Noontime Talk: Vacationland in the PMA Collection with Historian Seth Goldstein

At the turn of the twentieth century, as Maine’s shipbuilding, ice harvesting, and quarrying industries declined, a new identity began to take shape: Vacationland. Inspired by images of Maine’s pastoral beauty, visitors from across the Northeast sought respite along its coasts and in its towns—many calling themselves “rusticators.” Join historian Seth Goldstein of the South Portland Historical Society to explore the rise of Maine’s tourism industry, using works from the PMA collection as a starting point for this story of transformation.

About Seth Goldstein
Seth Goldstein received his bachelor’s degree in European History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and his master’s degree in World History from Northeastern University. His research interests include the historic North Atlantic fishery, global piracy, New England shipwrecks and lighthouses, the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Vietnam War era counterculture. He is a member of the Atlantic Black Project; a grass roots non-profit that examines Maine and New England’s marginalized history and the regions complicity with the economics of enslavement. Seth is the Director of the Cushing’s Point Museum at Bug Light Park and is the Director of Development for the South Portland Historical Society.