Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2013 | Page 18

M ID D L E SC H OOL

Malaga Island:
Learning the difference

Malaga Island descendant, Marnie Voter (right), shares
family oral history with Thornton Academy Middle
School students in the Malaga Island: Fragmented
Lives exhibit at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.

Thornton Academy Middle School students learned
the difference between “evidence” and “interpretation”
when they traveled to the Maine State Museum in
Augusta to participate in the Malaga Island: Fragmented
Lives exhibit program. Situated just off the coast of
Philppsburg, Maine, Malaga Island became notorious in
the late 19th/early 20th century press nationwide for the
poor living conditions of its mixed-heritage population.
Why is the history of Malaga Island controversial?
How did the people make their living there? What
happened to them and why is it still important today?
TAMS 7th grade social studies students researched
historic photographs, documents, and archaeological
artifacts (see below), interpreted the evidence, and

described the experience of Malaga Islanders. Rumors
and stereotypes about islanders who made their living
as fishermen, lobstermen, carpenters, laundresses,
and masons contributed to the forced eviction of the
residents in 1912. Evicted residents dispersed (or were
institutionalized at The Maine School for the FeebleMinded or what later became known as the Pineland
Hospital and Training Center). TAMS students were one
of the first school groups to listen to oral history from a
descendant of Malaga Island (see above). TAMS faculty
Heidi Brewer said, “It was exciting to see students delve
into this story and fit the pieces together to create a full
picture of what happened and why.”

-P.E.
Students also examined Malaga Island archaeological artifacts
and historic documents (see left) as part of their own research in
the museum gallery.

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POSTSCRIPTS