, waiting to be noticed, and for their story to be told. Artifacts from a long past era, stories of triumph and tragedy, of camaraderie and shared struggles wait here, rescued from an attic somewhere, waiting to once again be remarkable.
The shelves are located in the upstairs of the Maine Armed Forces Museum (formerly the Maine Military Museum), located on Camp Keyes in Augusta. Donations could reveal personal insights of state history, but collect dust on shelves waiting for volunteers to come to their rescue. The museum is happy to have such a large collection, but is overwhelmed by a lack of resources and space to display such vibrant military history.
Run on donations and volunteer efforts, the space is loaned from the Maine National Guard who sponsors and supports the not-for profit organization’s mission. Despite their best efforts, the museum has not been able to keep up with the amount of donated items.
Dave Googins, chairman of the Board of Directors for the museum said that the volunteer effort just isn’t enough, either to sort through the collections, or to garner more community interest. Currently, the museum is only open to the public on the first Sunday of each month and by appointment.
“There is talk about making a full-time position here,” said Googins. “That person would be here every day, and they could start working to recruit people to help them sort out the artifacts upstairs, and begin to fully catalogue what we have.”
The museum’s goal is to tell the full narration of Maine’s role in the military to as many people as possible. While the collection seems massive, Googins knows there are still some blank spaces.
“We have periods missing, there is nothing on the Indian Wars, where Maine was greatly involved,” he said. “We have stuff from the Revolutionary War, but nothing on the bombardment of Portland, or the burning of Falmouth. We don’t have anything that speaks to Benedict Arnold’s trek through Maine on his way to Quebec. The massive shipbuilding efforts that helped win the battle of the Atlantic. In more recent history, there is nothing on the ice storm of 1998. There is a lot to navigate, document, and portray.”
The museum is owned and operated by the Maine Military Historical Society which is not affiliated with the Maine National Guard. The entities, through Googins and The Adjutant General of Maine, Brig. Gen. James D. Campbell, work together, but neither can directly influence the other.
Campbell has been working with Googins and the Maine State Museums program to try to find new cooperative ideas to work together. His concern with the museum has existed since before he became the adjutant general. Part of his frustration is knowing that the museum houses a phenomenal collection, that isn’t being used, he said.
“First of all, they don’t have adequate space to house everything they have, they also don’t have enough people to help them manage this collection, and they also don’t have enough money to do the kind of things they need to do to preserve it and display it appropriately,” said Campbell. “The reason we have this stuff, is because we want people to see it. We want people in Maine to know the history of the military in Maine.”
Campbell earned his Ph. D. in British history at University of Maine in Orono, is passionate about, and a strong advocate for understanding the past, especially as it pertains to the military.
“One of the things that sets us apart from any other job, is that as a military profession, we have these traditions,” he said. “In some senses the military is defined by its traditions, which are in turn derived from our history. The fact that we wear the uniforms we wear, how we stand in a formation, the salute, everything we do, is part of this tradition and history. Without understanding or having any connection to that, the average soldier or airman is losing out on this deeply important part of our profession.”
He pointed specifically to the 133rd Engineer Battalion that is currently deployed to Afghanistan. The lineage of that battalion traces back to the Cumberland Regiment of Militia in the 1760s.
“They aren’t just a group of people from Maine downrange doing a job, there is so much more that they represent in those traditions and that history that are incredibly important. It helps create pride in what you do, esprit de corps. People want to be something larger than themselves, and that history and tradition we have is part of that. I think it’s really important that we capture what we do, and preserve it. Being in the military, we make history every day. “
Googins is working with Campbell, and the Director of Maine State Museums to come up with some cooperative efforts to revive the museum.
Both Googins and Campbell share a similar vision for the museum in the near future. The short term goal is to have updated displays that can be changed out to remain pertinent with the ongoing events in Maine, more visitors, and more eyes on the artifacts. Even just getting National Guard soldiers who are drilling to go through the museum and take some time to learn about their own history, generate interest in their past.
Googins has worked with the museum for the last four years, says they have everything from muskets to machine guns, tunics to body armor.
“It is always important to remember history,” he said. “It’s nice when a soldier can come in today and look at what we had in the past, the weapons, the uniforms, the c-rations. When you see the equipment we used to have, and what we have now, a soldier can really appreciate that. It is nice to be able to see the progressing technology, it’s important to remember history.”
| Date Taken: | 01.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2014 14:41 |
| Story ID: | 120399 |
| Location: | AUGUSTA, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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