EVENT: TONIGHT!!! Mummy Paper in Maine

S.J. Wolfe will be giving a talk tonight in Gardiner about the use of mummy rags in papermaking in the post-Civil War era in Maine. Fascinating stuff!!! The talk is sponsored by the Kennebec Historical Society.

A fair amount is known about the pulp and paper industry in Maine of the past 200 years, but our July speakers will explore a little-known aspect of this subject when they present “I. Augusta Stanwood Had a Paper Mill In Maine: The Enduring Story of
Mummy Paper.”

The manufacture of “mummy paper” in the Maine communities of Westbrook and Gardiner, we are to learn, included a rather uncommon ingredient —- rag wrappings from Egyptian mummies. Join David Rawson and Susan Wolfe on Wednesday, July 19, 6:30 p.m., at Gardiner’s Christ Episcopal Church, for what is sure to be an informative and thought-provoking presentation.

This lecture will provide some history on the use of mummies and their grave goods to make paper in the mid-1800s. It will also attempt to add some firm facts to the legends and stories that surround this unusual practice.

David A. Rawson received his bachelor’s degree from Salem State College, in Salem, Massachusetts, and a doctorate in American history at the College of William and Mary. He is currently a professor of American history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts.
S. J. Wolfe received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s in library science from the State University of New York at Albany. Ms. Wolfe has been a rare-books cataloguer at the American Antiquarian Society for 23 years. She is researching and writing a book on the history of Egyptian mummies under the working title of From Eternity to Here: A History of the Egyptian Mummy in 19th Century America.

DIRECTIONS TO CHRIST CHURCH

FROM THE SOUTH (Portland, Brunswick, Freeport)

• Take 295 North to exit 49 (Route 201 Gardiner/Litchfield)
• Merge right onto Brunswick Ave. (Route 201)
• Follow Rd into residential part of town.
• Follow Rd. to the left and then to the Right around the park
• Merge/turn Right off Brunswick avenue on to Church St. at the Y
• Church is on the immediate right.
• Parking is in front or around back 1st right on pleasant St. and 1st right into parking lot.

FROM THE NORTH (Augusta, Waterville, Bangor)

• Take 95 South to 295 South.
• Immediately following the toll-booth merge right off the high way following the sign to Gardiner.
• At end of ramp turn left onto route 126 and route 9.
• Follow route 126 and route 9 past the Middle school and over the green bridge.
• At the intersection of route 9 and Brunswick Ave (1st traffic light) go straight onto Water St. through the center of town. At second light (Water St. and Church St.) turn right onto Church st. and go up the hill.
• Parking for the church is off Pleasant St. (your first left) on the right immediately after the turn.

FROM RANDOLPH BRIDGE (Randolph, Rockland, Wiscasset)
• Turn left onto 126/24
• Go past Hannaford
• Go through the traffic light and head straight up Church St.
• Parking for the church is off Pleasant St. (your first left) on the right immediately after the turn.