Maine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day€¦ · Heather Moran (2012) Maine State Archives 84 State...

Volume 20, Issue #1 May 2017

Maine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day

—continued on page 10

MARCH 20, 2017 found 18 museum exhibits and more than 70 sup-porters of Maine archives and museums in the Hall of Flags for the 2nd annual “Maine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day at the State House.” Again this year the New England Museum Association was our Advocacy Day partner. The purpose of MAM’s Advocacy Day at the State House is to inform our elected representatives about the values Maine’s collecting institutions bring to our communities, and to the State as a whole.

Prior to the afternoon program in the Hall of Flags, Dan Yaeger, NEMA Executive Director, and Meg Winikates, NEMA Membership and Advocacy Manager, conducted an informative workshop for MAM members on how to engage with legislators, telling our story in ways that can encourage them to support the work that Maine’s historical societies, archives, museums and other collecting institutions do. Dan and Meg focused on how to craft an “elevator speech” and suggested approaches to making an “ask” when seeking a legislator’s support. Thirty-three MAM members attended the workshop.

The afternoon celebration of Maine museums featured four speak-ers, introduced by Dugan Murphy, MAM’s Executive Director. Representative Erik Jorgensen welcomed the gathering to the State House, followed by remarks from Dan Yeager, Maine Historical Society Executive Director Steve Bromage, and Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

Each speaker offered a common theme—the values collecting orga-nizations bring to our cultural landscape and our need to make these contributions known today when these values are being ques-tioned. Specifically noted was the impact elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, as proposed by President Trump in his budget request, would mean for Maine and the country. In addition, Bromage noted that the upcoming Bicentennial of Statehood in 2020 offers a unique opportunity to focus on what our cultural insti-tutions have meant to the history of our State, and how our collections

2 Maine Archives & Museums Newsletter Vol. 20, No. 1

Maine Archives and MuseumsMAM Newsletter

Volume 20 • Number 1 • May 2017Maine Archives and Museums

[email protected]

P.O. Box 784Portland, ME 04104

(207) 400-6965

The Maine Archives and Museums Newsletter is published on a quarterly basis as a benefit of membership in MAM, whose purpose is to develop and foster a network of citizens and institutions in Maine who identify, collect, interpret and/or provide access to materials relating to history and culture.

Contributions to the MAM Newsletter may be submitted to MAM. Contact informa-tion provided below.

To purchase copies of the MAM Newsletter, please contact MAM at the above address or phone number.

Third Class postage paid at Bangor, Maine.

OFFICERSPresident: Heather MoranVice President: Susan LaGasseSecretary: Lorraine DeLaneyTreasurer: Jennifer Pye

BOARD MEMBERSRaney Bench Cipperly GoodNan Cumming Howard LowellRenee DesRoberts Tammy MarksTim Garrity Erin RhodesKathy Goldner Deborah Staber

NEWSLETTER STAFF Editors: Lorraine DeLaney and Erin Rhodes Typesetting / Design: Deborah J. McGee Printer: Bangor Letter Shop & Color Copy Center, Bangor

LEGAL SERVICESContributed by James C. Pitney

General CounselPreti, Flaherty, Beleveau & Pachios

TABLE OF CONTENTSMaine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day ....................................................................... CoverDISPATCHES ......................................................................................................................... 3New Front Railing at L.C. Bates Museum .............................................................................. 4L.C. Bates Museum Pleased to Receive NEH-PAG Grant ..................................................... 4A Gift and Construction Launch a New Museum Village Concept for the Curran Homestead by Robert Schmick ................................................................. 5Audubon’s Birds of America Featured in Colby College Special Collections ....................... 62016: A Watershed Year for the Rufus Porter Museum .......................................................... 7Hollywood Exhibit at the Margaret Chase Smith Library ...................................................... 7Your Museum, Reimagined: Portland Museum of Art Unveils Final Phase of Project .................................................. 7Call for Proposals: 2017 MAM Annual Conference .............................................................. 82017 MAM Workshop Series .................................................................................................. 9Woodlawn Director Assumes Leadership Role with American Association for State and Local History ................................................... 10Wilson Museum ....................................................................................................................... 10Pejepscot Historical Society Kicks Off New Season .............................................................. 12

NEXT ISSUE: AUGUST 2017Only submissions received by the Editors by June 30, 2017,

will be considered for publication.

Lorraine [email protected]

Vol. 20, No. 1 Maine Archives & Museums Newsletter 3

DISPATCHESOur members report on news, awards and achievements from throughout the state.

WATERVILLEGraphic Matters:

George Bellows and World War IThe Colby College Museum of Art is marking the centennial of American entry into World War I with a focused exhibition of prints and printed materials on view through September 3, 2017. In the decade before his death, the American artist George Bellows (1882–1925) embraced the printmaking technique of lithog-raphy. In 1918, with the United States at war, the former pacifist completed his War Series of prints, drawings, and monumental paintings. Drawing on press and government accounts—

Bellows enlisted in the United States Army but did not fight overseas—he represented extreme brutality in a highly classicized for-mal language. Used by media outlets and the federal government to stoke anti-German sen-timent, the War Series encompassed roughly three subjects: the battlefield, the fate of mil-itary prisoners, and the atrocities perpetrated against non-combatants on the Western front. Graphic Matters reexamines a selection of his prints alongside other publications from Colby College Special Collections’ Pestana Collection of World War I materials to probe timely questions about the ethics of represen-tation, institutionalized violence, nationalism, and performative masculinity.

KINGFIELDNew executive director at

Ski Museum of MaineThe Ski Museum of Maine recently welcomed Theresa Shanahan as its executive director. She replaces Bruce Miles, who retired after six years.

Shanahan manages the Ski Museum’s day-to-day operations, and is deeply involved in its multiple fundraising efforts as well as its edu-cation and outreach programs. She was partic-ularly excited to work on the Ski Museum’s program for International Women’s History

George Wesley Bellows, Murder of Edith Cavell, 1918. Lithograph on Japan paper, 21 3/8 x 29 1/8 in. Colby College Museum of Art. The Lunder Collection, 121.2013

Month in March, Sisters of Skade: Women in Maine Skiing 1870-2017.

Although Shanahan has no prior experience running nonprofit organizations, she is inti-mately familiar with the local community. She has lived in this Sugarloaf-centric town since 1988, working as an innkeeper, cook and property manager. She and husband David raised two children, both of whom attended Carrabassett Valley Academy, a school that’s notable for educating future ski and snow-board champions. While following her chil-dren around the youth racing circuit, Shanahan became familiar with Maine’s ski resorts and culture. •


Maine Archives & Museums2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD MEMBERSPresident: Heather Moran (2012)Maine State Archives

84 State House StationAugusta, ME 04333

Phone: [email protected]

Vice President: Susan LaGasse (2014)Non-Profit ConsultantPhone: [email protected]

Secretary: Lorraine DeLaney (2014)

Colby College Museum of Art5600 Mayflower HillWaterville, ME 04901Phone: [email protected]

Treasurer: Jennifer Pye (2014)

Monhegan Historical & Cultural Museum1 Lighthouse Hill

Monhegan, ME 04852Phone: 207-596-7003

museum.monheganmuseum.org

Raney Bench (2012)Seal Cove Auto Museum114 Tremont RoadSeal Cove, ME 04674Phone: [email protected]

Erin Rhodes (2016)Colby College Special Collections4000 Mayflower HillWaterville, ME 04901 Phone: [email protected]

Howard Lowell (2015)Independent Museum [email protected]

Renee DesRoberts (2017)McArthur Library270 Main St.Biddeford, ME 04005Phone: [email protected]

Cipperly Good (2017)Collections Manager/CuratorPenobscot Marine MuseumPO Box 498Searsport, ME 04974Phone: 207-548-2529 x212 [email protected]

Tammy Marks (2015)Maine State Archives84 State House StationAugusta, ME 04333Phone: [email protected]

Deborah Staber (2012)L.C. Bates MuseumP.O. Box 159Hinckley, ME 04944Phone: [email protected]

Nan Cumming (2017)Maine Historical Society489 Congress St.Portland, ME 04101 Phone: 207-774-1822 [email protected]

Kathy Goldner (2017)Boothbay Railway VillagePO Box 123Boothbay, ME 04537Phone: [email protected]

Tim Garrity (2017)Mount Desert Island Historical SocietyPO Box 653Mount Desert, ME 04660Phone: [email protected]

(In parentheses after each name is the year the board member began serving his/her term.

A board member can serve up to three successive two-year terms.)

L.C. Bates Museum Pleased to Receive NEH-PAG Grant

The L.C.Bates Museum is very pleased to receive a Preservation Assis-tance Grant for Smaller Institutions from the National Endowment for the Humanities to forward work in our storage area. Our project, “Phase 2 of Developing Storage and Housing Spaces for Humanities Collections,” will safely house historic Good Will-Hinckley archi-val documents and objects. With this needed NEH support and volunteer help, the museum will store many unique collections including letters that document the Good Will Homes history and objects that inform us about life for children living at Good Will. •

New Front Railing at L.C. Bates Museum

Visitors are commenting on the new railing on the L.C.Bates Museum’s front steps. A new strong and elegant black hand railing fabricated and installed by Benjamin Leavitt Metal Work of Hope, Maine is a wonderful improvement to the museum entrance. It is so inviting some children have tried to slide down it. We thank a kind donor for supporting this project. •

Benjamin Leavitt on the museum’s

front steps with the new railing

Small plate, with an image of the Mary E. Moody Memorial Chapel on the Good Will-Hinckley campus, to be stored as part of the NEH-PAG project.


As many have come to know, 19th Century Willowbrook in Newfield closed its doors on October 10,

2016 after 47 seasons. With the closing, some eight organizations became the beneficiaries of parts of its collection. The Curran Homestead Living History Farm and Museum in Orrington, that has recently changed its name to Curran Homestead Village at Fields Pond, received the largest gift from the museum, including the lion’s share of the collections as well as buildings and property. Ownership of the Newfield property became official on January 1, and the site is now known as Curran Homestead Village at Newfield. The 2017 schedule of events for both the Newfield and Orrington campuses can be found on the curranhomestead.org website.

The Curran plans to continue to run the traditional arts programming for all ages that was largely developed in recent years while radically trimming Willowbrook’s general visitation schedule during May to October. The carousel will operate and much of the collection will remain at Newfield at least for the next three years as the Curran builds a village scenario at its Fields Pond location to eventually receive the Willowbrook collection.

The plan is not to re-create Willowbrook in Penobscot County but to use the resources gifted to improve on the idea of a museum that offers a comprehensive look at Maine’s rural heritage, as well providing learning experiences that can be applied to the challenges of the present and future. In its relatively short existence, the Curran has almost exclusively sought to provide living history and hands-on programming. This gift will transform the museum, which has the far better location of the Greater Bangor area and proximity to I-95 and Route 1A, the main thoroughfare to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, into the kind of hands-on history museum it has always aspired to be.

Within the short time period since the gift was known to the Curran it began to replace sills on its iconic gambrel roofed barn and ell, and built a mortise and tenon timber frame building to house Willowbrook’s exceptional collection of woodworking tools and equipment. In addition, the Curran raised onto I-beams the Peter Field House, one of seven original structures at the Fields Pond site, to replace its foundation and put in a septic system for modern visitor bathrooms. The latter two projects were partially funded by a 2016 Davis Family Foundation grant.

The timber frame structure was a collaboration between Willowbrook and Curran, as the structure began with an August 2016 class in timber framing in Newfield under the instruction of Ed Somers of Bridgton. Six students were given free tuition and the opportunity to learn how to use traditional tools to create mortise and tenon joints, and about a third of the framework was completed over the course of

five days. The framework and the lumber, which was custom sawed by Tom Bragg of Kennebunk, was transported to Fields Pond where it was completed by volunteers and paid workers. The building was designed by Somers and Curran board member and Bangor engineer Brian Ames.

The newly constructed Woodworker’s Shop will house a portion of the hand tools and equipment gifted by Willowbrook, many of which originated from craftsman F.O. Bradbury. There are also some tools from Ivory Fenderson, who was a Saco cabinet maker known for his hand carved work and inlays. The majority of the Fenderson woodworking collection was gifted to the Maine State Museum. Fenderson was the original owner of the Herschell Armitage carousel from 1896-1922, which was also gifted to the Curran. The tentative plan for this building will be to have a static exhibit of tools and equipment as the backdrop for a classroom space, where students both young and older can engage in intergenerational sharing of woodworking skills with traditional hand tools. The space will include traditional work benches with vises, bench dogs and other traditional

equipment of a 19th-century woodworker’s shop.

Programming will include dovetail and mortise and tenon joinery (used in constructing a seven board blanket chest), as well as the use of metal fasteners (for a dowel handle tool box construction, which is planned as an offering of a summer history camp). Traditional wood carving, in addition to coping and scroll saw work are also planned for the near future.

In excavating the site for the Woodworker’s Shop another pad was completed to receive a planned 36 x 82 foot structure which will soon be underway. A generous donation from Bill and Dede Bullock has kicked-off fundraising for this project. This structure will be perhaps one of the most important for the Curran, as it will be the new Hands-On History Building, an integral component of the museum’s plan to provide public and homeschool programming throughout the year. The contents of the new building will not be limited to the gifted contents of Willowbrook’s Hands-On History Building, which took shape in recent years from a structure that had been devoted exclusively to static exhibits since its opening in 1970. Excluding the 19th-century barber shop gifted to Boothbay Railway Village it will include the theme of electromagnetism: magnets and iron filings, dynamos/magnetos, several pairs of hand crank telephones that will extend to other buildings on the campus.

The radio exhibit from Willowbrook’s HOH building will be further developed with more hands-on activity focused on crystal radio sets and the craft of radio making. The Titanic and Carpathia radio rooms, which are popular offerings in Newfield, will be replicated and

A Gift and Construction Launch a New Museum Village Concept for the Curran Homestead

by Robert Schmick



further developed for the Fields Pond campus, including offerings of reproduced ephemera and artifacts related to the famous shipwreck and the evolution of radio and telegraphy. The telegraphy exhibit explores this early form of communication and relays through interpreter presentation the relationship between past and present communication. There are 12 working telegraph sounders and receivers that visitors can use.

Treadle sewing machine sewing and other fiber arts programming will be included with semi-permanent exhibits of weaving, spinning, felting, and yarn dyeing at Fields Pond. The Victorian kitchen, which has become a centerpiece of the Newfield campus in recent years will remain temporarily there and with its collection of utensils and equipment from 19th-century kitchens allow especially young visitors to explore measurement, follow recipes, mix ingredients, and cook and bake. In addition, there are tentative plans for further development of other themes in the Fields Pond HOH building including electricity, batteries, and alternative forms of energy. A Crawford stove moved from the Trafton House will be used in the Victorian kitchen at Newfield this season after a thorough restoration by Byrant Stove Works is completed thanks to generous donation from Madge Nickerson, the only former board member of Willowbrook joining Curran Homestead Village.

A display of the development of the light bulb and lighting fixtures is planned for the new HOH building, among others. Students will construct old school wiring to achieve lighting. The battery exhibit will include early liquid batteries that use potassium alum (a safe but low voltage alternative to acid) that will respond to copper and zinc terminals to generate a low current. Lessons in LED lighting and solar cell power will be contrasted with early technology. Our energy exhibits will include an anticipated 19th-century wind-powered grist mill from Maine thus completing our first round of new programming emphasizing STEM related objectives.

In addition to static display the new HOH Building will serve as a meeting place and a movie viewing center for silent movies and other edutainment type opportunities. The anticipated construction of a long roofed porch will double our programming space with opportunities to conduct classes at tables and do open air programming as well as that which necessitates water play, like a 1900s laundry, soap making, textile dyeing, and papermaking, to name a few.

The Curran’s first Country Store/Gift Shop will initially be housed in this building using some of the furnishings and trappings of the Amos Straw Country Store in Newfield. The store will not only be used for sales but as an additional learning station for school field trips where the lessons of evolving 19th-century advertising, commerce, and postal communication can be explored. There may also be room for reed organs, a piano or two from the Willowbrook collection in this new building, as we seek to provide more opportunities to share the music of the past in

Audubon’s Birds of America featured in

Colby College Special CollectionsIn collaboration with our colleagues at the Colby Museum of Art, Special Collections has received on loan a number of important ornithological works. The centerpiece is the won-derful Bien Edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. The loan also includes a smaller-format Audubon edition, called the Royal Octavo, and contemporary works by Scottish-born Alexander Wilson, considered the father of American

ornithology, and Englishmen Mark Catesby and John Gould.

Audubon first published his Birds of America as a set of Double Elephant Folio prints, which were produced in England between 1827 and 1838 and gathered together as the Havell Edition, named for Robert Havell, the chief engraver and hand-colourist. After Audubon’s death in 1851, his son John Woodhouse Audubon commenced planning for a second large-format printing, this time utilizing the new process of chromolithography pioneered by Julius Bien of New York.

The large-format plates for the Bien Edition were published between 1858 and 1860, af-ter which the project was aborted due to the onset of the American Civil War and finan-cial difficulties of the Audubon family. As a result, the Bien Edition contains 105 plates, representing 150 species—a subset of the original 435 plates and 500 species contained in the Havell Edition.

Audubon and his magnificent work are both fascinating. He was charismatic and vision-ary, seeking to show his beloved birds life-sized, in naturalistic poses, surrounded by their natural habitats. This approach shocked American naturalists, who considered profile renderings as the proper technique. In addition, his remarkable compositions convey tension, grace and delight.

These materials are on loan to Colby through December 2017 from Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Dorros of Wilson, WY. We have used them regularly in archival labs, engaging many Colby faculty and stu-dents. Our weekly Bien Folio page-turning sessions have attracted members of the general public. For more information, please contact Patricia Burdick, Assistant Director for Special Collections: [email protected]. •

Curran Homesteadcontinued from page 5

our future, including that recorded on a large collection of Edison cylinder records we are anxious to share. •

Robert Schmick was Museum Director of 19th Century Willowbrook Village for the last three and half years; he will be full time director of the Curran Homestead Village at Fields Pond and Newfield. He was the director of the Curran Homestead from 2008-201l, a Davis Family Foundation grant-funded position for one year and for two years as a volunteer in addition to directorships in New York State.


Hollywood Exhibit at the

Margaret Chase Smith LibraryThe Margaret Chase Smith Library is pleased to premiere its most recent exhibit, “Encore: Walking the Red Carpet with Margaret.” The new installation focuses on Senator Smith’s connections to Tinseltown. She hobnobbed with Hollywood royalty like Jimmy Stewart, Esther Williams, Bob Hope, and Marlene Dietrich. MGM producer Louis B. Mayer even tried to convince Margaret that she was star material; however, her connections to Hollywood were not all accolades and photo opportunities. In her role as a U.S. Senator, she was instrumental in establishing the movie-rating system that is still in use today. Highlights of the exhibit include photographs of Smith on the set of the 1944 film “Kismet,” letters from celebrities, and clips of her television appearances. Guests can also play the Library’s version of the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game. The exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until the end of this year. •

2016A Watershed Year for the Rufus Porter Museum

2016 brought many changes to the Rufus Porter Museum in Bridgton. Former Trustee, Martha Cummings became Museum Director-Curator, at first as Interim, last February. Then in March 2016, the Museum began the rehabilitation of their new headquarters at 121 Main Street. On July 1 the Rufus Porter Museum opened its doors to the public with a preview exhibit and new museum store on the first floor. Through tremendous efforts of volunteers, the museum had a successful season as visitation doubled. On November 2, the museum physically moved its historic building, the 228 year-old Nathan Church house (the museum’s former headquarters) 3,500 feet down Main Street to its current 121 Main Street address. This major relocation of the Rufus Porter Museum to the center of Bridgton has been several years in the making through the efforts of various staff and volunteers. We look forward to welcoming our visitors again this year, with our 2017 season running from June through October. •

Your Museum,Reimagined

Portland Museum of ArtUnveils Final Phase

of Project

On February 3, the PMA reopened its doors and unveiled the completed final phase of its “Your Museum, Reimagined” project with Lights Across Congress, an outdoors event attended by more than 2,700 peo-ple and highlighted by a multimedia video projected on the museum’s front façade. “Your Museum, Reimagined” was an intricate project that involved moving every work of art across the three buildings of the museum, result-ing in a holistic and complete reimag-ining of what the Portland Museum of Art can be and how the PMA collection—one of the largest in the Maine with more than 18,000 art-works—is presented. This not only includes the comprehensive reinstalla-tion of the collection across the muse-um’s galleries, but a sweeping shift in how those works speak to each other throughout the buildings, and how they interact with and engage visitors. The newest iteration of the PMA also includes improved wayfinding and a redesigned map to aid exploration, interactive multimedia stations to deep-en and support the experiences with the collection, and more personal interac-tions with staff at the Konkel Family Welcome Center. This is in addition to the first phase of the project, debuted in 2015, which includes the muse-um’s first ever collection catalogue, the opening of the Peggy L. Osher Art Study and Collection Committee Conference Room, and the participa-tory space called The Workshop. Even membership at the museum has been reimagined to offer enhanced bene-fits and options that better reflect the expectations and lifestyles of everyone in the region. With the completion of “Your Museum, Reimagined”, the Portland Museum of Art hopes to help position the arts and culture of Maine as a central tenet of the state’s identity and economic landscape.


CALL FOR PROPOSALS2017 Maine Archives & Museums

Annual ConferenceNovember 10, 2017

LOCATION TO BE CONFIRMED

In 2020 Maine will be observing its bicentennial, a milestone that commemorates and celebrates the establishment of our statehood, and our journey before and since. The occasion will also provide a forum to reflect on our history and culture, both traditional and transitioning, and where we’ve come from and where we are headed as people and institutions in the great State of Maine.

In anticipation of this milestone, MAM seeks conference session proposals that address the commemoration and interpretation of Maine’s upcoming bicentennial, as well as various other topics such as educational and event programming, advocacy, diversity and inclusion, preservation and collections care, fundraising, and governance.

Share your knowledge, generate dialogue, and discuss ideas with colleagues from throughout Maine!

Proposals will be considered in the following formats:

• WORKSHOPS—90-minute session block with one or more presenters offering hands-on opportunities for skill building.

• PANEL SESSIONS—90-minute session block with two or more presenters discussing a topic that can inform or inspire participants in their work.

• POSTER EXHIBITS—Display material presenting a project or exhibit that your institution would like to share with a larger audience that has relevance to the museum and archive field at large.

Case studies will be considered, but proposals that are clearly more applicable to the field at large will have priority.

Deadline for submitting proposals is June 15, 2017. MAM’s Programs Committee will review submissions and notify applicants of the status of their proposal in mid-July.

For more information visit www.mainemuseums.org


Are you ready for Spring? Are you looking to gain new skills and knowledge about the museum and archival professions? Are you gearing up for the Bicentennial? Are you panicked and don’t know where to begin on a new project with your collec-tions? Or are you just curious to learn? Never fear, MAM’s great lineup of workshops for 2017 is here to rescue you. Get ready!Maine Archives and Museums hosts professional development workshops throughout the state, made possible with support from the Maine Humanities Council. Workshops are open to MAM members and non-members.This year’s workshops are diverse and cover a vari-ety of topics of interest to the library, archives, and museum communities, including: conducting oral history interviews, digitization best practices, fun-damentals of collections care, storing objects and textiles, designing a collections policy, developing dynamic historic tours, and engaging with users of mobile technology. Register today to secure your spot at one of these upcoming workshops!Also check out the additional networking opportu-nities at MAM’s Mixers: informal gatherings of colleagues working in collecting organizations and cultural institutions throughout Maine.

Full schedule of workshops also available on the MAM website:

http://mainemuseums.org/WorkshopsMAM members enjoy

discounted registration. Join MAM today!

April 18 in Bar Harbor: Oral History Essentials

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.Abbe Museum, 26 Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor

$25 MAM Members; $40 Abbe Museum Members; $50 Non Members

Bring your own lunchLearn how to engage in an oral history interview, starting with the equipment and resources you’ll need and good recording practices, as well as edit-ing your recording. This workshop will cover what kind of questions to ask during an interview and how to ask them. Participants will listen to examples and talk about what makes a good interview and how to best transform that for an audience. If there is time, participants will do some practice interviewing.This workshop is hosted by Meghan Vigeant of Stories to Tell, a self-publishing service specializing in personal history books and audio, to help people save and share their stories.

May 18 in Waterville: Basic Digitization Workshop

9 a.m. - 2 p.m.Robinson Room,

Special Collections, Miller LibraryColby College, 5150 Mayflower Hill, Waterville

Coffee, tea, and lunch included$30 MAM Member; $45 Non-Member

Limited to 25 participantsWorkshop participants will learn about the basics of scanning and digital project management; strategies for storing and managing digital files; scanning hard-ware and software; resources available online and in-state; and gain hands-on experience digitizing photos and textual materials.Presented by Maggie Libby (Visual Resources Curator, Colby College Special Collections); Meagan Doyle (O. O. Howard Digitization Project Supervisor, Bowdoin College Special Collections); Erin Rhodes (Archives Education Librarian, Colby College Special Collections), and co-presented by the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board.

May 25 in Caribou: Basic Collections Care Workshop

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.Caribou Public Library, 30 High Street, Caribou

Bring your own lunch or eat out at a nearby restaurant

Bagels and coffee provided in the morning$25 MAM Member; $40 Non-Member

Limited to 15 participantsThis all day workshop will introduce you to basic collections care principles and practices, and will cover topics such as preservation and conservation, environmental concerns, how to survey and pro-cess collections, provenance, tools and supplies for re-housing collections, accession records, and staff and volunteer management.Attendees will also have an opportunity for on-hands archival work for better understanding of collections care.Presented by Anastasia S. Weigle, Director of Library and Special Collections, Caribou Public Library.Stick around after the workshop to enjoy a tour of the Caribou Historical Society and a MAM social mixer event!

June 8 in Waterville: Basic Archival Workshop

2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Robinson Room,

Special Collections, Miller LibraryColby College, 5150 Mayflower Hill, Waterville

Coffee, tea, punch, and cookies provided$20 MAM Member; $30 Non-Member

Limited to 25 participantsThis basic archival workshop will give attendees a holistic understanding of collections care by discuss-ing fundamentals of archives, including governance, preservation, arrangement and description, storage, access and outreach. Specific examples will illustrate key points and a list of resources will be provided. This workshop is presented by Patricia Burdick, Assistant Director of Colby College Special

Collections, and co-presented by the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board.

Please join us for a MAM social mixer event in downtown Waterville after the workshop!

July 24 in Fairfield: Looking Beyond the Closet:

Storage Options and Implementation on a Budget

LC Bates Museum Visitors Center, FairfieldMorning snacks available

Bring your own bagged lunchFree for MAM Members; $10 Non-Member

Limited to 34 participantsThis six-hour workshop will focus on the storage of historic objects and textiles. Ron Harvey of Tuckerbrook Conservation will re-view storage environments, storage of historic ob-jects and furniture, and appropriate storage materi-als. Ron will demonstrate hands-on use of storage materials techniques. This workshop is hosted by Ron Harvey, Conservator/Principal at Tuckerbrook Conservation, and is sup-ported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.Stick around for a MAM social mixer event with re-freshments in the museum building to immediately follow this workshop!

Early September (Date TBD) in Biddeford:

Harness the Power: Great Tours + Maine’s Tourism

Industry = Museum SuccessMcArthur Library

270 Main Street, Biddeford +

Pepperell Mill Campus40 Main Street, Biddeford

Time TBDRegistration costs TBD

What goes into creating an in-demand, dynamic historic tour? And once you have a great tour, how do you tap into Maine’s well-developed tourism industry to promote what your organization has to offer? Presented by members of the Biddeford Mills Museum, this workshop will help organizations/groups who wish to develop great quality historic tours, by sharing successful techniques for planning and executing a great tour program. Additionally, at-tendees will hear about the ways in which cultural organizations can take advantage of the marketing and advertising resources available through Maine’s well developed tourism industry. The workshop will conclude with a full Pepperell Mills tour led by the Biddeford Mills Museum Mill Vets.The workshop will be presented by Board members and Tour leaders from the Biddeford Mills Museum.

2017 MAM WORKSHOP SERIES



Woodlawn Director Assumes Leadership Role with American Association for

State and Local History Woodlawn Museum, Gardens and Park’s executive director, Joshua Campbell Torrance, was appointed to serve as Chair of the Historic House Committee for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) at its 2016 annual meeting held in Detroit, Michigan in September. The mission of AASLH’s Historic House Museum Committee is to provide advice and direction for the development of programs and services that benefit historic house museums in the United States; and to ensure that AASLH’s programs and services for these organizations are high quali-ty, address identified needs of the membership, and reflect current issues and thinking in the field. Torrance, a member of AASLH since 2011, commented, “It is an honor to serve AASLH in this capac-ity and to work closely with other committee members from across the United States. The connection allows me to network and gain valuable information from the field on current trends, best practices, and pressing issues in historic house museums. This is very helpful in my day to day work at Woodlawn.” AASLH is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and has over 6,300 members. Torrance was also elected by the members of AASLH to serve on the Leadership Council. Woodlawn is an educational, cultural, and recreational treasure for the people of Downeast Maine. The main house is open for tours May 1 - October 31 and December 1-23. The public park is open year round, sunrise to sunset. 19 Black House Drive (off of the Surry Road-Rt. 172), Ellsworth, Maine. For more information, visit www.woodlawnmuseum.org. •

Wilson MuseumCastine Historical Society’s curator, Paige Lilly, and Wilson Museum’s Collections Manager, Abby Dunham, welcomed colleagues from across Hancock County on March 24 to the Museum’s Hutchins Education Center. The gathering focused on “Knowing What You Have” with a dis-cussion of museum inventories and basic methods for performing an inventory. Paige and Abby shared the experiences at their organizations of planning, implementing, and following up after an inventory project. The group, representing more than a dozen historical societies and museums, spoke on their own inventory plans, challenges, and experiences. This led to a lively discussion and exchange of ideas that continued over lunch. The group is eager to plan another meet-up and has also heard interest in future events from colleagues who were not able to join this recent get-together. •

can highlight what we have experienced and learned, which, in turn, can inform decisions on future directions.

Advocacy with our elected officials is more than a one-day event. MAM’s Advocacy Committee encourages MAM members to engage with their Senators and Representatives throughout the year, invite them to visit our museums and attend program events, and make them aware of the impact Maine’s museums have on their communities. Both MAM’s website (http://mainemuseums.org/AdvocacyAllYear) and NEMA’s (http://nemanet.org/resources/museum-support/advocacy/tips-and-tools/)have excellent ideas for making these contacts.

HistoryIT was our lead sponsor for this event. Tuckerbrook Conservation, Seal Cove Auto Museum, and the Maine Arts Commission were also sponsors for the 2017 Maine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day at the State House. We thank them all for their con-tinuing support. •

Stick around after the workshop for a MAM social mixer event in Downtown Biddeford—relax, talk shop, and check out Biddeford’s changing scene!

October 5 in Livermore: How to Say No:

Creating a Collections Policy1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Washburn-Norlands Living History Center 290 Norlands Road, Livermore

Refreshments provided$10 MAM Member; $25 Non-Member

Limited to 25 participantsHistorical Societies and Museums start out with empty shelves and exhibit cases and are so grateful for any donation that comes in the door. Now, years later, the shelves are reaching capacity and donors want assurances their family heirlooms will be on display forever. This is the time to create a collections policy that spells out what your institution will collect, strict protocols for deaccessioning prized family heir-looms in the public trust, and a document that backs you up when you say, “thanks, but no thanks.” Cipperly Good, an independent museum profession-al with over 15 years experience in the collections management field, will lead this introduction to cre-ating your collections policy.Stick around after the workshop for a free tour and MAM social mixer with refreshments, 3-4 p.m.!

October 11 in Dennysville: How to Place Your Historical Society

on the Map9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Lincoln Memorial Library, 17 King St, DennysvilleBring your own lunch

$20 MAM Member; $35 Non-MemberLimited to 24 participants

At this workshop, participants will create an interac-tive map of historically significant places in Wash-ington County for users of computers, smart phones and tablets, using the OnCell mobile platform. Par-ticipants will walk away with new ideas on how to approach mobile tech, a solid understanding of best practices, and creative inspiration to take back to their team.Registration at least 2 weeks in advance is required so organizers can communicate with registrants about how to prepare for the workshop. Participants will need to bring their own laptops.This workshop is presented by Colin J.C. Wind-horst, Ph.D., Digital Curation Program, University of Maine. Hosted by the Dennys River Historical Society (DRHS) in collaboration with OnCell.com.

MAM Mixers are back!Feeling isolated in your work? Tired of a long win-ter? Interested in meeting other colleagues over cof-fee and drinks to share and learn what each other is up to? Well, come to a MAM mixer!

These casual meet-ups aim to bring together col-leagues working in cultural heritage institutions across Maine to network, partner with, learn from, engage with, brainstorm, discuss challenges and successes, commiserate with, or just chat with one another!MAM Mixers are held regionally throughout the year, primarily in conjunction with workshops, and are open to members and non-members alike.Please join us, get to know your colleagues in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, and work together to pro-mote our shared interests and missions.

SCHEDULED MAM MIXERS FOR 2017CARIBOU: 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Caribou Historical Society, following the May 25 workshop.WATERVILLE: 5 p.m. at the Silver Street Tavern, following the June 8 workshop.FAIRFIELD: 4 p.m. at the LC Bates Museum, fol-lowing the July 24 workshop.BIDDEFORD: Time and location TBD, following the September (date TBD) workshop.LIVERMORE: 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. at Washburn Nor-lands, following the October 5 workshop. •

MAM Workshops, continued from page 9

Advocacy Day, continued from page 1

MAINE ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS

members enable MAM to provide ever-expand-ing services to Maine’s community of collecting institutions. By working together, we strengthen our collective resources and realize our shared mission.

Membership Categories and DuesAll members receive:• Quarterly newsletter• Reduced rate for MAM conferences &

workshops• Member rate for ads in MAM’s newsletter• Discounts at Gaylord, Brodart, and

University Products (e-mail MAM for information)

• Free event and job listings in MAM’s newsletter and on MAM’s website

• Regular e-mail updates from MAM

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPSAll Volunteer .................................................$35Annual budget $15,000 or less .....................$35Annual budget $15,001 – $50,000 ...............$50Annual budget $50,001 – $100,000 .............$60Annual budget $100,001 – $500,000 .........$100Annual budget over $500,000 ....................$175Additional benefits for Institutional members:

• Member rate for all staff and volunteers to

Be a part of Maine Archives & Museums!

Maine Archives & Museums (MAM) is the only professional association representing muse-ums, archives, historical societies, and other collecting institutions in the state of Maine. Our purpose is to develop and foster a network of cit-izens and institutions in Maine who identify, col-lect, interpret, and/or provide access to materials relating to history, living collections, and culture.Our vital services to Maine’s cultural commu-nity include:• Quarterly newsletter, in print and on-line• Annual Conference• Annual professional development workshops

through the state• Listings on our website• Valuable member discounts on archival

products at a variety of vendors• Research and advocacyOur members are Maine’s collecting institu-tions (museums, libraries, historical societies, archives) as well as students, volunteers, paid and unpaid professionals, other cultural organi-zations, affiliated businesses, and the interested public. The support and participation of our

attend MAM conferences and workshops• One free listing on “Find a Museum/Archive”

feature on MAM’s website• E-mail updates from MAM delivered directly

to up to four institutional e-mail addresses

BUSINESS MEMBERSHIPSConsultant (single-member firm) .................$35Partnership (two-member firm) ....................$50Corporate (multiple employees) .................$100

Additional benefits for Business members: • Member rate for all staff to attend MAM con-

ferences and workshops• One highlighted listing on “Service Provider”

feature on MAM’s website• E-mail updates from MAM delivered directly

to up to four company e-mail addresses

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPSBasic/Student* ..............................................$35Patron ............................................................$75Sponsor .......................................................$100Benefactor ...................................................$150

Additional benefits for Individual members: • Member rate to attend MAM conferences and

workshops (one reduced rate with Basic mem-bership, unlimited for Patron and Benefactor)

Membership rates shown here effective as of January 1, 2016.

Send news directly to MAM Newsletter Editors • [email protected] • [email protected]

PEJEPSCOT HISTORICAL SOCIETY kicks off the new visitor season in May with three big events: a new Hidden History Tour on May 20, a WWI exhibit starting May 27, and the opening of the its two his-toric house museums over Memorial Day weekend. The Hidden History Tour features 12 historic sites around Brunswick, Harpswell, and Topsham—the three towns served by PHS—not generally open to the pub-lic. Participants start at PHS at 8 a.m., when the tour stops are revealed, and work their way around the sites by noon. The event is designed to reach beyond PHS’s traditional membership with a family-friendly focus. “Home in the Time of the Great War: 1917-1918,” curated by Candace Kanes, opens to the public on Saturday, May 27, and commemorates not only the Pejepscot region’s involvement in the war abroad 100 years ago, but what life was like back at home. The exhibit remains up through the end of the year. Also on exhibit this spring through Columbus Day week-end: “Let’s Play! Childhood in Brunswick, 1900-1950,” curated by Bowdoin College senior, Catherine Cyr. Also opening on May 27, for guided tours, are the Joshua L. Chamberlain Museum and the Skolfield-Whittier House. The Chamberlain Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 a.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. The Skolfield-Whittier House is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Pejepscot Historical SocietyKicks Off New Season

For more information on PHS events and activities, please visit pejepscothistorical.org.

World War I gas mask and canvas carrier from the Collections of Pejepscot Historical Society.

Included is a set of instructions indicating the mask was issued August 6, 1918.

Maine Archives and Museums Advocacy Day€¦ · Heather Moran (2012) Maine State Archives 84 State...

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