Mildred Giddings Burrage collection

Mildred Giddings Burrage was born in Portland, Maine to Henry Sweetser Burrage and his second wife Ernestine (Giddings) on 18 May 1890. Raised in Kennebunkport, Mildred studied art from a young age. She was educated at Miss Wheeler’s School in Rhode Island, with whom she traveled to Europe during the early 1910s. Forced to return to the United States at the onset of WWI, Mildred turned to her artwork as well traveling throughout the US.

She actively participated in the WPA in the 1930s and 40s. Her most notable work during the era was her handkerchief map of Washington DC, a project with Frederick A. Delano (FDR's uncle) inspired by a 1792 map of the district. Both Mildred and her sister supported the war effort that followed and continued to work as artists, teaching art to soldiers at the Halloran General Hospital in Staten Island, NY. Burrage completed one of her more famous murals during this period at Bryn Mawr College, in the science building.

With a move to Wiscasset, ME in the 1940s, Mildred's interest in historic preservation took hold. She later assisted in establishing the Lincoln County Cultural and Historical Association, which helped preserve the Old Wiscasset Jail House (Wiscasset Jail Museum). Mildred was also fundamental in the formation of the Maine crafts movement, dedicated to "carrying out ideas of simplicity, suitability and perfect beauty," as well as for her work with the handicraft trails of Maine.

The remainder of her life was dedicated to historic preservation, promoting the Maine craft movement, and her own artwork including the development of a unique style of painting on mica. She exhibited throughout the United States, including New York, San Francisco and Chicago. She established a strong relationship with Colby College, assisting in the formation of the art museum at Colby and was awarded an honorary Masters' degree in 1963 (along with her sister Madeleine). Mildred Burrage continued to work as an artist until her death at the age of 92 in March of 1983.

Mildred and her sister Madeleine lived together all their lives. She and her sister, who pre-deceased her, are buried under one tomb stone at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, ME

Madeleine Burrage, younger sister of Mildred, was born in Portland, Maine on 19 December 1891. She was the youngest child of Henry Sweetser Burrage and his second wife Ernestine. Madeleine lived alongside her older sister in Kennebunkport and Wiscasset. She was a jeweler by trade and equally supported the Maine arts movement. An avid cook, she published in The Boston Cooking School Magazine. Madeleine exhibited her works in a number of cities along the East Coast, and was well known for her work with gem stones. Madeline pre-deceased her sister in 1976.