Honoring the Victoria Society | Women’s History Month

Many historic sites have been preserved by women’s groups. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association saved that home in the mid-nineteenth century. Right here in Portland, the National Society of the Colonial Dames established the Tate House Museum.

Anne Longfellow Pierce, sister of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, bequeathed their family home to Maine Historical Society to become a memorial to her brother. Victoria Mansion’s mission was also supported by a strong group of women.

Three years after Victoria Mansion became a museum in 1940, the deed to the property was transferred to the Society of Maine Women of Achievement, later called the Victoria Society of Maine Women.

This group had a two-fold mission:

1. To maintain the building as a museum

2. To spotlight the accomplishments of women in the state.

Their honorees covered a wide range, from Senator Margaret Chase Smith to opera singer Lillian Nordica.

The Victoria Society’s work was even more important because it was not common for historians to focus on women’s stories in this time period.

This Women’s History Month, we celebrate all of the women who have worked to preserve and share previously untold stories as well as those who continue to do so in the future!

Victoria Society officers in the Mansion’s Reception Room in 1962.

From left to right: Mrs. Peter A. Garland, Miss Louise Payson, Mrs. Edith H. Smith, Miss Ruth Olive Roberts, Mrs. Lawrence T. Hilton, Mrs. Edward Y. Blewett, Miss ELizabeth C. Nickels