Frances W. Peabody

Frannie Peabody (1903-2001) had a long career of public service in Maine, and campaigned for causes not popular at the time—historic preservation, AIDS prevention and research, and gay rights. In addition, she generously volunteered her time to support many local cultural organizations and was a founding member of Greater Portland Landmarks. 

The Peabody papers have been given to four institutions: Maine Historical Society, University of Maine archives, the Maine Women Writers Collection and Greater Portland Landmarks. Papers, photographs and slides related to preservation or Mrs. Peabody’s work as a founding member of GPL are housed in the Frances W. Peabody Research Library at 165 State Street and cover the years from 1965-1972.  The earliest papers relate to the meetings of a small group of concerned citizens who gathered after the demolition of Union Station to form an organization (GPL) to preserve historic buildings in the Portland area. The photographs and slides relate to lectures presented by Mrs. Peabody on architecture or preservation. Currently, these items are not accessible to the public, however we are beginning a project to archive them. We plan to make them public by the end of 2008.