KHS News

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (April 29, 2020) – The Corning Incorporated Foundation has made an Employee Vibrant Community Grant of $1,000 to the Kennebunkport Historical Society. Arundel resident Denise Stevens, who works at Corning as a cell culture lab technician, has volunteered for the Society since 2014. Stevens applied for the one-time grant in January. “It would be impossible for the Kennebunkport Historical Society to deliver its programs and services without the support of our loyal volunteers, members and donors,” said Executive Administrator Kirsten Camp. “This grant from the Corning Foundation has come at a particularly critical time, as the economic impacts...

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (April 14, 2020) – The Pandemic of 2020 will go down in the annuls of history as a time when people’s lives were upended and forever changed. The Kennebunkport Historical Society is creating a record of how our local communities coped with the crisis, by collecting stories of what everyday people are doing in response. “History is more than just dates and facts,” said Kennebunkport Historical Society Executive Administrator Kirsten Camp. “What makes it fascinating are the personal stories that help to paint a picture of daily life and bring the past alive. They are a critically important...

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (April 8, 2020) – With people sequestering at home during the Pandemic, the Kennebunkport Historical Society’s Archivist, Sharon Cummins, saw an opportunity to engage local history buffs.  In March she put out a call looking for “virtual volunteers” interested in transcribing handwritten records which can be difficult to read.  The response was overwhelming.  Every day, Cummins emails scanned pages from notebooks in the archives to nearly 20 volunteers who are creating typewritten copies for the Society. “Over the years handwritten information about historic buildings throughout Kennebunkport has been collected,” said Executive Administrator Kirsten Camp. “These records are used...

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (September 11, 2019) – The audience gathered for a Kennebunkport Historical Society (KHS) lecture by Board member Albert Black about The Kennebunkport Playhouse on September 3 was pleasantly surprised by a special guest appearance from international recording artist, actress and KHS member Jane Morgan Weintraub. Mrs. Weintraub’s brother, Robert Currier, founded The Kennebunkport Playhouse to bring summer theater and entertainment to the community. The Playhouse was located on River Road across from the Cape Arundel Golf Course before it burned to the ground the evening of October 29, 1971. The cause of the fire was determined to be...

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (September 4, 2019) – On August 29 the Kennebunkport Historical Society (KHS) welcomed David S. Ferriero, archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration, to discuss a four-phase project it has undertaken with the Maine Historical Society (MHS) to digitize the KHS’s extensive collections. Ferriero, who is also a member of the Society, met with Executive Administrator Kirsten Camp, KHS Board member John Zimmermann, and Henry Caiazzo, an archivist with the MHS. “It was an honor to spend the afternoon with Mr. Ferriero,” said Camp. “It’s natural to think of the Society’s collections as having a mostly local...