The Academy will celebrate its 250th year in 2030. As part of commemorating the occasion, a book will be published about the Academy and its history. The author of the book, whose work is already underway, is Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Jackie Jones. The book will provide an honest assessment of the Academy’s achievements and failings within the larger history of the nation it was created to serve.
In addition to the book, and in advance of its publication, the Academy is sharing more of its historical materials online. The Archives section and the History section of the website are two ways the Academy is both making its history more available and reckoning with it.
In a project that brings together both the Archives and the History of the Academy, work is underway to develop and present biographical profiles of every Academy President offering clear-eyed descriptions of leaders and legacies. The work of showing the admirable and disappointing qualities of Academy leaders will begin with the Academy’s first president, James Bowdoin.
The online profile will share his leadership and legacy, not only at the Academy but also his impact as a business leader and government leader: accomplishments will be celebrated, and failings recorded. The profiles will embody the values set forth by the Academy’s statement on anti-racism:
“. . . the price of taking pride in the genuine achievements of an historical institution like ours, as in our nation, is that we must accept the burden of its less honorable traditions.”
For Bowdoin, the profile must include his efforts to quell the opposition during Shays’ Rebellion, when he was Governor of Massachusetts in the 1780s. It should also be noted that for decades, as a Representative and then as Governor, he contributed to the decline of relations between the English and the Penobscot, including the Owl’s Head Bay Massacre and the Massachusetts legislature’s support for a declaration of war against the Wabanaki, subsequently including the Penobscot, in 1755.
The significance of his involvement in that declaration is underscored by the 2026 selection of Molly Spotted Elk as a legacy honoree, which is a recognition conferred on individuals who were not elected during their lifetimes and whose accomplishments were overlooked or undervalued due to their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
Mary Alice Nelson, also known as Molly Dellis and Molly Spotted Elk, was a Penobscot dancer, actress, and writer. Her work documenting Penobscot legends and language served as an important bridge between Western and Indigenous cultures, helping to break the stereotypes that dominated her time.
Making the connection between her contributions and Academy President James Bowdoin’s involvement in declaring war against the Wabanaki and Penobscot is an example of what it means to reckon with our history.
Additional information about the Academy’s ongoing reckoning efforts is online, and information will continue to be added to the Archives and History pages alongside the work of 250th book project.