AN ACCOUNT OF OUR VISIT TO BOWDOIN COLLEGE

Deena and I are about to commemorate our first year in quarantine. It actually started in mid-March, 2020, after I got back from a visit to Texas. She and I have been pretty faithful about observing the restrictions. It’s not just that we’re both over 65 and a virus like this might set us down for the count. The other half of the equation is that we don’t want to spread the virus to other people who might become gravely ill because of our shortsightedness. What follows is a description of the good time we had during our visit to Bowdoin College.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's house on the Bowdoin College campus — Deena and Molly at Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house.

Famous and distinguished faculty and graduates of Bowdoin College

It’s only human to think of happier days when you’re confined, though she and I find things to laugh about, and to spread that laughter to others. In September 2019, we drove to Maine for a week, and spent the better part of a day at Bowdoin College. I was interested in the campus because that’s where Joshua Chamberlain taught before taking his famous stand at Little Round Top in Gettysburg, PA on July 2, 1863 during the Civil War. His heroism on that occasion prevented the Union line from collapsing and earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor. Bowdoin has a number of other distinguished alumni, particularly in the area of English, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anthony Doerr, Hodding Carter and Robert P.T. Coffin (Doerr, Carter and Coffin have each won a Pulitzer.) Then, there is Robert Peary, the famous Arctic explorer and another distinguished graduate of this school. There are also almost a dozen former U.S. Senators and members of the U.S. House along with many other famous or notable people we learned during our visit to Bowdoin College.

Colonel Chamberlain’s house

Bowdoin College was actually established before Maine, itself, became a state. Located in Brunswick, Bowdoin has an attractive campus with friendly students, many of whom took an interest in us, and asked if they could pet Molly. We were told that they had pets at home that they missed, and they longed for that moment of communion between a person and a puppy. It took us quite a while to get from building to building as a result. My interest as noted above was in Joshua Chamberlain. My supervisor at my school in Texas was a big fan of this Civil War hero, and I looked for an opportunity to perk his interest. I did this in the bookstore at Chamberlain’s former home where you could purchase everything from the original nails of the house which were carefully preserved to postcards with Colonel Chamberlain’s photo (I got both to mail back to Texas.

“But we had with us to keep and to care for, more than five hundred bruised bodies of men-men made in the image of God, marred by the hand of man and must we say in the name of God? Was it God’s command we heard or His forgiveness we must forever implore?”
– Joshua Chamberlain speaking of his experience on Little Round Top

I took the tour of the building and walked down the same steps that President Grant did. There were a lot of personal memorabilia on display including pistols, gloves, uniform items, and so forth. Something resembling a wind chime that was hanging in the house caught my attention. Hanging from the contraption was a horizontal tube approximately a foot long. What I learned I was looking at was an eighteenth-century doorbell. It originally hung by the front door and a visitor would take the tube and strike the chimes with it to announce their presence.

The "doorbell" at Civil War hero's Joshua Chamberlain's house at Bowdoin College. — Colonel Chamberlains “doorbell” which originally graced his porch.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house

Across the street from Chamberlain’s house on the Bowdoin campus, itself, was the house that Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in when she wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Her husband was employed at the college at the time and the house was since appropriated by the college for administrative functions. But Deena and I received a real sense of history standing on the porch.

Molly makes a new friend at Bowdoin College

As we walked back to our car, it was Molly’s turn to be impressed. Molly was barely three months old when we visited the college and we often wondered whether she missed her mother and her siblings. As we approached our car, Molly suddenly became animated. It turns out that she saw an older visitor with a fourteen-year-old golden retriever for a service animal. It must have reminded Molly of her mom because she climbed all over the dog, who had a “not again” look in her eyes. But she was patient with Molly and the two dogs quickly bonded.

Molly enjoys the friendly students at Bowdoin College — Molly makes a friend. Missing mom.

That’s the summary of our visit to Bowdoin College. We had a wonderful time on and around the campus. Everyone we encountered was so friendly and welcoming. I hope we have a chance to return.