The
Maine Primary Sources is a pack of 20 primary source documents that are relevant to the history in Maine. We have created a
FREE Online Teacher’s Guide for Primary Sources to help you to teach primary sources more effectively and use creative strategies for integrating primary source materials into your classroom. This
FREE Online Teacher's Guide for Primary Sources is 15 pages. It includes teacher tools, student handouts, and student worksheets. Click
HERE to download the
FREE Online Teacher's Guide for Primary Sources.
The Maine Primary Sources will help your students build common core skills including:
• Analysis
• Critical Thinking
• Point of View
• Compare and Contrast
• Order of Events
• And Much More!
Perfect for gallery walks and literature circles! Great research and reference materials!
The 20
Maine Primary Sources are:
• British map of Maine showing the region of the Piscataqua River – circa 1670
• Painting entitled Destruction of the American Fleet at Penobscot Bay, 14 August 1779 – American Revolution
• Photograph of 1860 presidential election campaign button featuring Maine Senator Hannibal Hamlin as Abraham Lincoln’s vice presidential running mate – Lincoln’s picture is on the other side of the button
• Photograph of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain – Maine-born Civil War general who received the Medal of Honor for his command of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg – 1863
• Political cartoon showing Maine politician James G. Blaine covered in his scandals – 1884
• Telegram (top) sent to the Portsmouth Navy Yard directing that all flags be flown at half mast due to the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana, Cuba’s harbor – February 1898
• Photograph of lobster traps, buoys, and nets near Grindstone Inn, Winter Harbor – lobster fishing is important industry in Maine – circa 1910
• Diary entry of Robert Peary when his expedition reached the geographic North Pole – Peary grew up in Portland – April 1909
• Workers unload potatoes in Caribou – potatoes have been grown in Maine since Irish immigrant farmers started planting them in the 1700s – 1940
• Photograph of cargo ship for Britain being prepared for launch in Portland – workers in Maine shipyards built hundreds of ships during World War II – 1942
• Photograph of workmen feeding logs through the sluice at Long Pond – state of Maine was once a world leader in lumber production – 1943
• Photograph of Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith with Eleanor Roosevelt on Face the Nation television program – Smith was first woman elected to both houses of Congress –1956
• Cover of TIME Magazine in 1939 featuring Nelson Rockefeller – born in Maine; served as 41st Vice President of the United States from 1974-1977
• Photograph of West Quoddy Head Light in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost point of the contiguous United States – circa 1990
• Photograph of President George Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and President George H.W. Bush touring the coastline near H.W. Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine – 2007
• Photograph of the view from the top of Mount Katahdin – northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail – 2007
• Aerial photograph of Acadia National Park – 2009
• Population density map of Maine – 2010
• Photograph of house in Brunswick where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin – photo taken 2013
• Photograph of giant boot in front of L.L. Bean retail store in Freeport – famous retail chain is based in Maine – 2006
Your students will:
• think critically and analytically, interpret events, and question various perspectives of history.
• participate in active learning by creating their own interpretations instead of memorizing facts and a writer’s interpretations.
• integrate and evaluate information provided in diverse media formats to deepen their understanding of historical events.
• experience a more relevant and meaningful learning experience.
Each primary resource is printed on sturdy 8.5" X 11" cardstock.