John Ford Memorial

The Visit: On the warm afternoon of April 24th, I visited the site of John Ford's Memorial in downtown Portland. Located on the corner of a four way intersection, this monument is frequently passed by those either going down to the docks or up into town. Unfortunately, it is a difficult site to get to with ease unless you come across it on a day with little traffic. With that said, the memorial seems to be well maintained and the small garden behind it acts as a lovely background in completing the scene of John Ford sitting on his stone directors chair. Around the statue of Ford are 6 markers which represent the 6 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscars that he received. And, on each marker is a small explanation of the work and the inspiration behind it. The site itself is part of the Maine Irish Heritage Trail and is the 26th out of 58 sites found in Portland.

 


Historical Significance: John Ford was born as John Martin Feeney in 1894 in Cape Elizabeth. His family moved to Munjoy Hill shortly after and attended Portland schools growing up. Once he graduated he followed his brother to Hollywood and, as they say in show biz, the rest was history. He directed some of the most famous movies, including "The Grapes of Wrath", "Rio Grande", "The Battle of Midway", and "December 7th." Several years later, a women named Linda Noe Laine whose father was a friend to Ford, visited Portland and was shocked to find that there was no memorial to him. So in May of 1996, she donated $10,000 dollars towards the building of this memorial and was revealed in July of 1998 with a memorial service to properly honor him, his accomplishments, and the town he grew up in.
As I mentioned before, this memorial is part of the Maine Irish Heritage Trail. The Irish immigrated to Maine very early on, creating communities, mills, occupying roles in government, and organizing churches.The Feeney's, John Ford's family, were of Irish decent and made money off of the selling of alcohol,  but often got into trouble for doing so during a time when there were so many prohibition laws in Maine. None-the-less, he used his Irish heritage as inspiration for several of his movies and therefore  became a good representation of how determined and successful Irish Mainers could be.
Today we honor John Ford's success in transforming from a local Portland boy into an award winning director. The popular bar Bull Feeneys is named after the nickname he received as a successful high school football player, "Bull", and his name is known by almost all Maine residents. Though he never returned to Maine, his accomplishments will always be remembered and his roots will always start right here in Portland.

Resources: Maine Irish Heritage Trail: http://www.maineirishheritagetrail.org/john-ford-statue_026.shtml
John Ford: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ford#Influence