the baxter visionaries

7/23/2019 The Baxter Visionaries

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Introductory Comments by Connie Baxter Marlow to thePanel Presentation entitled "The Baxter Vision in a HistoricalPerspective"with historians Earle hettleworth! eil #olde and Herb $damsin con%unction with the photo&raphy exhibit "#hythms o' Creation( TheBaxter )e&acy"* +niversity o' ew En&land! ,estbroo- Campus! .une/0! /111*

Two years ago I received a book in the mail at my home in the mountains of Colorado.The book was from Buzz Caverly, Director of Baxter tate !ark, whom I had not seen for thirty years, not since I had lived at "atahdin for a year doing the #hotogra#hs exhibitedhere that were #ublished in my book $%&'T&T ()*+T'I+ "'T'-DI+/I0D&%+&. The book he sent me was T-& B'1T&% )2 ('I+& D)/+&'T3II)+'%I& by +eil %olde.

(ost of my adult life had been s#ent seeking answers to 4uestions that had been #laguingme as I grew u# with a heritage of #ublic service, generosity and a concern for humanityand the rest of creation that was far beyond the norm. This 4uest took me out of our #revailing belief system into the bigger, broader understanding of the nature of things held by visionary +ative 'merican elders who remembered the beginning, embodied the #resentand could see the future. /ords such as #ro#hecy, visions, brotherhood of man, #eace on&arth, serving future generations, serving the grou#, interconnectedness all becamecommon#lace conce#ts in my life, as I came into contact with thinkers from all cultureswho see things most #eo#le cannot see, and embody this thinking in everything they do.(any years ago I began to live my life and raise my children according to these #rinci#les.

The mere title of +eils book gave me a thrill. uch a word as 5visionary5 a##lied to myancestors, combined with the information contained in the book, allowed me to see howextraordinary both 6ames !hinney Baxter and !ercival Baxter had been. I discovered thatit was not only through large acts of #ublic generosity that they im#acted the minds andhearts of the #eo#le of (aine, but through their everyday lives as well.

I subse4uently returned to (aine after a 78 year absence and found a reverence for myfamily that had not been evident during my work in the 98s. The #assage of time hadetched the memory of these men into the (aine #syche. (y 4uestion tonight is 5/hatwas it about 6ames !hinney Baxter and !ercival Baxter that set them a#art asvisionaries:5

The 'merican -eritage Dictionary defines vision as 5unusual com#etence, discernment of #erce#tion; intelligent foresight. 'nd visionary as one who has visions, a seer, one who isgiven to im#ractical or s#eculative ideas; a dreamer. ' #oster at *+& defines vision as5eeing beyond what is to what can be.5 In my high school yearbook the 4uote I used toex#ress my #hiloso#hy of life was 5 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, whatis essential is invisible to the eye.5 by 'ntoine t. &xu#ere in The 0ittle !rince.



!ercival Baxter, in res#onse to criticism for lowering the statehouse flag to half<mast u#onthe death of his dog $arry, is 4uoted as saying 5 I seek to offend the feelings of none, butI relin4uish to none the right to act according to the dictates of my heart.5

In his s#eech in =>?? entitled 5' !eriod of !eril5 for the Centennial 'do#tion of the *..Constitution 6ames !hinney s#oke of a vision he had concerning the future of the 'nglo<axon race on the world stage. -e saw it as a race that was 5animated by ideas, whichmake it invincible, and the chief of these are the ideas of civil liberty and the universal brotherhood of man.5 -e goes on to say 5 These ideas have #roved to be the germs of alltrue #rogress in the #ast and will excercise @considerableA influence on the worlds future.Its #ower is not in numbers, but in its indomitabe s#irit. The 'nglo<axon influence willins#ire men of every race to make the best and highest use of all #owers, not only for theindividual, but for the common weal.5

In my reading I came across a 4uote that stated my heritage, my life and my 4uestsuccinctly 5/hat is the truth or nature of things and how are we to embody it in oursocial living:5 from a book entitled (TIC ' ' 2)%C& 2)% C-'+$&.

I would like to suggest that 6!B and !!B felt dee#ly and ex#erienced the world throughtheir hearts first and used their minds, education, #osition, wealth and #ower to im#lementthe direction they received < that this led to actions which took on significant #ro#ortionsas they served humanity by su##orting /omens uffrage, women in government #ositions, o##osing the """, #roviding for the disadvantaged, the deaf; as theycham#ioned the animals through anti<vivisection laws, lowering the flag for $arry, taking #ersonal stances for animals; as they honored the land and future generations through #ersonal gifts of "atahdin, (ackworth Island, Baxter /oods and the conce#t for BaxterBoulevard and the !ortland !ark ystem; as they fought for the water < kee#ing waterrights in (aine. They were businessmen and #oliticians, but they were also lovers of life <

#oets, writers, artists and res#onded to #ersonal and #olitical situations dee#ly and #ublicly. %egarding womens suffrage !ercival stated 5If any of us have strong convictionsin favor of it, our convictions must govern our actions... )n 4uestions of this sort I #referto stand u#on my convictions, and if my constituency disa##rove of my action, I mustsubmit to such #unishment as they may see fit to give me in the years to come.5 Thisattitude was to ty#ify !ercys #ublic action.

To me, they both 5saw with the heart and embodied it in their social living5 and these arethe attributes that gave them a lasting legacy and #ermanent #lace in the hearts of the(aine #eo#le.

I know that all of you #anelists have had either #ersonal ex#erience with !ercival Baxteror through extensive research or both have some wonderful stories and facts to share withus tonight and will ex#and our ex#erience and understanding of the heart<felt actions of both !ercival and his father 6ames !hinney Baxter as they created a legacy for us all tomarvel at and be ins#ired by.

Thank you for coming and sharing your knoweldge and ex#eriences with us.

the baxter visionaries

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