Join your friends and neighbors to learn more about Maine’s history and culture as CSC continues its Maine Bicentennial offerings this month with two must-see illustrated presentations, both free and open to the public.

On Oct. 28, “Maine State Museum Director” and “A Story of Maine in 112 Objects” author Bernard Fishman presents Historic Maine in 3-D from 12:30 -1:30 p.m. with time for questions afterward, at the Skidompha Public Library in Damariscotta.

On Oct. 29 at the Camden Public Library, University of Maine Professor of History Liam Riordan discusses “Brainstorming the State Bicentennial: Past and Present Perspectives” from 2 - 4 p.m.

Fishman’s new program is supported by the Maine Bicentennial Commission. For years Mr. Fishman has been one of the foremost national collectors of stereoviews, 19th century photographs mounted as two images on cards which were meant to be seen in 3-D when viewed through a special viewer. He has enjoyed studying the largest collection of Maine stereoviews known, 19,000 cards kept at the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and has worked through them, with a few additions of his own, to offer a Victorian experience of Maine stereoviews, presented as a projection show that only requires special paper glasses (remember those 1950s horror movies?) to see the views in actual 3-D, as they were meant to be seen 150 years ago. The glasses are free to all attending. You will feel as if you are right in the middle of Maine just after the Civil War, with its towns and farms, shipbuilding and bridge-building, factories and mines, parades and entertainment, parlors and porches, kitchens and gardens, hunters and loggers, Indians and soldiers, and the first tourists making their way up to our woods and streams - a spectacular and singular way to see and almost feel the past. Mr. Fishman will also discuss the museum’s work to preserve and digitize these priceless images so they will be here for future generations to enjoy.

Professor Riordan’s discussion explores in words, maps, and other illustrations, the long statehood process in Maine that culminated in 1820 with separation from Massachusetts. That struggle engaged a range of challenging public issues that are still recognizable today, and four themes that bridge 200 years in telling ways comprise the focus of the talk: the “two Maines” and sharp partisan conflict, the explosive place of slavery vis-a-vis the Maine-Missouri Crisis, Wabanaki sovereignty, and the uncertain location and meaning of the international border. Professor Riordan has been a faculty member in the Department of History at the University of Maine in Orono since 1997. He is a specialist on the American Revolution, especially the religious, racial and ethnic diversity in the Philadelphia region from 1770 to 1830. As a result of having his Canadian consciousness raised by moving to Maine, Professor Riordan has an ongoing research project about Loyalists, those who opposed the American Revolution.

Coastal Senior College invites you to join us during the coming months as we celebrate Maine’s bicentennial with a variety of programs, events, and classes. For more information on membership, classes, interest groups, and programs, visit coastalseniorcollege.org