‘When the world was illiterate, we created a library’ — Q&A with Carolyn Outwin

PORTLAND — On April 5, Carolyn Outwin of Cape Elizabeth became the first female president of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association in its 197-year history. The MCMA began as a craftsman’s guild aimed at promoting excellence in the skilled trades of Greater Portland, including coopers, cobblers, haberdashers and tallow chandlers – or, makers of barrels, shoes, hats and candles – as well as carpenters, plasterers and sail makers.

Today, the organization is largely a social group dedicated to promoting the skilled trades and maintaining its 30,000-volume library, housed on the second floor of historic Mechanics Hall, at 519 Congress St. in Portland.

Raised in Massachusetts, Outwin moved to Maine with her husband and daughter in 1991. On Monday, while seated before a wall filled with portraits of her male predecessors, Outwin spoke with The Current about the organization’s history, her place as its first woman president, and the enduring value of the skilled trades.

Q: How did you discover the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association?

A: Quite by accident. Encore, which is the vintage clothing shop on the first floor [of Mechanics Hall], was having a “fire sale” and rented some then-empty space on the second floor for all the overflow. My sister happened to be visiting and we came up the stairs and as I took a left to go in to the sale, she just stood in the hall transfixed. She’s been a law library director for 35 years. Well, she saw the word “library” stenciled on the door and it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. So, we had to come back the next day when the library was open and the librarian, Patricia Larabee, invited us to become members, which we both did.

Q: But, why use the MCMA library, when the larger Portland Public Library is just down the street?

A: It’s just so refreshing here. Do you have any idea what it’s like to walk in and have somebody say to you, “This is the perfect book for you, you’re going to love it,” and then to take it home and read it and think, I never would have thought of reading this, but she’s absolutely right?

Q: How has the MCMA managed to hang on for so long?

A: I think because of our library. Not all the associations had libraries and I think those are the ones that fell by the wayside. This library began in 1820 and is the eighth-oldest membership library in the United States. That’s a big deal to us.

Q: Why did the MCMA found a library?

A: The organization itself was founded specifically for the masters, the business owners. The library was created for their apprentices. In 1815, you had a society that was labor-intensive and, if you wanted to learn how to do something – book-binding, candy-making, joinery, being a tailor or a seamstress – you had to attach yourself to someone who would teach you. Now you go to school to learn how to do things, but back then you had to apprentice to someone.

Q: What did MCMA members hope a library would do for their apprentices?

A: The reason for the library was for the improvement of the minds of the apprentices. Now, think about that for a minute. When most of the world was illiterate, we created a library. That means that the masters were not just teaching their apprentices a trade, they were teaching them to read and write as well. The idea was, as you advanced in society, you might meet a college man and though you might not be a college man yourself, you had to speak in an intelligent and educated fashion. Otherwise, there goes the man who might have had money to invest in your business.

Q: Is the library kept alive now simply out of tradition?

A: I think it can still be viable into the 22^nd century. I think we have a lot to offer. We host travel lectures and historical lectures and there’s a book discussion group that meets on the first Tuesday of the month. And we’re always open for “First Friday” art walk.

Q: How important is it to promote mechanical trades in a world where most high school graduates are urged to pursue a four-year liberal arts degree?

A: Oh, it’s absolutely critical. … I was appalled to learn that jobs go unfilled up at Fisher Plows. Those are sold all over the world and they can’t get skilled people to work for them. That’s a good job and you could have a nice life, but people no longer consider a career in the skilled trades. So, promoting that kind of work is, I think, as important now as it ever was.

Q: The building, Mechanics Hall, has some history, correct?

A: Yes, our building was built between 1857 and 1859. It’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. … We survived the Great Fire of 1866, after which this building was used as city hall for a few years. Before that, the top floor housed soldiers on their way to the Civil War.

Q: Who is MCMA’s typical member today?

A: Well, you don’t have to be a master tradesman anymore. All you have to do now to be a member is pay a $25 annual assessment. We are down to about 297, less than half the 600 [person] cap. The membership is still mostly men – about 99 percent of them are retired and over 80. I’m in my 50s and I’m one of the youngest members.

Q: So, you could use some new blood then?

A: Yes, I’d like younger people to join because I think we have so many people in this art-filled community who are engaged in mechanical arts whether they realize it our not. I think this is the perfect opportunity for young people in the skilled trades to come together for networking purposes. I think the skilled trades are vastly underrated.

Q: And how does it feel to be the first woman to lead the MCMA?

A: I’m still in shock. Woman were not allowed to be members in their own right until 1990, just a few years before I joined. Before that, woman were only allowed to use the library on their husband’s membership.

Q: How did you rise to the top of such a venerable group so quickly?

A: My vice president, Roger Young, saw me coming and going from the library and he said, she’s lively, we need to get her in here. So, I was invited to join the board of directors. I was flattered. It was an honor.

Q: Were longtime members resistant to your latest ascension?

A: Oh, no. I think it’s a milestone that the members are very proud of. I just hope that I can live up to their expectations.