Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
© 2025 Maine Public
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.
Delivery of the June 2025 issue of Experience Magazine will be late this month. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Harold Osher, philanthropist and renowned map collector, dies at 99

Dr. Harold Osher (right) and University of Southern Maine President Glenn Cummings announcing the Osher family's gift of a private map collection with a monetary value of $100 million, as well as a new endowment to support the new USM-Osher Map Library Foundation, in June 2018.
USM photo via Mainebiz
Dr. Harold Osher (right) and University of Southern Maine President Glenn Cummings announcing the Osher family's gift of a private map collection with a monetary value of $100 million, as well as a new endowment to support the new USM-Osher Map Library Foundation, in June 2018.

Maine philanthropist and world-renowned map collector Harold Osher has died at the age of 99.

According to an obituary from Temple Beth El, Osher was born in Portland, attended Bowdoin College and went on to medical school, returning to Maine and opening a private practice. He would later serve as director of Maine Medical Center's division of cardiology and hold several faculty appointments at medical schools around New England.

Osher also served as president of the Maine affiliate of the American Heart Association.

As he was winding down his medical career, Dr. Osher rekindled a childhood interest in maps, which over a decade grew to become one of the finest map collections in the world. In 1989, Osher and his wife Peggy gifted their collection to the University of Southern Maine, combining it with other collections to create the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education.

Osher died Saturday. Funeral services will be Thursday in Portland.