Gunpowder mills of Maine research papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 4205

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

The collection spans the research, writing, and distribution of Whitten's pamphlet and book, along with associated lectures he prepared on the subject. Contents are divided into two series: 1. Research notes and reference and 2. Publication and promotion, comprising manuscript, printed documents, photographs, scrapbook pages and film negatives. Contains many photocopies.

Dates

1898 - 2013
Majority of material found within 1972 - 1989

Creator

Whitten, Maurice M., 1923-2021 (Person)

Access

Unrestricted.

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Biographical note

Maurice M. Whitten (1923-2021) taught science and chemistry in high schools and at the University of Southern Maine until 1983. As a professor emeritus, he conducted extensive research on historical gunpowder manufacturing in Maine, writing and publishing the pamphlet The Gunpowder Mills of Gorham in 1985-1986 (republished as The Gunpowder Mills of Gorham-Windham in 2012). This research grew into a more comprehensive book The Gunpowder Mills of Maine, published in 1990, covering the development, operation, and closure of Maine's largest mills in Gorham-Windham (responsible for one quarter of the Union's gunpowder during the Civil War), along with smaller mills in North Buckfield-Sumner, Camden, and Warren.

At one point, Maurice Whitten was the president of the Cumberland & Oxford Canal Association.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Series 1. Research notes and reference (Boxes 1-3)
Series 2. Publication and promotion (Box 4)

Provenance

Gift of the estate of Maurice Whitten, per his wishes, August 2021 (acc. no. 2021.108).

Related material

See also the following material in the MHS collection:

Oriental powder mills, scrapbook, Coll. 2734
The gunpowder mills of Gorham, Maine, pamphlet (1985), M 662.26 W618g
The gunpowder mills of Maine, book (1990), M 662.26 W618
The gunpowder mills of Gorham-Windham, Maine, pamphlet (2012), Pamphlet 4806

Processing note

Whitten organized the collection to the folder level, and MHS retained this original order and labeling, with the exception of division into series and occasional consolidation. Note that due to this preservation of original order, some folders contain items relevant to both series. All folder contents were rehoused, and duplicate documents were weeded beyond two copies. A CD presumed to contain digital images accompanied the collection, but an inspection revealed no contents.

The dates of the collection reflect the dates of the original documents in this collection, not the dates of the photocopied material, which dates back to 1640.