BETHEL — Two special events will take place this month in connection with the “Local & Legendary: Maine in the Civil War” project, a year-long collaboration between Gould Academy, the Bethel Historical Society and the Bethel Library Association.
At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, the final book discussion of “Civil War Stories” by Ambrose Bierce will take place upstairs at the Bethel Library. Author Doug Rawlings of Chesterville will once again be the facilitator.
On Saturday, March 28, the Bethel Historical Society will host a program titled “Women Soldiers of the Civil War.” The event will begin at 2 p.m. at the Dr. Moses Mason House and will feature a film, followed by a discussion. The free program is open to the public and refreshments will be served.
Gould Academy, the Bethel Historical Society and the Bethel Library Association are bringing local Civil War history to life thanks to a $2,000 grant awarded by the Maine Historical Society and Maine Humanities Council.
Part of a joint MHS and MHC project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the program aims to bring Maine libraries and educational and historical organizations together to explore local Civil War history and engage their communities. Bethel is one of five communities in Maine to receive the grant in the second and final round of project awards.
As part of its continuing effort to share its collections with other institutions and the general public, the Bethel Historical Society has loaned the original record book of the White Mountain Club of Portland (1873-1884) — North America’s second mountaineering organization — to the Museum of the White Mountains at Plymouth State University for its upcoming exhibition, “Trail Clubs: Connecting People with the Mountains.”
Curated by Steve Smith, Mike Dickerman and Ben Amsden, the year-long display opens at Plymouth, N.H., on March 31 and runs through March 6, 2016.
Designed to enhance visitors’ knowledge and appreciation of the important role trail clubs have played in creating an iconic hiking trail system in the White Mountain region from 1873 to today, the exhibition will include a full-scale, hand-crafted log shelter donated by John Nininger, owner of the Wooden House Co., Ltd. in Newbury, Vt. Following the exhibition, the shelter will be dismantled and rebuilt by the Cohos Trail Association along its long-distance trail in Northern New Hampshire, continuing the age-old tradition of trail clubs bringing volunteers together to benefit the hiking community.
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