The Forming of MSAD #51

The Cumberland Historical Society extends a VERY BIG SINCERE thank-you to Katie Murphy, President of the North Yarmouth Historical Society, for allowing these 4 very special storyboards about the formation of MSAD #51 to be published on this website.

The following background for the project appeared in the June edition of The North Yarmouth Gazette (a publication of the North Yarmouth Historical Society).

The Forming of MSAD #51, Illustrated: Consolidating with Cumberland.
In conjunction with last year’s 50-year anniversary celebration of our two-town Maine School Administration District #51, NYHS’s Dixie Hayes and Katie Murphy collaborated on four illustrated history boards which were displayed throughout the celebratory weekend of October 15-16, 2016.

While Katie contributed the design, Dixie spent many hours researching and writing. She was helped in great part by several large scrapbooks of newspaper articles documenting the tumultuous process of the district’s creation. (See these books for yourself at the Prince Memorial Library).

If you think we have disagreements TODAY over public policy, take a look at nine long years of debate from 1957 through 1966. Roll the dice and proceed forward a few steps … back one or two … forward again.

In the end, patience and perseverance made possible a school district with a high school that is ranked fourth best in Maine and #963 in the U.S. (US News, 2017). And from all reports, MSAD #51 will continue to engage, empower, and inspire for fifty more years!