Historian Seth Goldstein will discuss Maine’s complex relationship with Atlantic World African enslavement. Through a deep dive into what was known as “The West Indies Trade,” Seth will explain how various commodities like lumber and salt cod, produced in Maine, were shipped to the slave plantations of the Caribbean. In return Mainers consumed large quantities of sugar, molasses, rum, and exotic fruits produced by enslaved Africans. Portland, Maine’s largest port and fish export center, was the nexus of this exchange. This event is FREE, but preregistration is required.

Join Chris Timm, interim executive director, for an exploration of the art of James Stilphen, art director and technical illustrator at Bath Iron Works, whose work created a rich world populated by Maine's maritime past, present, and future. This event is FREE, but preregistration is required.

Join local historian Barbara Desmarais for a story and a genealogy workshop. She’ll tell the true tale of the Heustons, a prominent Black family of Bath/Brunswick, Maine by sharing field and archival research she used to qualify Heuston Burying Ground as a national “Underground Railroad: Network to Freedom” site. In the hands-on workshop, she’ll use documents from her own ancestral mysteries to introduce participants to the techniques and common mistakes of genealogical research.

Geoffrey Beaumont, son of featured artist Arthur Beaumont and author of the Art of the Sea exhibit catalog, will share a personal view of his father’s life and work that produced watercolors and pen and ink drawings of naval and maritime life and action on the seas. Beaumont's works are currently on display at Maine Maritime Museum in the exhibit, "Arthur Beaumont: Art of the Sea."

Associate Professor of Africana Studies and English, Tess Chakkalakal, will discuss her collaboration with the Maine Maritime Museum in teaching the Introduction to Africana Studies in which students, for the first time in the history of the course, curated an exhibit at the Museum on the subject of ships and slavery. Professor Chakkalakal will provide insight on class conversations connecting African American literature, multiplicity of perspectives, and the challenges of exhibiting these narratives in a gallery. This event is FREE, but preregistration is required.

Come learn the history and restoration efforts behind the Schooner AJ Meerwald, a wooden oyster schooner being restored in Lincolnville, ME! Schooner AJ Meerwald, New Jersey's Official Tall Ship The 1928 Schooner AJ Meerwald is spending this winter and spring in Belfast undergoing a restoration under Clark & Eisele. During the talk, hear about the history of the AJ Meerwald with Connie McCart, co-author of The AJ Meerwald and New Jersey's Oyster Industry, to learn about the Meerwald and Phillips families and find out why the Delaware Bay's Maurice River Cove was the "Oyster Capital of the World".

A native of Portland and at least the eighth generation of his family to be born in Cumberland County, Bob Greene is a retired journalist and genealogist who has researched the Black history of his native state for years. He helped with the seminal work, “Maine’s Visible Black History, The First Chronicle of its People,” which was co-authored by H.H. Price and Gerald E. Talbot. Greene will expand our understanding of Maine’s maritime heritage to include Black contributions and histories that were always present but often overlooked. This event is FREE, but preregistration is required.

Kate McMahon, a leading scholar in New England’s complicity in the Atlantic Slave Trade, will share her latest research that implicates Maine ship captains, shipbuilding families, and the direct and indirect ways Maine’s shipbuilding industry perpetuated an American economy built on stolen labor.

Learn about the creation of _Looking for Winslow Homer_ in this free artist talk.

Julia Hansen survived the famous shipwreck of the transatlantic passenger vessel, Andrea Doria, in 1956. In addition to sharing the history of this passenger vessel, Julia will recount her personal story of being rescued at sea as a young girl and provide insights to the bygone era of Atlantic passenger travel.