History of poverty in rural Maine

Volunteers at the Oxford Historical Society found a box containing years of letters pertaining to the work of the town's Overseers of the Poor. I digitized the collection and wrote a news feature about  how small towns managed and treated their pauper population. 

Curious about other local records, I poured through 19th and early 20th century annual town reports for the neighboring town of Paris, courtesy of the Paris Cape Historical Society. I wrote a two feature series chronicling years of Paris' poor farms.

I planned to write an irreverent Halloween story about haunted houses. Instead, I uncovered the story of a revered town leader who succumbed to mental illness. He lost his family, his business, and his once-stately home was abandoned. As it slowly crumbled, it gained notoriety as a haunted house.

Every person, no matter where they are, what they have done and when they have lived. There is no such thing as an ordinary person. I am an expert of looking at the historical record and teasing out engaging and informative content. 

When I heard that a remaining relic of the  town of Oxford was in danger of being lost, I jumped to share its story. The news article caught the attention of Maine Preservation and was placed on its "most endangered places" list. The Oxford Historical Society has since raised tens of thousands of dollars to move and restore the building and even received a property donation to relocate it to.