Local authors and society presenters Kathy and Bill Kenny will give a talk about historic Maine taverns and tea rooms on Nov. 10 at Hope Baptist Church in Manchester. The presentation is hosted by Kennebec Historical Society. Contributed illustration
The Kennebec Historical Society plans its November presentation, “Historic Taverns and Tea Rooms of Maine,” for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Hope Baptist Church, 726 Western Ave., Manchester.
Local authors and society presenters Kathy and Bill Kenny will unveil the stories, characters and history of these establishments over the past four centuries.
Holding an integral place in Maine’s community, the story of its early taverns and tea rooms is an important account of commerce and political and social life, covering famed Revolutionary War incidents to Civil War generals, stagecoaches and the story of rum. The tea rooms of the early 1900s played a large role in the national tea movement, the temperance and suffragette movements and the promotion of women’s independence, and they also symbolized Maine’s culture and sophistication.
Kathy Kenny is a retired librarian whose love of books, history and antique quilts has led her to a second career as a quilt historian, educator and lecturer. Her extensive vintage antique quilt collection allows her to enhance the different periods of America’s history for her audiences and give them a closer, more hands-on approach to learning about various events in the nation’s history, such as the story of tea and tea rooms during the years of the women’s suffrage movement.
She has been featured in several magazines and the featured speaker for a vast number of historical societies and women’s groups from Maine to Colorado. Presenting a bit of history from a woman’s perspective in this, her first book, reflects her many years of collecting stories of historical interest.
Bill Kenny is a former career U.S. Air Force logistics war planner, joint special operations commander, intelligence officer, Gulf War veteran and retired adjunct university professor. He taught international economics, public affairs, organizational leadership and other courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has always had a keen interest in history, especially Maine history.
This is his second book; his first, released by The History Press in June 2020, was “A History of Maine Railroads.” He has traveled across the state and via Zoom to talk about this important time in Maine’s history. To learn more, visit historymaine.com.
The society’s November presentation is free to the public. Donations will be welcomed. If COVID-19 cases continue to climb, the presentation will be held on Facebook Live.
For more information about the program, call Scott Wood, executive director, at 207-622-7718.
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