Yearning to Breathe: The Immigrant Experience in Maine

Duration: 60 minutes

Grades: 6th - 12th

We have been reimagining Yearning to Breathe Free, our program exploring the history of immigration in Maine. The newly revamped program begins by acknowledging Indigenous Peoples before tracing the arrival of Europeans and the waves of immigration that followed, including French-Canadian, Irish, Swedish, Lebanese, Armenian, Chinese, and East Asian communities. It also examines the history of enslaved Africans brought to Maine and a tension that has repeated throughout our state’s history: the need for immigrant labor alongside the suspicion, discrimination, and prejudice immigrants often encountered. The program brings that history forward to immigration and refugee resettlement in Maine today.