Culture

Troubling history of Malaga Island takes on added significance a century later

NGX editor’s note: As described in this Press Herald article, residents of Malaga Island were forcibly relocated to what was then the Maine School for the Feeble Minded in New Gloucester, now Pineland. State Archivist Kate McBrien will share Malaga Island’s history in an online presentation this afternoon, February 2, at 5:30. Register at this link.

| Dennis Hoey, Press Herald |

Maine State Archivist Kate McBrien will present a history of Malaga Island this week and the events that led the state to forcibly remove residents from their island home in 1912.

It’s a story that must continue to be told.

Though it’s been more than a century since Maine forcibly removed all the residents of a mixed-race fishing community on Malaga Island off the coast of Phippsburg, the state’s actions should never be forgotten, especially when racially motivated injustices continue to persist today, says a descendant of the community’s patriarch.

“It’s important because people are still getting it wrong,” said, Marnie Darling Voter, of Windham, the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Darling, a Black man whose relatives settled on Malaga Island.

Keep reading