Maine Contemporary Archives

The Franco-American Collection is a member of the Maine Contemporary Archives Collaborative, a group of cultural heritage professionals working together to collect, preserve, and provide access to materials related to Maine community members’ experiences of current events. We represent communities from across the state. Each participating institution has collections from earlier periods, but our collaborative effort with Maine Contemporary Archives (MCA) is dedicated to documenting current experiences and events.

On the MCA website, you can learn more about the Collaborative, visit our partner organizations websites, view our shared exhibit, and access our lesson plans.

We are living through history right now, and future generations will want to know: “What was life like during the COVID-19 pandemic?” Maine libraries are creating an online, living time capsule of the pandemic, and we want your thoughts and experiences to be included!

Parents and educators, check out these lesson plans and activities for ideas on how to involve your students in learning about primary sources and documenting their experiences for the future. The writing, photos, artwork, sound recordings, and videos that you and your students create today will become the historical record of tomorrow.

Check out the lesson plans below!