The Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book

Judge Henry at 674 Brighton Avenue in Portland, home of the new Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book.

"Center for the Book" ought to be an extraordinary place, named for an extraordinary person. With that in mind, on April 28, 2003, the Maine Humanities Council named its home at 674 Brighton Avenue in Portland for the Honorable Harriet P. Henry, the first woman to serve as a judge in Maine and an ardent advocate for the humanities in the state.

The official dedication was a small ceremony on site for the Henry family. But the real celebration came that evening, at the Portland Harbor Hotel, when Governor John E. Baldacci and several hundred others gathered to salute Harriet’s accomplishments and celebrate the success of the Council’s Challenge Grant campaign, which raised more than $1 million for the Center.

Declaring it "Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book Day" in Maine, the governor recalled his days in Congress when Harriet and other Council board members came to Washington to plead for humanities funding at a time when such things were in real danger of disappearing. He said she had been "outspoken in her support for the importance of reading and books in the lives of Maine citizens."

Bruce Cole, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, sent his congratulations, saying the Center for the Book would "serve the citizens of Maine well as they continue to seek deeper understanding of the humanities, of our nation, and of the world."

Nationally recognized as an expert in marine law and coastal management, Harriet Henry was appointed to the district court bench in 1973, a time when women were still facing obstacles to practicing law, much less serving in the judiciary. She quickly became known as an advocate for women judges and for her work in the areas of child abuse and child welfare. A graduate of Smith College with a law degree from George Washington University, she has lived since 1958 in Maine, where she and her husband Merton G. Henry raised three children.

A longtime Board member of the Council, she served as co-chair for two years and played a large role in broadening its sense of mission in the state.

And just what is a Center for the Book? "It’s both a physical place and an idea," says Dorothy Schwartz, the Council’s executive director. "The actual site serves as headquarters for our statewide programming. The concept behind all these activities is that the act of reading and then discussing books with others not only stretches our minds but helps bind us together as a community. We are affiliated with the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book, and we shape our programs to fit the needs of diverse audiences in Maine."