A series of photographic murals now graces the outer wall of a prominent building in downtown Brunswick. The six images provide a snapshot of events at different stages in the history of Bowdoin College and its connection to the town.
The photographs can be found on side of the Lincoln building at 98 Maine Street (overlooking the Bank of America parking lot entrance). The building, which dates from 1896, houses a number of downtown businesses, including Nest gift store and the Portland Pie Company pizzeria.
Among the photos are a sepia-toned image of a campus baseball match from around 1890, a couple of early twentieth-century Commencement-related pictures (including one photo featuring Joshua Chamberlain and Robert Peary standing next to each other), and a shot of a civil rights march in downtown Brunswick from 1965, featuring several prominent Bowdoin community members.
The images were provided by the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives at Bowdoin College Library, while the actual murals were made and installed by a local signage company called Carrot Signs.
“The Town of Brunswick and Bowdoin College are uniquely intertwined,” said Rob Jarratt ’64. He is with Brunswick Public Art, the nonprofit behind the mural project. “It’s only fitting that Brunswick Public Art has selected several historic photos from the College to put on display in the heart of downtown Brunswick,” added Jarratt.
Check out this slideshow of the images:
