Museum Roundup

News & Updates from the Maine State Museum

October 2022

Changing Seasons, Changes at the Museum

Fall is a time of transition. Transitions seem to be a major theme in much of the museum’s work these days as well. There are big changes in long-lived exhibits. And there is a recently researched story of transition emerging from a wooden grave marker in the museum’s collection. This evocative piece provides a sad, haunting look into the experience of one Maine man who fell ill and died in prison over 100 years ago.  

The Latest...

Save the Date: MaineFest!

Join the Maine State Museum and the Children's Discover Museum for the second year of Maine Fest on  Saturday, October 15th, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in Augusta's Capitol Park. This will be a family-friendly afternoon of Maine-themed activities, demonstrations, and more!

An Illustrated talk from the Friends of the Maine State Museum

Author Gay Grant’s third book, Around the Kennebec Valley: The Herman Bryant Collection, features newly released images taken by gifted South Gardiner photographer Herman Bryant. Now part of the collections of the Maine State Museum, Bryant’s work documents late-19th- and early-20th-century life in the Kennebec River region during its industrial heyday. Grant explores, through Bryant’s lens, the mills, factories, icehouses, and other ventures that once lined the river’s banks. 


This book signing event will be held Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 pm at the Lithgow Public Library in Augusta. 

Museum Courses in Gardiner

Gardiner Adult Education is hosting five nights exploring Maine history. Maine State Museum staff will offer the “Stories from the Collection” series this fall and winter. For the full schedule, including registration information, click here


This month’s talks are “Maine Quilts, on Oct. 4, 6:30 pm; and “Logging Camps, River Drives & Sawmills,” on Oct. 25, 6:30 pm. 

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend - the Back to Nature Exhibit

The Maine State Museum’s beloved Back to Nature exhibit opened over 40 years ago. The natural scenes were painstakingly created or collected one plant and creature at a time. “Back to Nature was an incredible feat,” according to curator Paula Work.


In this behind-the-scenes video, Paula tells the story of the exhibit’s beginning and end. She also shares a preview of the museum’s vision for a brand new natural history exhibit!

Nearly half a century in the public eye caused inevitable damage – colors faded, and pieces of the plants and animals dried and crumbled. “If you spent any time there, you would start to notice that it really didn’t look alive anymore,” according to Paula. The museum received complaints from visitors who were disappointed by the damage.

 

The difficult decision was made to remove the exhibit. “Recognizing how beloved it was, we put off changing it out as long as possible,” Paula explained. With the major renovation work going on currently in the museum, it became clear that it was now or never.


Paula sympathized with visitors who will miss the exhibit: “We know that it’s something that’s going to feel like a loss to the public.”



Paula and the rest of the museum staff are very optimistic about the future. As she noted: “When we reopen the museum, visitors will find something completely different and really feel a change. We want the public to find new things to fall in love with.”  

Click here for behind-the-scenes footage of museum staff working on the exhibit

A Chilling Piece of Maine History

(Top) Detailed view of Joseph W. Kerr's wooden grave marker, 1890. (Bottom) The full marker is shown below, front and back. MSM 2010.30.8

The mission of the Maine State Museum is to collect objects representing all aspects of Maine life, including those associated with difficult topics such as imprisonment and death. Pictured at left, Joseph W. Kerr’s grave marker is an example of both.

 

Kerr was an inmate at the Maine State Prison’s Thomaston facility from early 1888 to his death there on September 1, 1890 at the age of 23. A native of Calais, Kerr was sent to prison following his conviction for breaking and entering. He was just one year away from completing his four-year sentence when he died of tuberculosis, the second leading cause of death in 1900.

 

Kerr’s experience was not uncommon. The Maine State Prison’s Thomaston facility was open for 178 years, from 1824 to 2002. Especially in the early years, poor living conditions and overcrowding meant that inmates faced serious health risks. Most years, at least one inmate died from illness or suicide.

 

Kerr and others who died at the Maine State Prison were buried in a cemetery just outside the prison walls. When the Maine State Prison moved to its new location in Warren, the cemetery’s wooden markers were replaced with markers of stone.


Twenty-one of the older markers were transferred to the Maine State Museum to be preserved as an important reminder of the practices and perils of prison life 100 years ago. The prison cemetery remains in its Thomaston location today.

MAINE STATE MUSEUM  www.mainestatemuseum.org

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