Life on a Tidal River

Text by The 7th Grade Maine Studies Students of the William S. Cohen School.
Images provided by Bangor historical journalist Richard Shaw.

Introduction

Bangor has produced some of the world’s most famous people, whether they be actors, singers, soldiers, authors, or even teachers. Some of these astounding individuals include the women Mary Snow, Mary Alden Hopkins, Alice Zwicker, and Christina Baker Kline. Even in the history of men, women played an immense role. Each of these ladies contributed to our history in untold ways.

Mary Snow

Mary Snow, also known as “Bangor’s Most Famous Daughter”, was born in Bangor in April 1857. The exact day she was born is unknown. Mary lived in Maine her whole life. It is unclear about whether she lived in Bangor for her entire existence, but she did linger in the Pine Tree State. Mary Snow was never married, and she never had children.

Mary Snow was famous for being the first woman school superintendent in Maine. In Bangor she was a teacher, principal, school board member, and then superintendent for eleven years. Mary also created a teacher training school in Bangor. The training school trained teachers through tough and thorough studies. The graduates of Snow’s school found it easy to get teacher positions in Maine or Massachusetts. Maine would later establish normal schools in Castine, Farmington, and elsewhere to provide college-level educations to teachers.

Mary Snow had a masters degree in philosophy. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.

Mary Snow went on to work in education Chicago and New York before she died in New York on March 21, 1924. She was 65 years old and is buried in Bangor. Mary was an astounding icon. Her life may have past, but her mark on this world remains.

In 1927, Bangor named an elementary school in Mary's honor. The Mary Snow School is on Broadway and continues to thrive.

Mary Alden Hopkins

Mary Alden Hopkins was born and raised in Bangor, Maine in 1876. She was a suffragette who strongly believed in women’s rights. She was an accomplished author who put much of her energy into fighting for women’s equality. In 1910 Mary investigated a fire in a New Jersey factory that killed 25 women. She wrote an article about the fire after her investigation into the fire. That article launched Mary's literary career. Mary Alden Hopkins was also able to influence the national Women’s Suffrage Movement with her literary work which included newspaper articles, short stories, and books. Mary was so significant in the fight for women’s rights that she was given the nickname the Sole Princess of Bangor.

Mary did not live in Bangor her whole life. Her great desire to right brought her to Manhattan, New York as a suffragette. In the winter of 1915-1916, she participated in the Henry Ford Peace Expedition along with many other women. While living in Manhattan, Mary was given the opportunity to write for newspapers like the New York Times. Working for newspapers like this helped Mary’s writing reach a broader audience.

Mary Alden Hopkins wrote about her experience as a suffragette and how she planned to help with the women’s rights movements. Her articles were so good that they took her all the way to a warring Europe. Mary was quite raw in writing about her experience in the books and articles she had published. These works included Hannah More and Her Circle, many newspaper articles, and even a traveling guide. Throughout her life Mary Alden Hopkins became a renowned writer, and her articles were read around the world. She was very influential through the words she used to empower those who felt weak.

Mary Alden Hopkins passed away on November 8th, 1960 at the age of 83. She died in Danbury, Connecticut of natural causes. During her life she inspired many suffragettes to keep fighting for equal rights. Mary Alden Hopkins was able to influence people by using her words and was able to make a significant impact on the Women’s Rights Movement's success. This is a great and lasting legacy.

Alice Zwicker

Alice Zwicker was one of the unsung heroes of Maine. During her career in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, or as child in a small rural town in Maine, she accomplished numerous achievements. These included finishing nursing school, being a part of the army, and, most notably, being a POW for a three-year period during WWII. Although she may not be taught in textbooks, she is a very important part of our history.

Alice was raised in a large family of motivated people and became very motivated as well. She was born on August 6, 1916, in Brownville, Maine, a town with only around one thousand people today. As a child, Alice was like any child and enjoyed swimming, berrying, and playing with her friends, along with a healthy dose of schooling and church attendance. It was around her teenage years when she began her most important life chapter: nursing.

After high school, Alice attended nursing school at the Eastern Maine General Hospital nurses training program. Her branch of nursing in the program was surgical nursing. When she earned her nursing cap she took on a few nursing jobs over a four-year period. Over those four years she decided to enlist in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and did so in March of 1941. She originally wanted to be stationed in the Philippines. It was this choice that, unfortunately, brought her years of serious hardship.

While serving her tour of duty in the Philippines during the war. she got captured by Japanese forces. While captured she spent most of her time in a prisoner of war camp. Even during that rough time she helped injured prisoners in the camp. This act of unselfishness shows how heroic she truly was. During her darkest hour she helped others.

The qualities that helped Alice thrive and survive were fostered in Brownville and Bangor. If it wasn’t for her end goal of being a part of the Nurse Corps, she might not have been a part of the other 1,000 nurses who helped win WWII. Nor would she have become a hero for being a prisoner of war for over three years. Alice passed away much too soon, at the age of 59, due to ovarian cancer. Although she died young, her heroism lives on.

Christina Baker Kline

Christina Baker Kline was born in 1964 in Cambridge, United Kingdom. She is married to David Kline. They now live happily in New York City with their sons Hayden, Will, and Eli. Apart from being a very well-known writer, Mrs. Kline also served some time in the U.S. military. After her writing career kicked off, she went back to Yale University and the University of Virginia where she earned several degrees and to teach literature and writing.

Christina is most famous for her books. She has written seven novels and four non-fiction books so far. A Piece Of The World, Orphan Train, Orphan Train Girl, Bird In Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines, Sweet Water, About Me, Child Of Mine, Room To Grow, and The Conversation Begins are her titles. In 2018 one of her books, A Piece Of The World won the New England Prize for fiction and the Maine Literary Award as well as many others. Christina was inspired to write Orphan Train Girl because two of her own grandparents were orphans who didn’t speak much about their early lives. Part of her background is Irish, so she wanted to write about a girl who is quiet about how she got to lead to the orphan train. Christina says, “Writing a novel never gets any easier; it’s different every time.”

In Bangor Christina attended the Garland Street Junior High School (now the William S. Cohen School) and Bangor High School. She knew she wanted to be a writer and editor at a very young age. She said, “I suppose I always wanted to be a writer. I am terrible at many things, but I do have one skill. I’m quite a good editor, and I enjoy it.”

Christina Baker Kline is a very successful and accomplished woman who is bound to do more great things in the future. Bangor is very proud of her.

Conclusion

The city of Bangor, Maine has been home to some very influential women over the years. All of these women have played a big part in the history of Bangor and have inspired people all around the world. They are all a part of world history, and their lives continue to inspire people to this day. These women have been able to shape the history of Bangor, and even when the odds were against them, they never gave up. Mary Snow, Mary ALden Hopkins, Alice Zwicker and Christina Baker have all shaped the history of Bangor, Maine and continue to influence the people of Maine to this very day.

Resources

“About.” Christina Baker Kline, 2019, christinabakerkline.com/bio/.

“About Me Q&A.” Christina Baker Kline, 2019, christinabakerkline.com/q-a/about-me/.

Ancestry®, 2019, www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/mary-alden-hopkins_192560670.

“BHS Presents: Mary Alden Hopkins-The Only Daughter of a Princess of Bangor.” Bangor Historical Society, Bangor Historical Society, 22 July 2016, www.bangorhistoricalsociety.org/bhs-presents-mary-alden-hopkins-the-only-daughter-of-a-princess-of-bangor/.

“Capt Alice M Zwicker McAlevey (1917-1976) - Find A...” Find A Grave, Find A Grave, 29 June 2019, www.findagrave.com/memorial/132063948/alice-m-mcalevey.

“Cemetery Map - Mount Hope Cemetery Corp & Crematory - America's Second Garden Cemetery.” Mount Hope Cemetery Corp & Crematory, Mount Hope Cemetery Corp., 2019, mthopebgr.com/cemetery-map/.

“Christina Baker Kline.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Baker_Kline.

“Circular : Woman's Place. / by Mary Alden Hopkins. 1913.” Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection, Ann Lewis and Mike Sponder, May 2015, lewissuffragecollection.omeka.net/items/show/1611.

Contributed. “Author Christina Baker Kline, Bangor High School Graduate, Will Receive Key to City of Bangor.” Bangor Daily News, Bangor Daily News, 22 Aug. 2016, bangordailynews.com/bdn-maine/community/author-christina-baker-kline-bangor-high-school-graduate-will-receive-key-to-city-of-bangor/.

Contributed. “Brownville Nurse's WW II Experience Is Subject of New Book.” Bangor Daily News, Bangor Daily News, 13 July 2015, bangordailynews.com/2015/07/13/news/bangor/brownville-nurses-ww-ii-experience-subject-of-new-book/.

Contributed. “Women’s Local History.” Bangor Daily News, Bangor Daily News, 25 Mar. 1997, archive.bangordailynews.com/1997/03/25/womens-local-history/.

“Hopkins, Mary Alden 1876-1960.” WorldCat Identities, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. , 2019, www.worldcat.org/identities/.

“Kline, Christina Baker, 1964- (Person) - Colby College Libraries.” Kline, Christina Baker, 1964- (Person) - Colby College Libraries, Colby College Libraries, link.colby.edu/resource/GvyPO06Fuog/.

“Mary Alden Hopkins (1876-1960) - Find A Grave...” Find A Grave, Find A Grave, 24 Apr. 2012, www.findagrave.com/memorial/89083580/mary-alden-hopkins.

“Research Starters: US Military by the Numbers.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers.

Shaw, Richard R., and Brian F. Swartz. Legendary Locals of Bangor. Arcadia Publishing, 2015.

“Snow, Mary.” Mount Hope Cemetery Corp & Crematory, Mount Hope Cemetery Corp., 2019, mthopebgr.com/interments/view/4ae84867-89f0-445a-aefe-5478f6650423/snow-mary/.

“Sweet Water.” Google Books, Google , books.google.com/books/about/Sweet_Water.html?id=jSCedSpUfqIC&source=kp_book_description.&hl=en.

Writer, Paul KoenigStaff. “World War II Nurse from Maine Subject of New Book.” Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, 20 June 2015, www.centralmaine.com/2015/06/20/world-war-ii-nurse-from-maine-subject-of-new-book/.