Maine Historical Society scrapbooks

Nancy Noble writes about cataloging over a hundred scrapbooks in the Maine Historical

Scrapbooks in the collection of the Maine Historical Society

Society’s collection, from a backlog stretching back 50 years. What riches! Who would have thought the post office kept a scrapbook? I’m particularly curious about Scrapbook #7, on scrap and salvage during World War II. Often the only copies of rare newspapers disappeared into such efforts — and even scrapbooks disappeared into the salvage maw. The Maine Historical Society has many organizational and club scrapbooks — a type I didn’t do much with in Writing with Scissors. Is anyone working with that category? The descriptions of these scrapbooks show they are a rich trove for anyone working on Maine history, surely much else. If I ever get up to Portland…

A scrapbook revealed a rescuer’s efforts to save children from the Holocaust

Statue of Nicholas Winton, with a version of his scrapbook. Maidenhead, UK.

The recent death of Sir Nicholas Winton at age 106 brought the story of his rescue of 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust back to public attention. How did his heroism originally come to light? His wife found his scrapbook, where he had documented the identities and whereabouts of the children. ” It was only after Mr. Winton’s wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their home in 1988 — a dusty record of names, pictures and documents detailing a story of redemption from the Holocaust — that he spoke of his all-but-forgotten work in the deliverance of children who, like the parents who gave them up to save their lives, were destined for Nazi concentration camps and extermination,” the New York Times reported.

The scrapbook includes maps he collected in Prague, showing Germany’s plan’s for an

Winton’s scrapbook of rescued children

expanding empire, along with cards with photos that Winton showed to prospective foster parents in the

Page 1 of Nicholas Winton’s scrapbook

UK, and other materials seeking to interest Britons in taking in individual children. Like many scrapbooks, Winton’s could easily have been thought too scrappy to save. The Times notes, “After finding his long-hidden scrapbook — crammed with names, pictures, letters from families, travel documents and notes crediting his colleagues — his wife asked for an explanation. He gave her a general idea, but said he thought the papers had no value and suggested discarding them.” More images from the scrapbook are here, and here. Has anyone seen it? Know more about what it looks like?

Winton statue, detail.