Current Exhibits

Museum

Wired! How Electricity Came to Maine (opens June 22, 2012)  

Lecture Hall Gallery 

Downtown: Portland, Circa 1912 (through June 30, 2012)

Summer Hours

Museum & Museum Store: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sundays 12-5pm.  

Brown Library: Tues-Sat 10am-4pm

Wadsworth-Longfellow House:

Daily tours. Call for times: 207-774-1822.  

Spotlight On:  

Sara Archbald   

The end of June will mark Sara Archbald's retirement from MHS. Sara has served as the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director for the past 10 years. She has been the face of MHS for a multitude of staff, members, trustees, volunteers, docents, guides, and patrons, greeting each person with a warm smile.

 

Sara describes her work at MHS as "challenging, multifaceted - no two days are alike." She will miss interacting with the many wonderful people with whom she came into contact. Working alongside Richard D'Abate, Sara says she "learned a great deal. He is somewhat of a perfectionist, and had high expectations, but fortunately I do, too. We had an excellent working relationship, and Richard became a dear friend."

 

Sara is looking forward to marrying Bill Crochetiere this August. They will be dividing their time between homes in Harrison and Portland, traveling, and spending time with their families. Sara also plans to spend more time working for the non-profit Native Future, raising scholarship funds for indigenous students in Panama.   

 

MHS Staff Transitions

Maine Historical Society thrives because of its people--our staff, interns, guides, and volunteers are skilled, passionate, and dedicated. To those leaving: THANK YOU for all your hard work, enthusiasm, and commitment to the MHS mission. To those new or returning: WELCOME! We are excited to move into the future with you on our team!

Maine Memory Network cataloger Fran Pollitt retired in May after 11 years with us; we have welcomed Jamie Cantoni to that position. Education Assistant Rachel Miller leaves MHS at the end of the summer to pursue a Ph.D. in American Culture at University of Michigan. Dana Twiss recently finished his duties at MHS as the CMP Collection Inventory Project Curator; he had overseen multiple projects here since 2006. Along with Dana, CMP Project Technician Bill Allen has completed the CMP project; Bill continues to provide support for the new museum exhibit, Wired!, through the end of this month. Intern Matthew Miller has completed research and assisted with Wired!; he leaves soon for Kenya and then graduate school in South Africa.

We have welcomed back Longfellow House guides John Babbin, Peter Blackwell, Roseanne Graef, Peter Hall, James Horrigan, Mary Lunt, Judie Percival, and Bjorn Swenson. We have 25 returning Longfellow House docents, and welcome six new docents: Cheryl Miner, Ruth Ann Phimister, Debbie Pierce, Barbara Smith, Nancy Struve, and Dolores Vail.

Annual Fund 

Please take a moment to support the MHS Annual Fund. Our fiscal year ends September 30, 2012 and we need your help to reach our goal.

The Annual Fund provides critical funding for our daily operations, educational programs, the Longfellow House & Garden, Maine Memory Network, Brown Research Library, our museum exhibits, and much more. 

Your contribution of any size is appreciated. Thank you for recognizing the important role that MHS plays in the cultural life of Maine.

Click here to make your gift today!

Steve Bromage

I am honored to have the opportunity to lead MHS, and want to thank you for your friendship, support, and collaboration--it means a great deal to me. The creative challenge that first drew me to MHS 10 years ago remains--the opportunity to build a modern cultural organization that reflects and is designed to thrive in its time, one that is dynamic, relevant, and deeply connected to and valued by its community.

This is a tremendous organization, in large part because of the incredible people affiliated with it--including staff, trustees, volunteers, members, friends, partners, and supporters. My highest priority as Director is to ensure that you--the MHS community--is empowered to do and enjoy great work. To read Steve's remarks in full, visit our blog. 

  Online Exhibit: Broadway by the Bay  

The Surry Playhouse 1929-1938/1946-1953  

Playhouse, Surry, 1946

This online exhibit about the Surry Playhouse, with images by the Surry Historical Society, tells the story of the popular repertory theater that formed in the small Downeast community just before the start of the Great Depression. It is one of many new exhibits created by collaborative teams in three Maine communities that recently completed the Maine Community Heritage Project.  

The towns of Strong, Surry, and Swan's Island spent more than a year building their local history websites, digitizing as many as 150 historical items in local collections, constructing five or more online exhibits, and writing a comprehensive narrative of their town's history. Last week, each of the communities held a public celebration to unveil the websites on Maine Memory Network and show off the hard work that was put into the project. Nearly 200 people gathered to share in the festivities, which included recaps of the project year, student presentations, walkthroughs of the websites, local history displays, and refreshments. To see all 22 MCHP sites created since 2007, visit our Community Partners page.  

The Strong MCHP team shows off new site, displays local history.

Museum Store

NEW PRODUCT!

Great gifts for Dads & Grads 

Visit us at 489 Congress Street in Portland. Museum store hours are Monday through Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 12-5pm.