The Tragic History Of This Little-Known Island In Maine Will Break Your Heart
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Michelle
Author
Maine is a beautiful place to spend time, but we’re not without our troubling history. What most people see today hides the sad story of an island community forced to leave their homes and resettle elsewhere with little to no help from anyone. Already a marginalized group of people, finding acceptance was not easy. This is the story of Malaga Island in Maine.
It was a slight bit of land that existed within sight of the Phippsburg coast.
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Many of those living here were descendants of families in the area, some going as far back as the 1700s and The American Revolution.
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Those who believed in eugenics believed that anyone who was not white was a threat to the Anglo Saxon heritage in America that was believed to be superior.
Jobs in coastal towns, including nearby Phippsburg, disappeared and resources in the area became scarce. Families were forced to rely on assistance from the towns in which they lived. At the time, there were no federal programs for welfare or help for those suddenly unemployed. In order to care for people in need, individual towns needed to raise taxes or take people into homes. Phippsburg residents felt that they couldn't afford to assistant the Malaga Islanders, which left the community in bad circumstances.
In some ways, the school aided in the island becoming bigger news in the press.
The positive to come of this negative coverage is that Malaga Island became one of the best documented accounts of rural Black American life in the early 1900s. This group is mentioned in history books, but the newspaper coverage allowed for their experience to be shared. It is this power of the press to share stories and true experiences that has never gone away.
The positive to come of this negative coverage is that Malaga Island became one of the best documented accounts of rural Black American life in the early 1900s. This group is mentioned in history books, but the newspaper coverage allowed for their experience to be shared. It is this power of the press to share stories and true experiences that has never gone away.
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The island was bought by the state of Maine in a reportedly illegal deal. The 33 inhabitants were forced to move.
While they received a small amount of money, the move was hard for all. Many tried to move their homes to new areas via raft. But, the eugenics movement had already done enough damage and they found very few places willing to welcome them.
Any buildings that remained on the island were demolished, with the exception of the schoolhouse which was moved to a new place to become a church.
While they received a small amount of money, the move was hard for all. Many tried to move their homes to new areas via raft. But, the eugenics movement had already done enough damage and they found very few places willing to welcome them.
Any buildings that remained on the island were demolished, with the exception of the schoolhouse which was moved to a new place to become a church.
Nobody seemed to care that 6 of these people were of normal intelligence and mentally competent. These people never left the institution.
18 graves on Malaga Island were excavated and combined into five coffins and moved to the Pineland cemetery.
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Historians have worked to uncover more history of Malaga Island.
Eugenics has no place in our world and the hope is that by telling this story, history will not repeat itself. For now, it's a dark stain on Maine that we can only hope will be re-told to keep the memories of those that lived there alive.
Eugenics has no place in our world and the hope is that by telling this story, history will not repeat itself. For now, it's a dark stain on Maine that we can only hope will be re-told to keep the memories of those that lived there alive.
For more history, please view this video which includes the work uncovered by a team at USM.
Sadly, this isn’t the only story of Mainers losing their homes at the hands of larger entities. Click here for the sad story of Flagstaff Lake and the underwater ghost town that exists today.
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