5Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Curtis Memorial Library
Brunswick, Maine
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Brunswick.
1853 to 1977Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
205,184Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Brunswick, Maine.
Discover another side of Brunswick, Maine through newspapers preserved in the Curtis Memorial Library's digital archive. Its five titles include material from 1853 to 1977.
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Selected titles
The titles shared by Curtis Memorial Library include “Brunswick Telegraph” and “The Times Record”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
Newspaper pages connect individual accounts with a wider story, preserving how events were reported and presented to the readers of the day.
The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse five titles and 205,184 digitized pages, with material from 1853 to 1977. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Curtis Memorial Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Every search for the past starts with a question. Explore the titles below, follow the sources that speak to it, and see what new detail appears.
Brunswick Telegraph
16,656 pages from 1853 to 1894
The Bath-Brunswick Times Record
41,582 pages from 1967 to 1972
The Brunswick Record
86,214 pages from 1903 to 1966
The Brunswick Telegraph
6,434 pages from 1894 to 1903
The Times Record
54,298 pages from 1972 to 1977
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About the Library
About The Curtis Memorial Library
The Curtis Memorial Library was founded in 1883 by the citizens of Brunswick with the goal of building a lending library for the community. In 1903, William J. Curtis donated land and funds to establish a permanent library building, dedicated to his father, Captain John Curtis, a renowned ship’s captain from Brunswick. The library’s original building was completed in 1904. In 1999, the library expanded into a 44,000 square-foot facility, funded by public and private contributions. Today, Curtis Memorial Library serves as a cultural and educational hub for the Brunswick and Harpswell communities, welcoming nearly 1,000 visitors daily.
Library History
The History Of The Curtis Memorial Library
Since its founding in 1883, Curtis Memorial Library has grown from a small lending library into a cornerstone of the community. The original library building, completed in 1904, was expanded and renovated in 1999, allowing the library to meet the evolving needs of its users. With a combination of public funding and private donations, the library has been able to continue offering a wide range of resources and services to its patrons.
About the Community
About Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick, located in Cumberland County, Maine, is a town steeped in maritime history. Known for its shipbuilding legacy and historic landmarks, Brunswick is also home to Bowdoin College and a vibrant local arts scene. The Curtis Memorial Library plays a vital role in preserving the cultural and historical heritage of the town, providing resources that connect residents to their rich past.
Local History
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Curtis Memorial Library’s original building, completed in 1904, was dedicated to Captain John Curtis, a celebrated ship’s captain who sailed to ports around the world from the Brunswick area in the late 19th century?
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Keep publication context with a finding
The history of Brunswick includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Curtis Memorial Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Note the newspaper title, issue date, and page for a useful report. Compare another account where available, and keep differences in timing or perspective visible rather than blending them into a single version.
Save the newspaper title, issue date, and page, then compare another dated account where available. Keep differences in timing and perspective visible so the source context is not lost. If the accounts disagree, record what each source supports and use the difference to shape a further search rather than smoothing them into one version.
A research trail is most useful when it leaves room for what is not yet known. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available, along with what remains uncertain and which question you want to follow next. Those details help keep a possible connection from becoming an unsupported conclusion.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Curtis Memorial Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
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It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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