While cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead was writing that “a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,” the Nelson family was already doing that here in Portland.

Since first-generation Americans Harold and Millie (Rolnick) Nelson settled in Portland in 1936, they and their sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren have been involved in shaping and modernizing an astounding number of the city’s cultural and civic institutions.

“They’re generous with their time, their ideas, and their resources, but they’re very low-key about it,” said former University of Southern Maine President Rich Pattenaude in a 40-minute documentary by O’Maine Studios. “If you go through the leadership of the art museum, the symphony, the hospital, the university, MECA, Seeds of Peace, on and on and on, every time you see one of the members of the Nelson family stepping forward and taking a quiet leadership role with humility and, at the same time, commitment.”

This story begins with the Katznelsons, who were among the 2 million Jews driven out of the Russian empire between 1880 and 1910. They dropped a syllable from their surname when they emigrated from Belarus, but they didn’t lose their religious or cultural identity. In fact, their son Harold Nelson and his wife Millie Nelson helped to build some of Maine’s most central Jewish organizations — Temple Beth El, the Jewish Federation, and the Jewish Community Center and its Center Day Camp — while building their appliance and electronics distribution company Nelson & Small.

When Harold and Millie and their sons moved to Falmouth in 1946, they were the first Jewish family there. He was the first Jewish member of the Portland Country Club. And the civic boards he served on included Mercy Hospital, which was, of course, Catholic. In the words of their daughter-in-law Mary (Pennell) Nelson, Harold and Millie “were such gentle but determined barrier breakers.”

After two of Harold and Millie’s sons graduated from Bowdoin and two from Harvard, Lenny and Kenny embarked on careers as lawyers, Bruce as a doctor and Andrew as a world-traveling expert on rare art, gems and jewelry.

Meanwhile, this generation took their parents’ passion for community service up a notch. Or several notches. Account for Lenny’s wife Merle and Kenny’s wife Mary — both of whom served as state legislators — and this boomer generation of Nelsons has been behind-the-scenes leaders of dozens of Maine’s civic and cultural organizations.

Lenny has been a champion for the arts, Merle for social justice, and Bruce for historic landmarks and history. Kenny led capital campaigns for the University of Southern Maine and Jewish Community Alliance, and Mary worked for 40 years to bring the USM School of Music to its new home in Portland.

And the legacy goes on with two more generations of Nelsons — Harold and Millie’s 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, many of whom attended the award event.

It’s a testament to the Nelson family that the 2025 Maine History Maker event raised a record-breaking $207,000 for Maine Historical Society’s work preserving and sharing Maine’s story. In addition to lead sponsor Berstein Shur — where Lenny Nelson is a founding partner — 20 companies or organizations and 140 host committee households supported the event.

Five hundred people attended. Gov. Janet Mills, whose family received a Maine History Maker award in 2015 even before she made history as the first female governor of the state, was among them. So were several other previous honorees: Olympic marathon runner Joan B. Samuelson (2024), Maine State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. (2023), and Preti Flaherty co-founders Harold Pachios and Severin Beliveau (2022).

Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer and photographer based in Scarborough. She can be reached at amyparadysz@gmail.com.