AUGUSTA — “Four Forts, One Story” is to comprise the seventh, eighth and ninth lectures of a Maine bicentennial series sponsored by Old Fort Western and the Maine Bicentennial Commission.
Leith Smith, Leon “Lee” Cranmer and Linda Novak are to present the talk, which includes Kennebec forts Richmond, Halifax, Western and Shirley. The lectures can be viewed for free on CTV-7 and from the city of Augusta’s website, Fort Western’s website and Fort Western’s Facebook page.
The trio plans to entertain questions on the 18th-century forts located on the Kennebec from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7 at Fort Western. Also present will be Dr. James Leamon, retired professor of history from Bates College, who headed most of the excavations at Fort Frankfort/Fort Shirley.
Cranmer is a retired historic archaeologist from the staff of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. He has worked in archaeology in Maine for almost 30 years and has conducted archaeology for the state of Maine for more than 20 years, excavating hundreds of Maine sites for which has written or co-authored site reports.
Prior to that Cranmer spent two seasons in England doing archaeology. He has written two books and numerous articles on Maine historical archaeology, including “Cushnoc: The History and Archaeology of Plymouth Colony Traders on the Kennebec” and “The History and Archaeology of Fort Halifax, Winslow, Maine” (co-authored with Perleston Pert), both occasional publications in Maine Archaeology (Nos. 7 and 17). Prior to his archaeology career, he spent seven years in the Navy and is a Vietnam veteran. He lives in Somerville with his wife Liz.
Smith is the present historic archaeologist with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. He has worked in archaeology for 45 years in the mid-Atlantic, northeast and central and West Africa. The last 15 years have been in Maine.
His research focuses on archaeology of the African diaspora and the French and Indian War period in New England. He has authored and coauthored numerous archaeological reports and articles and is working on a monograph on the site of Fort Richmond, the first of the Kennebec River Forts.
Novak is the director of Old Fort Western, the site of one of her earliest excavations in 1983. She spent 11 years in Virginia and worked for the James River Institute of Archaeology, supervising the re-cataloging of the Jamestown Ceramics, and the Collections in Yorktown, which included the Poor Potter Kiln Site, Yorktown Battlefield, Nelson, Smith and Ballard Houses and the Great Valley Road Archaeological Collections.
Novak then joined Colonial Williamsburg as assistant conservator and then assistant curator of archaeology before moving back to Maine. In 2010 she came full circle when she was hired as director and curator of Old Fort Western.
Admissions for the meet and greet are reduced to $6.
Old Fort Western is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and interpret the National Historical Landmark, Fort, Store and House located on the Kennebec River in Augusta.
For more information, call 207-626-2385, email oldfort@oldfortwestern.org, visit oldfortwestern.org or Facebook at Old Fort Western – Augusta, Maine.
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