Maine

The state of Maine, located in the far northeastern tip of the United States, is bounded by Ontario and Quebec to the north, New Brunswick and the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast, and New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts to the southwest. Originally part of Massachusetts, the district of Maine petitioned for and was granted statehood, and was admitted to the union on March 15, 1820.

Hiking near the harbor is a popular activity for families in Maine, which has a history of influential women and mothers.

Maine's population in 2007 was 1,322,000. This number included 11,000 African Americans, 8,000 American Indians, 11,000 Asian Americans, fewer than 2,000 individuals of Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent, and 14,000 Hispanic Americans. According to the 2000 census, 40.2 percent of the population in Maine is urban, with the remaining 59.8 percent classified as rural.

The state of Maine has had a long history of activism on behalf of women's suffrage. Susan B. Anthony spoke in Bangor in 1854, followed by Lucy Stone in 1855. Women in Portland started a women's rights society that same year that was briefly eclipsed by the Civil War, but was later resurrected. The founding meeting of the Maine Suffrage Association was held in Augusta in 1803. In 1872, the Maine legislature voted down a bill for women's [Page 676]suffrage; however, supporters of the bill had argued that women were the real experts on food, children, and household affairs, and therefore were the most qualified voters on policy decisions in this area.

The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics in 2007 indicated that 65.5 percent of women in Maine are in the workforce. The child dependency ratio (or number of people ages birth to 14 per 100 people aged 15–64), was 33.7. Of all families, 8.6 percent were living below the national poverty level. In November 2008, the unemployment rate in Maine was 6.3 percent.

Young women under the age of 18 must have written permission from a parent to enter into marriage in the state of Maine. For applicants under 18, marriage requires written permission from both a parent and a judge. There is neither a blood test nor a waiting period between the issuance of a marriage license and the wedding. An unmarried individual or a married couple may adopt under Maine law.

In 2005, Maine reported 10,500 marriages, or 7.9 per 1,000 persons. The divorce rate was 3.5 per 1,000, slightly below the national average of 3.6. 8 percent of all births were to teen mothers, and 35 percent of all births were to unmarried women; 6.8 percent of births resulted in low birthweight babies. The infant mortality rate rose from 4.9 in 2000 to 5.7 in 2004.

Currently, the Maine Department of Human Services can assist mothers with the establishment of paternity and child support and child support collection for children born in and out of wedlock. However, they do not offer assistance with custody or visitation.

Maine has produced a significant number of influential women across many disciplines. A cross section of these women include Dorothea Dix, who worked to advocate for legislation to ensure care and treatment for the mentally ill; Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator and the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress; Samantha Smith, who as a child wrote a letter to Soviet leader Andropov expressing her fear of nuclear holocaust; 20th century poet Edna St. Vincent Millay; author and environmentalist Rachel Carson; Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist writer and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin; and former First Lady Barbara Bush. Olympic gold marathon runner Joan Benoit Samuelson and women's basketball star and coach Cindy Blodgett also hail from the state of Maine.

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