The Chebeague Island Historical Society is pleased to announce the schedule for the 2026 Ellsworth Miller Memorial Lecture Series
The series was founded with the support of Cap Leonard in memory of listening to the War stories of Ellsworth Miller, who made Chebeague history come alive for everyone lucky enough to hear his stories. This family tradition has been kept alive by his daughter Donna Damon, who happily will be presenting the program at the apex of the summer season in August. The four talks will be held at the Island Community Hall and will begin at 7 PM.
The series will kick off on Saturday, June 27th. preceding the 2026 annual meeting. The talk, “A Bridge Too Far,” will be given by CIHS Board member Philip Merrill and will detail the determined effort made by the people of Chebeague in the 1950’s and 60s to build a bridge connecting this island to the mainland. The talk will end by engaging those present in speculation on how our island would have changed if those endeavors had been blessed with success.
The July talk on the evening of Monday the 27th will be by CIHS Board member Michael Porter, who is no stranger to the CIHS podium. His talk, “East is East and West is West,” will be illustrated with maps that chronicle the development of the road system we have today and how that development influenced where people worshiped and went to school.
The August talk on Monday evening, the 24th of August, will be presented by Donna Damon. Her talk, “The Steamboat Is Coming,” will trace how the growing tourism business led to commercial craft whose purpose was to convey visitors to and from our island, and thus point the way to the ferry systems that serve us today.
Come September, on the evening of the 28th, Suzie Arnold, the Senior Ocean Scientist at the Island Institute, will take the podium to discuss “The Changing Waters that Surround Us” and will trace the temperature and height of those waters over the years and how those changes have impacted the way Chebeaguers have lived and made a living. The hope is that the talk will stimulate a discussion by and about our neighbors who have spent their lives on these familiar waters.
As usual, CIHS will provide refreshments at all four of these events to those who gather at the Community Hall, to celebrate our roots, and reflect on how these ties influence our time on Chebeague.
News Briefs and Reminders
March Mystery Photo
The CIHS collects paintings as well as images of paintings from private collections of Chebeague or by island-connected artists. Can you identify the location, approximate decade, and the artist of this painting? Email Donna at [email protected].
February Mystery Photo Revealed
Several people correctly identified some of the questions relating to the February Mystery photo, but no one got them all! The photo depicts some members of the Ridge family (Shattuck ancestors) posed by the tennis court that was in front of what is now known as the Hulburt House (originally Joel Ricker c. 1810). At that time, it was owned by the Howell family (the Hulburts are Howell descendants). The house in the background is the Dorticos cottage (now Glass).
