Abbe Museum

About

The Abbe Museum is a cultural institution with two locations in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Mount Desert Island. It is dedicated to illuminating and advancing greater understanding of Wabanaki Nations' heritage, living cultures, and homelands. The museum is led by a Wabanaki-majority Board of Trustees and works in consultation with representatives of the Tribal Nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy (including, Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot peoples) - centering their voices in exhibitions and programming. The museum maintains two locations: a downtown location at 26 Mount Desert Street in the center of Bar Harbor, and a historic trailside location at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park. The Sieur de Monts building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of Maine's first purpose-built museum buildings and a rare example of Mediterranean-inspired architecture in the state. It is one of the only two remaining privately-operated trailside museums within the National Park system.

The museum's mission is "to illuminate and advance greater understanding of and support for Wabanaki Nations' heritage, living cultures, and homelands." Its stated vision is that "a profound shift in understanding, respect, and support for sovereign Wabanaki Nations leads us all into a more thriving and equitable future." The museum's four core values are Community, Respect, Responsibility, and Creativity. A distinctive institutional commitment is the museum's emphasis on living Wabanaki cultures and contemporary expression, explicitly moving away from framing the museum as solely historical.

The Abbe Museum was founded in 1926 by Dr. Robert Abbe (1851–1928), a New York physician known for his pioneering use of radiation therapy and a longtime summer resident of Bar Harbor, Maine. During the 1920s, Dr. Abbe assembled a collection of early Native American artifacts found in the Frenchman Bay area and persuaded others with similar collections to establish a museum to protect and display them. Early supporters included George B. Dorr, known as "the father of Acadia", and John D. Rockefeller Jr. The museum opened on August 14, 1928, as a private trailside museum at Sieur de Monts Spring in Lafayette National Park (later renamed Acadia National Park). It was dedicated to Abbe's memory; he had died in March of that year. The building was designed by Edmund M. Gilchrist and completed in 1928. It features elements of both the Spanish Colonial Revival and the Italian Renaissance styles, with a unique octagonal space specifically designed in consultation with Dr. Abbe to house his collections. It is considered the only non-domestic example of Mediterranean architecture in Maine and its first purpose-built museum building. In 1928, the Abbe became the first institution in Maine to sponsor archaeological field research and has since served as the main repository of archaeological collections from Maine's Midcoast and Downeast regions. From its initial focus on archaeology, the museum expanded to include ethnographic materials. In 1931, Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico, donated an important collection of Native American baskets and other objects. The Abbe subsequently became the holder of the largest and best-documented Wabanaki basketry collection in any museum. The museum also developed an extensive contemporary collection documenting the continuing Wabanaki artistic traditions in Maine. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, members of Wabanaki Nations became increasingly involved in programmatic aspects of the museum, including serving as curators of exhibitions.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.