:Esther E. Wood

File:View of Blue Hill, ME.jpg, c. 1920]]

Esther Elizabeth Wood was born in Blue Hill, Maine, to John Friend Wood and his wife, Lizzie Maddocks Wood.{{cite web|url=http://ellsworthamerican.com/archive/obit2002/12-02/ea_obit3_12-05-02.html|title=East Blue Hill|work=The Ellsworth American|date=5 December 2002|access-date=21 March 2016|archive-date=12 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112160146/http://ellsworthamerican.com/archive/obit2002/12-02/ea_obit3_12-05-02.html|url-status=dead}} Her ancestors had settled in the eastern Maine towns of Blue Hill, Ellsworth, and Deer Isle before 1790.{{cite web|url=http://www.waterborolibrary.org/MWI_detail.php?authID=133|title=Maine Writers Index: Esther Elizabeth Wood (1905–2002)|date=31 May 2007|access-date=20 March 2016|publisher=Waterboro Public Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112160333/http://www.waterborolibrary.org/MWI_detail.php?authID=133|archive-date=12 January 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.uma.edu/community/maine-womens-hall-of-fame/|title=Maine Women's Hall of Fame: Honorees – Esther Elizabeth Wood|publisher=University of Maine at Augusta|year=2016|access-date=21 March 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306082338/http://www.uma.edu/community/maine-womens-hall-of-fame/|archive-date=6 March 2016}} Her father managed quarries in Blue Hill and Deer Isle.{{cite journal|title=Esther Wood: An Appreciation|first=Hugh|last=Curran|journal=A Journal of Events from the Home of Jonathan Fisher|date=May 2003|publisher=Jonathan Fisher Memorial, Inc.}} She grew up in Friend's Corner, a rural neighborhood named after her paternal great-grandfather who had moved there in the 1820s. By 1900 the neighborhood was home to six families; growing up, Esther had four same-age cousins living close by.{{cite web |url=http://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=manuscript_finding_aids|title=GEN MS 23 Esther Wood Papers Finding Aid|first1=Daniel|last1=Draper|first2=Meg|last2=Turner|publisher=University of Southern Maine|year=2016|access-date=20 March 2016|page=3}}

Wood graduated from the George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill in 1922. She earned her A.B. degree from Colby College in 1926 and took a teaching job at the high school in Stonington, where her father was working as a stonecutter.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=20021203&id=z6ZJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1499,321524&hl=en|title=Noted Blue Hill educator, author, historian dies at 97|first=Rich|last=Hewitt|date=3 December 2002|page=B6|newspaper=Bangor Daily News}} In 1928 she entered Radcliffe College, earning her A.M. degree in 1929. She returned to Radcliffe in 1936 for another year of study.

In 1929 she taught at Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and in 1930 came to the Gorham Normal School to teach Maine and American history. She continued as a professor of history and social sciences at the school after its renaming to the Gorham State Teachers College in 1945 and the University of Southern Maine at Gorham in 1965.{{sfn|Bibber|2001|pp=51, 87}} Both she and her classes were well-liked.{{sfn|Bardwell|1994|p=4}} She also spoke to local groups on historical topics. From 1934 to 1945 she held the post of Dean of Women.

File:Sunset Cliff.jpg

Wood retired in 1973 and returned to her Blue Hill farmhouse, where she lived the rest of her life. She had begun writing a column titled "The Native" for The Ellsworth American, recounting her memories of growing up in rural Maine, and continued producing this column for 24 years until 1992.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19940309&id=ZRwzAAAAIBAJ&pg=2343,2462638&hl=en|title=Maine Women's Hall of Famer sees self primarily as teacher|first=Stephany|last=Boyd|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=9 March 1994|pages=17–18}} She also wrote regularly for The Christian Science Monitor and Maine Life, and contributed stories to Sunday school publications and magazines. In addition, she penned four books dealing with the history and society of the Blue Hill region.

Continuing to speak for local groups and events,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19760930&id=jhFbAAAAIBAJ&pg=2860,4750655&hl=en|title=MMA club reschedules meeting date|date=30 September 1976|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|page=24}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19770704&id=trUzAAAAIBAJ&pg=5471,970127&hl=en|title=Guest speaker heard by historical group|date=4 July 1977|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|page=18}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19800716&id=QZc-AAAAIBAJ&pg=3881,189210&hl=en|title=Esther Wood to speak in Surrey|date=16 July 1980|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|page=16}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19800912&id=aXM-AAAAIBAJ&pg=2603,5004519&hl=en|title=Author lectures to start|date=12 September 1980|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|page=12}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19890726&id=Ya9JAAAAIBAJ&pg=1445,2959296&hl=en|title=There will be plenty to do at bicentennial|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=26 July 1989}} Wood became known as the "town historian", although she disliked the moniker. Her family lore formed the basis for her historical stories, as she had heard her father's and grandfather's personal recollections of living in Blue Hill in the 1800s. According to Hugh Curran, a University of Maine professor who videotaped Wood for an oral history project: "Her memory straddled 200 years... The uniqueness to me was her almost total recall. She could speak for an hour and not repeat herself. She had an incredible memory".

In 1977 she wrote a short history of her alma mater, the George Stevens Academy, for their student handbook, which has been printed in all subsequent editions.{{cite web|url=http://ellsworthamerican.com/archive/news2002/12-05-02/ea_news2_12-05-02.html|title='The Native' Takes Her Leave at 97|first=James|last=Straub|work=The Ellsworth American|date=5 December 2002|access-date=21 March 2016|archive-date=12 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112220918/http://ellsworthamerican.com/archive/news2002/12-05-02/ea_news2_12-05-02.html|url-status=dead}}

Wood's historical notes are often mentioned in tour books of the Blue Hill region.{{sfn|Vietze|2009|p=24}}{{sfn|Shaw|2008|p=62}} She contributed the report on historical and archeological resources for the 1991 Blue Hill Comprehensive Plan, which was reprinted in the 2006 Blue Hill Comprehensive Plan.{{cite web |url=http://www.hcpcme.org/bluehill/BlueHillCompPlan011206.pdf|title=Blue Hill Comprehensive Plan|date=March 2006|publisher=Hancock County Planning Commission|access-date=21 March 2016|pages=62–68}}

Like her mother, who maintained a daily journal from 1893 to 1971, Wood wrote daily in her journal from 1973 to 2002.

File:Jonathan Fisher House.JPG, Blue Hill, Maine]]

Wood was an active supporter of the George Stevens Academy, serving as a trustee and a member of the executive committee for a 1981 endowment campaign.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19810811&id=qg80AAAAIBAJ&pg=3826,3786171&hl=en|title=Blue Hill academy to hold fund drive|date=11 August 1981|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|page=14}} She personally contributed to campaigns for a library expansion and the installation of tennis courts. She was also a member of the Blue Hill Historical Society, the Blue Hill Baptist Church, the Blue Hill Cemetery Association, the State Cemetery Association, the Blue Hill Garden Club, and the Jonathan Fisher Memorial, serving as secretary for the latter organization.

In 2000 she endowed a $100,000 scholarship at the University of Southern Maine at Lewiston-Auburn in memory of Edna Frances Dickey, her fellow history professor at Gorham State Teachers College.

In 1972, Colby College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In 1973, the University of Southern Maine dedicated two new dormitory buildings in honor of history teachers Wood and Dickey.{{cite web |url=https://usm.maine.edu/library/specialcollections/campus-descriptions-gorham|title=Campus Descriptions – Gorham |publisher=University of Southern Maine|year=2016|access-date=21 March 2016}} Resembling round towers, the Wood Tower and Dickey Tower each have eight floors.

Wood was named Woman of the Year by the Blue Hill Chamber of Commerce in 1985 and was the recipient of the Maine School Superintendents Association Award in 1987. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.

Wood died on December 1, 2002, at her farmhouse{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/25/t-magazine/25writers-rooms.html?_r=0 |title=A Writer's Room: Jonathan Lethem|work=The New York Times|date=25 August 2013|access-date=20 March 2016}} and was buried in the Seaside Cemetery in Blue Hill.{{citation |url=|title=Wood, Esther E.|work=Portland Press Herald|date=2 December 2002|access-date=|url-access= |via=}} Her farmhouse was purchased by novelist Jonathan Lethem, who uses it as a summer home and writes in the same study that Wood did.

The Esther Wood Papers, containing her lecture notes on New England history from the 16th century through the American Revolutionary War and American Civil War, and 20th-century United States diplomacy, are housed at the University of Southern Maine. An oral history project which Hugh Curran conducted with Wood over a period of several years, comprising four 40-minute videotapes, is housed at the Blue Hill Public Library and the George Stevens Academy library.

• {{cite book|title=Country Fare: Reminiscences and Recipes from a Maine Childhood|year=1976|publisher=New Hampshire Publishing Co.}} (containing family history and family recipes)
• {{cite book|title=Saltwater Seasons: Recollections of a Country Woman|url=https://archive.org/details/saltwaterseasons00wood|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=Downeast Books|isbn=9780892721085 }}
• {{cite book|title=Hannah: Reminiscences of an 1850 Childhood|year=1982|publisher=Downeast Books}} (about her aunt's youth) reprinted in 2014 as Hannah Wood of Blue Hill, Maine: Reminiscences of an 1850 Childhood{{sfn|Wood|2014}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iv8gAQAAMAAJ |title=Deep Roots: A Maine Legacy|year=1990|publisher=Yankee Books|isbn=0912769440}} (published for the Blue Hill bicentennial)

• {{cite web |url=http://www.georgestevensacademy.org/domain/3

|title=A History of George Stevens Academy|publisher=George Stevens Academy}}

• {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19630511&id=3bc0AAAAIBAJ&pg=1763,1262827&hl=en|title='After School' was Exciting, Happy Time|date=11 May 1963|newspaper=Lewiston Evening Journal|page=2-A}}
• {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19650501&id=5XogAAAAIBAJ&pg=3261,126695&hl=en|title=Uncle Loved Oyster Stew Instead of Clam Chowder|date=1 May 1965| newspaper=Lewiston Evening Journal|page=6-A}}
• {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19571005&id=YcdGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1942,3537387&hl=en|title=Many Sacrifices Suffered by Colonial Maine People|date=5 October 1957|newspaper=Lewiston Evening Journal|page=2-A}}
• {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19550806&id=8PBGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1709,3507782&hl=en|title=To 'See' Maine's Best Scenery Travel the Rural Side Roads|date=6 August 1955|newspaper=Lewiston Evening Journal|page=4-A}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wUBsbutHvYC&pg=PA4 |title=Old York|editor-first=John D.|editor-last=Bardwell|year=1994|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=0738588385}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KveneIvvnWEC |title=University of Southern Maine|first=Joyce K. |last=Bibber|year=2001|publisher= Arcadia Publishing|isbn=0738505374}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atmQWs7zQs0C&pg=PA62|title=Around Blue Hill and Ellsworth|first=Richard R.|last=Shaw|year=2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0738557182}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2cH4RdSssgC&pg=PA24|title=Insiders' Guide® to the Maine Coast|first=Andrew |last=Vietze|year=2009|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0762756087|edition=3rd}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kqh8oAEACAAJ |title=Hannah Wood of Blue Hill, Maine: Reminiscences of an 1850 Childhood|last=Wood|first=Esther E.|publisher=White River Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1887043113}}

• [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19800716&id=QZc-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=HloMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3881,189210&hl=en "'Deep Roots' takes a look at early life in coastal Maine" (book review)] Bangor Daily News, February 13, 1990

{{Authority control}}

{{Maine Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Esther E.}}

Category:University of Southern Maine faculty

Category:Writers from Maine

Category:Journalists from Maine

Category:Colby College alumni

Category:Radcliffe College alumni

Category:People from Blue Hill, Maine

Category:1905 births

Category:2002 deaths

Category:Historians of Maine

Category:20th-century American journalists