*07/24/15 A Voice of Experience - Herb Adams, Historian

This Friday, we have the pleasure of welcoming Herb Adams who will paint for us a picture of Portland a century ago.

Herb’s interest and love of Maine history began in a one-room school house in Norway, Maine, and was nurtured by his father, a lumberman and his mother, a schoolteacher.  On a visit to the big city of Portland as a 10-year old, Herb and his mother met with Governor Percival Baxter in his penthouse office on the top floor of the Trelawney Building, in Longfellow Square. It was “a most critical experience” and Herb knew that from then on he would devote his life to the study of history, and that he would dedicate himself to a career of public service.

Since settling in Portland many years ago, Herb has fed his appetite for public service with terms on the Portland School Committee, Portland Friends of the Parks Commission, Parkside Neighborhood Association and eight terms as a member of the Maine House of Representatives from Portland’s District 119.

A noted historian, particularly of his adopted hometown but also of the entire state of Maine, Herb remains an active member of the Maine Historical Society and much sought-after speaker at many public occasions, no doubt inspiring other young budding historians to study and to appreciate the “City by the Sea” and the greater landscapes of Maine. He has written about the history of the Portland Park System and contributed to numerous other publications focusing on Maine history.

We are pleased to have Herb Adams speak to us about 1915, the birth-year of Rotary in Portland, Maine.