The Prince Project Database is Now Available
About Us
Our Mission & Board of Directors
At the Prince Project, our mission is to uncover the role of enslavement in Maine’s early past and share the research in an effort to help rewrite inaccurate historical narratives, and better educate people.
The Prince Project has three Directors: Vana Carmona, Laura Ball, and Liz Eisele McLellan.
Vana Carmona, President: Vana Carmona is the founder of the Prince Project, a database of over 2000 people of color who lived in Maine prior to 1800. She is a docent/guide for several historic sites in the Portland area, including Maine Historical Society and Spirits Alive (Eastern Cemetery in Portland). She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, and completed her Masters of Liberal Arts, with emphasis on Medieval History, at California State University/Sacramento. She is descended from a number of early European settlers, with the first of these arriving in New England in 1620, and moving into Maine in 1633. Many, she discovered, were enslavers and complicit in the slave trade.
Laura Bell, Treasurer: Laura Bell lives and works in Southern Maine, and has lived her entire life in the New England Region. She has worked in the Financial Services and Insurance Industry for most of her career. She is one of the initial Board members for the Prince Project. After meeting Vana Carmona at a Historical Society Prince Project presentation, Laura was drawn to Vana’s vision to learn as much as possible about enslavement in Maine and share that information broadly to ensure future generations are educated about our collective past. Laura is a graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and of Northeastern University with a Master of Technical and Professional Writing.
Bill Grabin, Secretary: Bill Grabin lives in Kennebunk, and has long been supportive of many groups advocating for conservation and social justice. He has a BS in Natural History from the University of Pennsylvania, and was co-founder of Renaissance Greeting Cards. He has served as President of the Kennebunk Land Trust and York County Audubon. He was a founding member of the group Just History, which is working to document and bring to light the history of People of Color and enslavement in Wells, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel. Our focus is also on the extensive local trade that was carried out with the West Indies, providing them with needed supplies and returning with goods produced by enslaved labor.
Our History
The Prince Project began in Gorham, Maine when the founder, Vana Carmona, stumbled upon a gravestone near where her family was buried. Not recognizing the name, Prince, she immediately returned home to seek out more information about him. That day changed Vana’s life.
Prince had been enslaved by her own ancestors. Despite her education in local schools and going on to complete a Masters, she knew nothing about this history, nor the role her family had played in it. Initially, Vana assumed she would find only a few individuals. Very quickly, she realized that was not the case.
Vana’s mission became the Prince Project’s mission: to learn as much as possible about enslavement in Maine and to be sure that future generations are equally educated about it.
The database now has nearly 2000 individuals on it … and growing.
Thanks to many people becoming more aware of it, new data and sources are being found. A number of people have contributed additional information which will enhance everyone’s knowledge over time.
Join the Prince Project
Launched in May 2014, The Prince Project has grown from a simple list of a handful of enslaved people in a small town, to a database of almost 2000 who lived all over the State of Maine before 1800. Every person who has been found has made it increasing clear that we need to teach our future generations a more accurate/complete history of our State.
Yes, we did have slavery here in Maine. It was more widespread than any of us thought/were taught. Equally important, these people who were kidnapped in Africa and brought here against their will, played a vital role in our society, and helped create the life we have here today. Their contributions need to be recognized.
We at the Prince Project are striving to get the information about these people up online as soon as possible. By making this database accessible to everyone, we want to encourage people to educate themselves and the next generations about this history.
We appreciate your support in making this happen.