The statue of Melville Weston Fuller, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who led the 1896 ruling that legally supported more than half a century of racial segregation, will be moved from the lawn of the Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta.
The Kennebec County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to move the statue to a spot where it can serve an educational purpose. The three-member board will appoint a committee that will decide where the statue will go and other logistics of the move.
Melville Fuller presided over Plessy v. Ferguson, a decision that allowed separate but equal race-based discrimination across the country. In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which ensures equal protection under law, overruling the Plessy decision.
By Staff
Philanthropist Robert G. Fuller Jr., who has a long history of supporting Augusta-area causes, has committed $1,640,000 to complete Cony High School s athletic field upgrades, a city of Augusta project that had stalled for lack of funds.
Fuller, a former Augusta-area attorney with area roots that go back centuries, said that the donation is an investment in Augusta s future.
“I believe that when a high school has a continuing history of athletic success, it fosters a sense of community pride, Fuller said in a news release from the city. It rubs off. When this pride is evident it becomes easier to attract people who’ll add value doctors, teachers, artists, entrepreneurs and who’ll choose to stay around. Not only because Augusta has the superior facilities and services they demand but it’s also where a visitor can detect that its citizens are upbeat and enjoy living where they are.
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Augusta gets $1.6 million donation for artificial turf field, other work at Cony’s Alumni Field
Philanthropist Robert G. Fuller Jr. has increased his contribution to the project that had been put on hold due to financial challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and higher than expected costs.
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This June 7, 2019, photo shows Cony High School’s Alumni Field in Augusta. A project to renovate the field has now met its funding goal and work could begin within a couple months.
Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
AUGUSTA With the coronavirus pandemic making fundraising for improvements at Cony High School’s Alumni Field unlikely anytime soon, a donor who had already agreed to pay for part of the project has increased his offer.
Author of ‘This Day in Maine’ to speak Feb. 17 via Facebook
Presentation hosted by the Kennebec Historical Society.
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The Kennebec Historical Society’s February Facebook Live Presentation will feature author Joseph Owen who will talk about his book “This Day in Maine” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17,
“This Day in Maine” features more than 600 news items plucked from the history of the Pine Tree State. Since achieving statehood in 1820, Maine has developed into a vacationland of lobsters and lighthouses set against breathtaking vistas and endless natural beauty, according to a news release from the historical society, based in Augusta.
This Week in Lincolnville: A Dream Come True
..the day they didn’t need me
Diane O’Brien Mon, 01/25/2021 - 11:30am
The Bean Supper assembly line saw that everyone got what they ordered: vegetarian or not, gluten or not, and plenty of coleslaw and cookies.
Photo by Diane O’Brien
As I drove away from the Historical Society the other day, even as cars were arriving, one after another to drop off food, it felt like a dream come true. The downstairs dining room, home of the Improvement Association for the past 50 or so years, was bustling with activity, as huge pans of beans and mountains of coleslaw were laid out, assembly-line fashion. The biscuits I’d just taken out of the oven, my one contribution to the effort, waited their place in the line, along with those of the other biscuit-makers. Cookies, cookies, cookies – gluten-free and gluten-full – completed the menu.