Denmark Historical Society announces a revolutionary plan for its archives. For several years volunteers have spent hours sorting and cataloging the collection. It’s time for the public to use the archive and we want to make that possible.
We have the bold plan to digitize our collection of ledgers from businesses and the municipality, diaries, almanacs, records, photographs and postcards.
We are preparing our community’s historic collection for the future by having it professionally scanned. We teamed with the folks at Records Management Center to scan our collection to the highest standards available today.
With financial assistance from the Birch Cove Fund, Denmark Lions Club and donations from within the community we are moving forward with the digitizing process.
Items from the collection will be made available to community members, researchers, students, and genealogists.
Denmark Historical Society will create an archive without walls and schedules and geography, giving users the ability to research, write, and publish Denmark’s history using the digital archive. This is a huge, multi-year project and we will be able to reach former Denmarkians and the world with our museum having no walls. The gift to the community – a lifetime.

Summary: The Denmark Historical Society is seeking to establish a fund to purchase artifacts pertinent to the history of Denmark which may come available primarily at auctions of house contents or on on-line auction sites.

Organization Description and History: In 1989 the Denmark Historical Society was organized to coordinate the efforts of a group of residents who demonstrated an interest in the History of Denmark. They wised to encourage broad participation in the preservation and enjoyment of the town’s rich heritage.

More specifically, the goals of the Society are to collect and preserve historical memorabilia and important records relating to the town.

Background: The recent auction of house contents in town brought our problem into focus. There were many records and items auctioned that would have added nicely to the Historical Society collection and thereby been available to anyone interested in Denmark’s history. We have no mechanism in place to select which items should be purchased, how much money should be available for such purchases and who should decide which items to purchase.

This problem is complicated by the success of on-line auction sites. Many individuals are making a business of finding and buying memorabilia that they can sell on EBay or other internet sites. These individual were bidding at this auction and the Society had to watch Denmark history leave our town, perhaps forever.

The donation of the Community House Stage Curtain dating from 1903, to Centennial Hall is another example of the need for an acquisition fund. The mural painted on this curtain is of a saw mill near the dam. Fortunately for all, the preservation of the curtain will be done by the owner of Centennial Hall and the curtain will remain in town. But had not this generosity been available and the curtain put up for sale, the Society would very likely not have been able to purchase and preserve it.

We cannot predict these events and need a fund that can be quickly accessed to buy and save Denmark history.

Project Description: When an artifact becomes available there is a need for the Society to be agile and decisive in its acquisition. For example, if records from a Denmark mill come up for sale on EBay, the board does not have time to meet, discuss the merits of the purchase, and determine how much should be spent if agreement for the purchase is reached. The same holds true for local auctions.

The Board will establish guidelines for the intrinsic value of items to the Society’s collection, the limits to physical size (we do not have storage for carriages or equipment), the amount of money to be spent without Board approval, the individual responsible for the decision to buy and a procedure to quickly obtain Board approval should such be needed.

Budget: The Historical Society would like to raise a fund of $5,000 and to maintain this amount through fund raising, but mostly through outreach to members of the community. Monies for this fund would not come from our General Fund.

B&M owned a canning factory in Denmark many years ago.  Would you have the shipping crates used to pack the cans for shipping; cans & labels from the factory stored in your attic or basement? Would you know of the labels or cans the vegetables was sold under? Do you know the staff who worked in the factory? Do you have recollections of the factory and its workers?

If you do have B&M memorabilia and stories we’d like to hear from you.

Thank you to all who donated items to Denmark Historical Society.

Allyson Crawford & Darryl Ward – Robert E. Ward’s WW II uniform, dog tags, pins, documents

John & Mary Watson – Denmark Town Reports

Anne Barton- Copy of the L. A. Berry Cemetery records

Heidi Blake – County of Oxford, Maine Statement of Financial Condition 1891 & Denmark Town Reports

Herbert Payne – Photos

Terry & Carol Rhoads – Perleys Mills Community Forest documentation

Kate Griffith – 2 books “Ice Storm of 1898” by CMP & “The Fawn & The White Mountain Express” by Genevieve Cross

Fritz Von Ulmer & Brian Grennan –  2 Horse Drawn Cultivators, 2 Log Boat Runners, 1 Hay Bale Hook, 1 Wood Kerosene Hand Pump, 1 Ash Cattle Prod With A Missing Point, 1 Horse Drawn Reversing Plow, 1 Hay Bale Or Ice Hook, Hand Forged

Karen Erickson, Eric Gulbrandsen and Luke  &  Hillary Allocco – victorian crazy quilt embroidered with “CHI” & “Ogden 1885 January 17” purchased from the auction of Ora Keller Brine’s property in 2014

Daniel & Linda Eaton – Watercolor painting of Netherfield Farm, Denmark, ME

Edward A. Westleigh – GED.COM file of Westleigh/Feindel Family with associated documents & *.JPGs

Mark your calendar to attend Archive Night @ Denmark Public Library
Wednesday, August 3 & 10 @ 7:00 pm
Check out our scrapbooks & photos. Research your family tree. Read our collection of town reports.