Historians have described Maine during much of the 20th century as a stagnant backwater that resisted the currents of modern history until well into the 1950s. After all, this was the state that voted against Franklin Delano Roosevelt four times, the state where fully one-quarter of its native sons and daughters were living elsewhere in 1930.

Such an assessment, however, ignores the activities of thousands of Mainers who have played a role in the century’s great events and trends. Some of these witnesses to history, whom we feature in this end-of-the-century supplement, seized their moment in life’s swirls and eddies, while others were caught up in the current in spite of themselves.

From the muddy foxholes of France in World War I to the jungles of Vietnam, from the horrors of the Holocaust to the exhilaration of the space race, Mainers have been on the front lines. Some of the people we interviewed participated in broader trends stretching across the entire century, such as the revolutions in communications, transportation, health and the civil rights movement.

Today, Maine is no longer a backwater area. It has a reputation as a place of moderation with a diverse political system, successful schools and a clean environment strengthened by progressive laws. In the 1970s, for the first decade since before the Civil War, the state’s population increase actually surpassed the nation’s as large numbers of people came here looking for a better life.

These witnesses to history were chosen to show some of the ways average Mainers have played a role, and sometimes helped to make a better world. They represent the thousands who have been affected by the winds of change that have blown across this state, taking us from one century to another.