WABI, BDN advance Maine Statehood and Bicentennial Conference, History Festival

WABI (Channel 5) and the Bangor Daily News advanced the Maine Statehood and Bicentennial Conference to be held May 30–June 1 at the University of Maine. The conference will feature events, panels, presentations and concerts celebrating the unique history of Maine, its peoples, culture, politics, art and music, the reports state. Registration is online and is $60 for members of the general public; University of Maine System faculty, staff and students can register for free. The conference is one of several events marking Maine’s 200th birthday, which is March 15, 2020. “The state of Maine has its 200th birthday coming up, and this is a really great opportunity for us to think a little bit more about the long history of the state, and what we share in this common experience of a long period of Maine statehood,” Liam Riordan, UMaine professor of history, told the BDN. UMaine also will host the Maine History Festival 2:30–4:30 p.m. May 31 at the Collins Center for the Arts. Students and community organizations will share their research and public programs focusing on Maine history, society and culture at the festival, which is co-hosted by the University of Southern Maine’s Osher Map Library and UMaine’s Maine Folklife Center, in partnership with National History Day in Maine and the Maine Historical Society. Institutional partners and other contributors include the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center, the President’s Office, the University of Maine at Machias and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, WABI reported. For more information about the conference, email riordan@maine.edu; for more information about the festival, email elizabeth.bischof@maine.edu.