JUST HISTORY PROJECT – SATURDAY, JUNE 7 @ 1:00 PM
We are pleased to welcome Kennebunk resident Bill Grabin to Graves Library on Saturday, June 7 @ 1:00 pm to give us an overview of the Just History Project Website recently launched by the Brick Store Museum. Mr. Grabin will go through the goals of the JHP website and how to contribute to this ongoing resource.
The Just History Project website, an initiative aimed at uncovering and documenting the often-overlooked histories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Kennebunk and the surrounding towns of Wells, Kennebunkport and Arundel, has been launched by the Brick Store Museum. The resulting Just History Database can be found on the Museum’s website at www.brickstoremuseum.org/justhistory. The site intends to tell the stories of individuals who lived in the region before European colonization and through periods of enslavement and oppression.
The project will continue to expand as new information is uncovered, continuously offering a more complete picture of the region’s past. The Museum welcomes contributions regarding individuals that could be added, or related information. The Database includes hundreds of people; as well as a search and index page. Additionally, the website contains a section for research articles that complement and expand on the information included in the database. It is designed to be an educational resource for students, researchers, and community members alike. Work to develop the technology behind the database was supported by a grant from the Kennebunk Savings Bank Foundation and additional advisory contributions from the Museum’s community partner BBsquared.
The complex relationships between interconnected groups dramatically shaped this region’s past, and continue to impact us today. Through extensive research now published in the online database, the project has uncovered hundreds of names and stories of people whose lives were previously undocumented or forgotten.
“When I began this project, I did not anticipate how many stories I would uncover and how many of the early settlers of our towns would be involved. I was particularly impacted by the primary source documents that I was able to locate,” said lead researcher Bill Grabin. For more information about the Just History Project or to access the database, please visit www.brickstoremuseum.org/justhistory.
The Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library is located at 18 Maine Street, Kennebunkport, Maine. Parking for this event is available at Consolidated School (Route 9) and the Village Fire Station (North Street). Doors open at 12:30 pm
The above photo is from the New Hampshire Gazette and Historical Chronicle, appearing in the December 30, 1774, January 6, 1775 and January 13, 1775 editions.