Since the very beginning of the Society lectures have been an important part of the educational aspect of our mission. From then, we have brought people to the island to speak and have encouraged members to research topics and present.  We have presented everything from How to Bait a Trawl by an 85-year-old fisherman to Casco Bay in WW2 presented by various college professors and everything in between.  Through these lectures, we have developed deep connections with Maine academics such as the State historian, Earle Shettleworth and USM’s Casco Bay archaeologist, Nathan Hamilton. We asked summer folks to talk about how their families came to Chebeague and created the term “Summer Native” – yes we coined it! 

In the early days, we had a lecture or a program  every month and during the summer, we featured well-known authors and speakers from near and far.  Once we renovated the building, we began to focus more on exhibits and collections. We continued to host an occasional summer speaker, but not at the previous level.  Cap Leonard saw the value in having a strong educational program and missed the regular lectures. In 2017 he reached out with the offer to help fund the summer lectures, with one caveat – that it be known as the Ellsworth Miller Memorial Lecture Series.  He explains his rationale in the video below.

Ellsworth Miller was Donna Damon’s father. He was born on Chebeague on the West End in 1910 and to provide context his grandmother was a Doughty. He graduated from Chebeague High School and attended Northeastern University for a time but had to leave because of poor health and then the Depression made returning impossible. He was well-read and could talk about any subject.  He had a bear trap memory and listened to the stories of the “old people”.  He was a wonderful storyteller and his stories were filled with rich detail.

During WW2 he served in the Merchant Marines crossing the Atlantic many times including trips to Russia, England, Italy, and Germany after the War. Ellsworth loved kids and always found time for them.  He never tired of their questions.  Cap Leonard was one of those children.  He was inspired by the stories he heard from Ellsworth about his time at sea and a lifetime of working on the water. Cap says that Ellsworth influenced his decision to become a mariner.

When the pandemic hit us in 2020, the CIHS was looking for ways to keep the community connected. Through Zoom, the organization continued to present lectures that summer.  Some nights more than 70 people would tune in and the first 10 minutes were spent chatting with folks from the East to West Coast and from the South into Canada! When fall came the decision was made to keep the lectures coming – and we did – throughout the pandemic and beyond.  Then the pandemic ended and people wanted to meet in person during the summer, but we still had a fan base online.  We tried to do both for quite a while but it was a tech challenge. So we decided to go live during the summer and Zoom during the winter. 

Please enjoy the content that has been created through this series by exploring the following links.