James G. Blaine, editor of the Kennebec Journal, was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1862. He served as speaker of the House from 1869 to 1875, and unsuccessfully ran for president in 1876 and 1880. He then served as secretary of state under two presidents. Credit:
Portrait painting and photography is a tradition stretching back centuries. Today we can all do it with an outstretched arm and a phone — the selfie. Sometimes we might even pay an artist to draw our caricature.
Official portraiture is typically pursued by presidents and other politicians. In Maine, the honor was recently bestowed on Leon Gorman, former CEO and current chairman emeritus of L.L. Bean.
Here’s his portrait, which was painted by celebrated artist Jon R. Friedman (who has also painted the portraits of former FBI Director William Sessions, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bill and Melinda Gates.) Look at his jacket and boots.
Credit: Portrait by Jon R. Friedman
When Gorman became CEO in 1967, L.L. Bean’s revenue was less than $5 million. He helped grow that revenue to more than $1 billion in sales.
Seeing Gorman’s portrait made us curious about other portraits of influential Maine people. So we went looking through the U.S. Library of Congress and found some pretty cool photographic portraits. Here are a few of them:
James G. Blaine, editor of the Kennebec Journal, was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1862. He served as speaker of the House from 1869 to 1875, and unsuccessfully ran for president in 1876 and 1880. He then served as secretary of state under two presidents. The photo was taken between 1870 and 1880. Credit:
Llewellyn Powers was born in Pittsfield in 1836 and later attended what was then Colby University in Waterville. He was elected to Congress and served as Maine’s governor from 1896 to 1900. The photograph was taken between 1865 and 1880. Credit:
This Civil War portrait is of First Lieutenant Jacob A. Field of Company K, with the 12th Maine Infantry Regiment. He’s wearing a red officer’s sash and carrying a sword. The photo was taken between 1861 and 1865. Credit:
While living in Brunswick, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” a book that was sympathetic toward the plight of slaves in the United States. The photo was taken circa 1880. Credit:
Selden Connor, who was born in Fairfield in 1839, was a Civil War general and served as a colonel in the 19th Maine Volunteers. He was Maine governor from 1876 to 1879. Credit:
A Civil War portrait of Lt. Col. E. Burt with the 3rd Maine Infantry regiment. The photo was taken between 1860 and 1870. Credit:
A portrait of Margaret Chase Smith, taken in 1943. Smith, born in Skowhegan, was the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. Credit:
A portrait of the Rockland-born poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, taken by Carl Van Vechten on Jan. 14, 1933. Credit:
Erin Rhoda is the editor of Maine Focus, a team that conducts journalism investigations and projects at the Bangor Daily News. She also writes for the newspaper, often centering her work on domestic and...
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