BRUNSWICK

Pejepscot Historical Society Director Larissa Picard is hailing Chamberlain Days as a celebration of all things Joshua Chamberlain.

The three-day celebration kicks off Friday with several tours and field trips, as well as music from Chamberlain’s era performed by the 18-piece Centennial Brass Band at First Parish Church at 7 p.m.

“He’s a fascinating and complex character, and man and his family is very interesting,” Picard said. “He’s more than just this sort of poster hero that people in Maine are familiar with. He has a lot of depth and a lot of sides to him.”

The celebrated Battle of Gettysburg hero, Maine governor and Bowdoin College president will be celebrated throughout the weekend with tours, music and events throughout Brunswick and even Portland — Chamberlain’s final Maine residence.

Picard said it’s a chance to immerse oneself in the 19th century and experience a little of what the Civil War period was like. Part of that immersion will be a Civil War encampment on the Mall by the 3rd Maine Regiment from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

“They’ll be doing all sorts of traditional Civil War camp activities — drilling; they’ll have a fife and drum corps,” Picard said. “They may have somebody cooking and they’re very happy to talk to members of the public and involve people in their activities.”

From lectures to children’s activities, Picard said there’s something for everyone throughout the weekend. The historical society has a web page dedicated to keeping people up to date with events and times.

“We have a really fun Civil War trivia night and mustache contest at Byrnes’ Irish Pub Saturday night,” Picard said. “That should be a ton of fun and we want people — whether they can grow a mustache or not — to join in that and make a mustache if you can and we’ll give away prizes for that.”

Also on hand will be Chamberlain descendants, Ted and Faye Chamberlain, portraying Joshua and Fanny Chamberlain. The Chamberlains and the 3rd Maine Regiment will lead a procession to the Pine Grove Cemetery at 5 p.m. on Saturday to the Chamberlain grave site.

Prior to that at 2 p.m., Saturday, a Birthday Tea Party for Fanny will be held at the Chamberlain Museum.

Also, on display at the Chamberlain Museum, is the Medal of Honor awarded to Joshua Chamberlain in 1893 for “distinguished gallantry” at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Beyond the statue on Maine Street and the mustachioed figure used on everything from posters to labels on Shipyard Chamberlain Pale Ale, Picard points out some lesser known facts about the man they honor.

“We’re really just trying to have a lot of fun and do a little learning as well but engage a wider swath of the community,” Picard said of the weekend events.

Chamberlain was born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, but preferred his middle name.

“As a Bowdoin student, he visited Harriet Beecher Stowe at her home on Federal Street and listened to her read chapters from ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ then in progress,” Picard said.

Chamberlain attended Bangor Theological Seminary after Bowdoin and financed his education by teaching German to young women and playing the organ at his church in Brewer.

“When the war began, he was a professor at Bowdoin,” Picard explained. “He felt compelled to leave to fight, but the college didn’t want to lose him. They offered him a sabbatical to Europe to study languages, so he ostensibly agreed, but then he instead immediately offered his services to Maine’s governor and was made lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine.”

During the war, Chamberlain was wounded six times and had the same number horses shot out from beneath him.

A proponent of women’s rights to higher education, as Bowdoin president, Chamberlain began a summer school for sciences that allowed women. Despite his efforts, Bowdoin didn’t go co-ed until 1971.

According to Picard, Chamberlain stated: “Her rights, her capacities, her offices, her destiny, are equal to those of man.”