PORTLAND, ME.- On Thursday, August 26, sixteen Maine museums, historical organizations, and their supporters came together in an unprecedented collaboration to save an important collection of Maine artifacts, seventeen rare, 19th-century hand-painted banners commissioned by the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association. The banners were purchased for $125,350 and will be housed at the Maine Historical Society in Portland. At the end of July, Maine museums and historical organizations learned that these banners were to be consigned for sale to James D. Julia Inc. auction house in Fairfield, Maine. Knowing the significance of these works and their value in keeping them in the public domain for future generations, Maine museums and historical organizations rallied together to raise funds to purchase them. The following organizations were involved: Maine Historical Society, Portland Museum of Art, Maine State Museum, Maine Maritime Museum, the Maine State Historian, Bates College Museum