The 1968 Project aims to highlight some of the historic events of the year. From protests and famous battles to chart-topping popular hits and box office smashing film, 1968 was a huge historical year with reverberations that we still feel today. The 1968 Project looks to grab snippets of these events on a monthly basis and list them here with links for further exploration.
March 1st
Arthur Hailey’s book, Airport is published.
March 11th
President Johnson mandates that all computers purchased by the federal government support ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange).
March 12th
President Johnson barely defeats antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
Cover of book, Tikki Tikki Tembo, by Arlene Mosel.
March 16th
On this date, American troops massacre between 300 – 500 civilians in Vietnam. This was only later discovered in November of 1969 and would forever be known as the My Lai Massacre.
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy announces his entrance into the race for the Democratic candidate for President.
March 18th
Mel Brook’s film, The Producers debuts in theaters.
March 20th
Danish film director, Carl Theodor Dreyer passes away in Denmark.
March 22nd Daniel Cohn-Bendit and 7 other students occupy the administrative offices of the University of Nanterre. This was the beginning of political protest, which would come to a head later in the year bringing France to the edge of revolution.
March 23rd
Miles Davis releases his album, Nefertiti.
This is the cover art for “Nefertiti” by the artist Miles Davis. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Columbia Records, or the graphic artist(s).
March 25th
Peter S. Beagle publishes The Last Unicorn, which later is developed into an animated film starring Mia Farrow.
March 27th
Tennessee Williams debuts his play, The Seven Descents of Myrtle, adapted from his short story “Kingdom of Earth,” at the Ethyl Barrymore Theater in New York, New York.
March 29th
Detective film, Madigan, starring Henry Fonda debuts.
March 31st
On national television, President Johnson announces, he will not run for re-election. “I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party as your President.”
“What we have won when all our people were united must not be lost in partisanship. I have concluded that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in partisan decisions.”
Be sure to come back at the end of next month when we look at what happened in April of 1968!
The collection comprises archival artifacts such as postcards, photographs, cemetery records, scrapbooks, periodicals, maps, reports, audiovisuals (including sound recordings and books by Ruth Sargent), and Peaks Island printed material spanning from the early 20th century- up to the present. More than 4,500 scans were made.
Above: An original photograph of Forest City Landing.
Below: Some examples of Peaks Island postcards.
Processing (arrangement, description, archival rehousing), digital scanning, and web uploading was accomplished between October 2017 and January 2018, in the PPL’s Portland Room, by a production team consisting of Portland Room staff and Peaks Island volunteers. We are grateful for the supporting generosity of the Peaks Island Fund and the Casco Bay Islands Alliance in making this project possible.
Project photos:
Nancy, Monica, and Abraham- processing the Peaks Island collection, and building the electronic Finding Aid, in the Portland Room.
Cindy, Eric, and Sarah- digitizing the Peaks Island scrapbooks, using a special Zeutschel book scanner at the Main Library.
PPL archivist Abraham scanning, encoding, and uploading back issues of “Nor’ by East” to PPL’s Peaks Island Archives Digital Commons page.
The original archival material, now preserved and digitized, will return to the Peaks Island Branch Library, later this year. Happy Browsing!
All the archival materials are processed and rehoused in preservation enclosures, as well as digitized.
Portland’s esteemed and much-loved Fire Department celebrates its 250th anniversary this month. The City of Portland will recognize two-and-a-half centuries of the Fire Department’s service, with a special proclamation and observance at the Portland Fire Museum, on March 29th. Joining this extraordinary commemoration, the Library’s Portland Room is now exhibiting artifacts and photographs that attest to the brilliant history of the Portland Fire Department.
Above: Apr 1947 – Portland Fire Department fireman on a ladder truck; Second Parish Presbyterian Church (371 Congress Street) in background.
Below: January 1952 – Fire, at James Fruit Company, 225 Commercial Street.
Below: Portland Fire Department locations, in order: Central Fire Station, Congress Street, Woodfords Corner, and Peaks Island:
Below: Views from the Portland Room archival exhibit:
Additional artifacts, such as a leather bucket, an antique Portland fire helmet, and a hose nozzle from an East Deering firehouse, have been lent by the Portland Fire Museum for the exhibit. Below: Another ladder rescue, this time by Fireman Joseph R. Miller, on October 19, 1955.
Come on up and check out the exhibit! The Portland Room is open Mondays-Thursdays, 10am-7pm; Fridays, 10am-6pm.
___________________________ Archivist’s postscriptum:
During the processing (arrangement, description, and archival rehousing) of our large collection of photographic still film, I discovered a negative which had unusual crayon lines drawn across both sides:
A series of immersion baths in distilled water and Photo-Flo 200 wetting agent loosened the crayon marks from both the emulsion and acetate-base sides of the film, allowing me to completely remove the marks with cotton swabs:
The scanned image reveals the scene of a fire at Maine Medical Center, on August 11, 1962, and now the visual information is preserved.
