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Saco Museum Curran Homestead and Living History Museum Margaret Chase Smith Library, Skowhegan L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley Maine Historical Society

The Association of Maine Archives and Museums publishes quarterly print newsletter that is sent out to members in February, May, August, and November. We also maintain the blog on this page for members to share their announcements more immediately.

Quarterly Print Newsletter

Submissions: If you are a member interested in submitting articles, dispatches, opportunities, and/or photos to the print newsletter, please review these guideline and deadlines.

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Read now: Click here to view the current and past issues of the print newsletter (members-only; log in first).

News Blog

Members and non-members of MAM may post news of interest to the field using the blog below. To post an event, see the event listings. To post a job or internship opportunity, see the job/internship board. MAM reserves the right to edit or reject postings as it deems appropriate. This service is free to members; non-members are charged $20.

Posts to this news blog are automatically shared to the MAM Facebook page to get even more exposure!

MEMBERS: Log in, then click "Add Post." If you have trouble logging in, email info@mainemuseums.org.

NON-MEMBERS: To submit your bulletin board post, please email info@mainemuseums.org.

  • 26 Oct 2019 5:43 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Our buddies down to Boston, the New England Museum Association, are collecting workforce information from museums across New England - all-volunteer institutions included!

    This data will be compiled into final report, which they will publish early next year.  Organizations that participate receive a free copy ($100 value!).

    Complete details about the Survey, including a General Information and Survey Preview Worksheet, can be found here, nemanet.org/salary-survey. They strongly encourage participants to download the preview of the survey before starting the online survey. 

    The submission deadline is November 22, 2019.

  • 20 Oct 2019 8:09 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    A newly-formed nonprofit organization, The Maine State Carousel, Inc., is searching for an organization to host a hand-carved carousel, to be built, which will celebrate the history and landscape of Maine. 

    For more information on this new organization's work, visit their website: www.mainestatecarousel.org.

  • 17 Oct 2019 4:16 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    CALL FOR PAPERS

    Maine in the Statehood Era (ca. 1780s-1820s) and its Commemoration and Legacy

    A volume of scholarly essays to be edited by Richard Judd (McBride Professor of History, emeritus, Univ. of Maine) and Liam Riordan (Professor of History, Univ. of Maine)

    To mark the bicentennial of the state of Maine in 2020, the co-editors seek essays on any aspect of Maine history in the broad statehood era (ca. 1780s-1820s) or about the commemoration of statehood and its legacy. We anticipate accepting several papers that were presented at the Maine Statehood and Bicentennial Conference (held May 30-June 1, 2019), but we also seek submissions from those who did not present at (or attend) the conference.

    Possible topics include but are not limited to:

    • the politics and popular culture of separation from Massachusetts
    • Wabanaki people, sovereignty, and the consequences of Maine independence
    • French-speakers and their relationship to statehood and the new state
    • the unsettled international border and relationships with Canada
    • the Maine-Missouri Crisis and the politics of slavery and blackness
    • religion in the statehood era
    • land use, natural resources, and environmental history
    • material culture and visual representations of Maine
    • commemoration of statehood and its legacy
    • assessments of local history, historical museums, and historic sites
    • evaluations of the goals for public history in the twenty-first century


    Submission Schedule:

    • Nov. 15, 2019 submit a 300-word article proposal (state the scope, argument, and core evidence for your essay) as well as a short CV to riordan@maine.edu
    • Dec. 15, 2019 notification from editors
    • July 31, 2020 deadline to submit complete accepted essay (length ca. 7,500 words exclusive of notes, captions, and images)


    We partly conceptualize this volume as revisiting and updating some of the approaches in Charles E. Clark, James S. Leamon, and Karen Bowden, eds., Maine in the Early Republic: From Revolution to Statehood (1988). As in that collection, we will seek funding to permit numerous illustrations, images, and the graphic presentation of data. Please consider this in making your proposal.

    For videos from the Maine Bicentennial Conference in 2019, as well as links to online resources about the Maine statehood process, please visit: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/me200/

    Please direct inquiries or submit proposals to Liam Riordan at riordan@maine.edu


  • 16 Oct 2019 3:06 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Are you interested in learning more about Museums for All, an initiative dedicated to expanding community access? Mark your calendar to join staff from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Association of Children’s Museums on December 11 at 2 p.m. Eastern to learn more about how and why more than 450 museums participate in the program. Find more information on attending the webinar on the IMLS website.

  • 16 Oct 2019 3:04 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES GRANTS - DEADLINE DECEMBER 10, 2019 

    Save America's Treasures (SAT) grants are administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

    ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES: Preservation and/or conservation assistance to nationally significant properties and collections, including book, paper, and photographic collections. 

    ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) US organizations; Units of local government; Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian organizations; Educational Institutions; Historic properties and collections associated with active religious organizations; Federal agencies funded by the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (with the exception of the National Park Service)   

    AWARD LEVELS FOR COLLECTION PROJECTS:  $25,000 to $500,000 with a 1:1 match (cash or documented in-kind donations) 

    DEADLINE:  December 10, 2019 

    COMPLETE FY20 Information and Guidelines:  https://www.nps.gov/preservation-grants/sat/   

    QUESTIONS? Contact: Megan J. Brown, State, Tribal, Local, Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, mailto:stlpg@nps.gov,  (202) 354-2020 

  • 24 Sep 2019 4:00 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    2020 MAINE HISTORIC PRESERVATION MATCHING GRANTS FOR PRIVATE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

    1772 foundation.png

     The 1772 Foundation has announced that funding in the form of 1:1 matching grants of up to $10,000 will be made available for historic preservation projects.

    To be eligible to apply, organizations must have a 501(c)(3) IRS designation. Organizations also must have closed any previously awarded matching grant from the 1772 Foundation to be eligible to apply. Funding will not be provided for buildings currently used as schools or houses of worship.                         

     The Foundation will consider the following projects:

    • Matching grants for exterior painting, finishes and surface restoration

    • Matching grants to install or upgrade fire detection, lightning protection, and security systems

    • Matching grants for repairs to/restoration of porches, roofs, and windows

    • Matching grants for structural foundation and sill repair/replacement

    • Matching grants for chimney and masonry repointing

    To demonstrate the sustainability of historic sites, applicants will be required to submit a cyclical maintenance/stewardship plan, and a condition assessment with, if needed, project phasing detail that has been prepared or updated within the last five years. If an appropriate plan does not exist, the Foundation will consider providing support for development of a plan on a case-by-case basis.

     If your organization would like to be considered, please send a one-page letter of inquiry to: info@mainepreservation.org and use 1772 Foundation in the subject line.

     The letter should include:

    • the amount of your request

    • the purpose of the grant including the name and address of the historic resource for which project funding will be used

    • the matching funds you have or plan to have in place by February 17, 2020

    • the time frame for project completion

    • ownership status (own or lease) for the site

    • a current photograph that best shows the site condition with a file size of no greater than 1.5MB

    • the website address for the site/organization.

     Letters of inquiry will be accepted until November 29, 2019.

    Invited applications will be due February 17, 2020.

    Please note that not all letters of inquiry will result in invitations to submit full applications.

    For more information: https://www.mainepreservation.org/grant-programs-2020/2019/9/23/1772-foundation-grants-for-maine-historic-preservation-projects

  • 24 Sep 2019 3:58 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    A FOUR-STATE INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PRESERVATION

    The Northern Heritage Economy Program (NHEP) is a collaborative initiative of the Maine Preservation, the Preservation League of New York State, New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont. This grant program is funded with a $1,000,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) through their Regional Forest Economy Partnership program, with $250,000 allocated to Maine. We anticipate awarding grants of $25,000-$100,000 to eligible projects.

    The NHEP will provide grants to community-driven preservation projects to address the negative economic shift produced by the decline of the forest products industry in the rural areas of the Northern Border Regional Commission region (Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont).

    Applications will open later this fall. Read on to learn about the program and to request information.

    ABOUT THE PROGRAM

    Program Goal: Revitalize vacant and underused historic buildings in rural communities to stimulate economic development and tourism, build community cohesion, and create jobs in areas suffering from the decline of the forest products industry.

    Program Strategy: Provide seed money to nonprofit or municipal grantees to create and/or enhance “third places” in rural communities where people gather, exchange ideas, experience culture, build relationships, and create community. These places help to make communities a desirable place to live, work, and start a business and include public spaces, such as libraries and community centers providing critical resources for workforce development training, and cultural and arts centers offering classes, performances and partnerships.

    In Maine, grants may be made only for projects in the following counties: Androscoggin, Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington.

    All applicants must have the balance of their project funding in place, including the required match, and plan to have their project completed by July 2021.

    ELIGIBLE GRANTEES MUST:

    • Be an established nonprofit organization, municipality, political subdivision of state government, or federally recognized tribe in order to receive funding

    • Have in-hand a 50% match of any grant requested from the NHEP at the time of application - $2 grant funds to $1 local

    • Own the target property(ies) and be prepared to maintain that ownership for a minimum of twenty (20) years following the completion of the project

    • Propose a project in a county eligible to receive funding (see above) from the Northern Border Regional Commission and in a community negatively impacted by at least one of the NBRC’s threshold priorities:

      • Industry changes in employment as a result of the decline of the forest industry

      • Percent change in wages in the project area

      • Location of mill and other forest-based manufacturing closings in the past 20 years

      • County population losses

    ELIGIBLE PROJECTS MUST:

    • Serve as a capital improvement project for a historic building

    • Be completed by July 2021

    • Impact rural communities suffering from the decline of the forest products industry

    • Have as their focus the enhanced use, or the rehabilitation of, historic buildings using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation

    • Leverage additional public and private forms of support

    • Stimulate economic development and creation of jobs

    • Build local and regional partnerships

    • Involve the broader community and build community cohesion

    • Have a lasting and positive impact on the community

    INELIGIBLE GRANTEES:

    Applicants who have received NBRC funding and do not have their project 75% completed by the application deadline are not eligible to apply for a NHEP grant.

    For more information, see https://www.mainepreservation.org/grant-programs-2020/2019/9/23/northern-heritage-economic-program-grants-2020

  • 20 Aug 2019 4:39 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Grant Opportunities Open for Six IMLS Museum Programs 

    Applications Accepted Now Through November 15

    Washington, DC—Museums across the United States have six opportunities in the coming months to apply for grants from the nation’s primary source of federal museum funding. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting applications for six grant programs:



    “American museums play an important cultural role in our nation, making significant contributions to improving the quality of life in their communities,” said Paula Gangopadhyay, Deputy Director of Museum Services. “IMLS grants enable museums and related organizations to strengthen their institutional capacities, expand staff professional development, explore innovative solutions to addressing relevant issues, and achieve positive outcomes for themselves and the people they serve. We are very pleased to empower museums with the FY 2020 funding opportunities so that they can continue to serve as active community partners.”


    Applicants should note that IMLS has made changes to deadlines for its museum grant programs for FY 2020: applications for all six programs are due on November 15, 2019. Applicants should review the notices of funding opportunity carefully to understand these program goals and changes, which align with the 2018-2022 IMLS Strategic Plan.


    Potential grant applicants are invited to view a webinar on how to choose the appropriate funding opportunity, as well as to learn more about specific programs. Please review thewebinar listingfor a schedule of live and pre-recorded webinars that are accessible online. IMLS staff contacts listed in each notice of funding opportunity are available to answer any questions and provide guidance during the application process. 


    Photo Credit: Children's Museum of Denver

    View this email on the IMLS website.

    About the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)


    The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


    Direct comments or errors with your subscription to webmaster@imls.gov.


  • 20 Aug 2019 4:25 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    NEH Announces $29 Million for 215 Humanities Projects Nationwide

    Grant awards for humanities research, education programs, cultural preservation, films, exhibitions, and virtual reality projects augmented by $48 million in funding for state humanities councils

     

    NEH Grants August 2019

     

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 14, 2019) — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced $29 million in awards for 215 humanities projects across the country. The grants include funding to produce a television series, South by Somewhere, on the foodways, history, and culture of the American South, and archaeological analysis of the overseer’s quarters at James Madison’s Montpelier plantation. 

    This round of funding, NEH’s third and last for fiscal year 2019, will support vital research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. These peer-reviewed grants were awarded in addition to $48 million in annual operating support provided to the national network of state and territorial humanities councils during fiscal year 2019.

    “NEH grants help strengthen and sustain American cultural life, in communities, at museums, libraries, and historic sites, and in classrooms,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “As the nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary in 2026, NEH is proud to help lay the foundations for public engagement with America’s past by funding projects that safeguard cultural heritage and advance our understanding of the events, ideas, and people that have shaped our nation.”

    This funding cycle includes grants for several longstanding NEH-supported scholarly editions projects that illuminate foundational texts and the lives of influential individuals. New grants will enable continued work on the papers of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, as well as publication of the complete speeches, correspondence, and writings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt, and a new scholarly edition and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

    Several others will provide for community-based public programs around significant milestones in national and regional U.S. history, such as grants for statewide reading and discussion programs in Maine tied to the state’s bicentennial in 2020, funding for a three-part documentary on the history and identity of Alaska by celebrated filmmaker Ric Burns, and support for the creation of a new permanent gallery at the Please Touch Museum to teach children about the 1876 Centennial Fair in Philadelphia.               

    NEH continues to support cutting-edge research and public programs in the humanities with grants to support tree-ring analysis of medieval Byzantine churches in Cyprus to identify the structures’ date of construction and source materials, expand the Perseus Digital Library of resources on the Classical world, and produce Unladylike 2020, a series of animated films about female trailblazers of the Progressive Era.

    NEH Public Scholar grants, which support popular nonfiction books in the humanities, will enable publication of: a biography of Sacagawea as a window into the experiences of Northern Plains, Rockies, and Pacific Northwest Native American tribes; an examination of the mythos of Alexander the Great across multiple cultures and eras; and a book on the portrayal of returning WWII veterans in the blockbuster 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives.

    Several projects receiving grants today will help preserve significant historical and cultural collections and make them more accessible to a broader public. These include grants to protect a collection of fragile nitrate-based film and photography at the George Eastman Museum that includes the original Technicolor camera negatives for The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, safeguard materials documenting the history of the Pikes Peak region at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, and improve environmental controls for European, African, and American art collections at Puerto Rico’s Museo de Arte de Ponce.

    Twenty-three institutions received grants to support professional development for K-12 and college teachers through summer workshops and institutes on humanities topics such as: Roman Life in Pompeii, Moby-Dick and the nineteenth-century whaling industry, Kansas City in the Jazz Age, and John Steinbeck’s writings on California’s agricultural and marine industries and ecology.

    This round of funding also includes a number of cooperative agreements that reflect NEH emphases on civic education and the stewardship of cultural heritage, including a collaborative project with the American Historical Association to conduct a national survey of the American public to assess perceptions of and engagement with the past, and a $1 million partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support the preservation of historic buildings and sites at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

    A full list of grants by geographic location is available here.  

    Grants were awarded in the following categories:

    Collaborative Research

    Support interpretive research undertaken by a team of two or more collaborating scholars that adds significantly to knowledge and understanding of the humanities  

    14 grants, totaling $1.9 million

    Digital Humanities Advancement

    Support the implementation of innovative digital humanities projects that have successfully completed a start-up phase and demonstrated their value to the field

    16 grants, totaling $2.3 million

    Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities

    Provide scholars and advanced graduate students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of advanced technology tools and methodologies relevant to the humanities and to increase the number of humanities scholars using digital technology in their research

    5 grants, totaling $920,517

    Landmarks of American History and Culture

    Support a series of one-week workshops for a national audience of K-12 educators that enhance and strengthen humanities teaching at the K-12 level.

    16 grants, totaling $2.7 million

    Media Projects: Development and Production

    Support film, television, and radio projects that explore significant events, figures, and ideas within the humanities. Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production; production grants support the preparation of a project for presentation to the public.

    12 grants, totaling $3.3 million

    National Digital Newspaper Program

    Support the creation of a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963, from all states and U.S. territories

    11 grants, totaling $2.7 million

    Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions  

    Help institutions—particularly small and mid-sized institutions—improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections, including special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine arts, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, and historical objects.

    45 grants, totaling $394,741

    Public Humanities Projects: Humanities Discussions, Exhibitions, and Historic Places

    Support museum exhibitions, discussion programs, and interpretations of historic places that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences

    10 grants, totaling $1.6 million

    Public Scholar Program

    Support well-researched books in the humanities aimed at a broad public audience

    15 grants, totaling $795,000

    Scholarly Editions and Translations

    Support the preparation of editions and translations of texts that are valuable to the humanities but are inaccessible or available only in inadequate editions

    17 grants, totaling $4.2 million

    Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers

    Support intensive one- to four-week projects in which sixteen to twenty-five college and university faculty members, working with scholarly experts, engage in collegial study of significant texts and topics in the humanities  

    9 grants, totaling $1.2 million

    Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers

    Support intensive one- to four-week projects in which sixteen to thirty school teachers, working with scholarly experts, engage in collegial study of significant texts and topics in the humanities  

    23 grants, totaling $3.3 million

    Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections

    Support preventative conservation measures to prolong the useful life of collections to help cultural institutions preserve large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations  

    18 grants, totaling $2.7 million

     

     

     

    National Endowment for the HumanitiesCreated in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.  

  • 23 Jul 2019 3:26 PM | Anonymous member

    Maine Maritime Museum has recently deaccessioned hundreds of items that include furnishings, housewares, linens, and clothing dating c. 1880-1910. Most items have no provenance and were collected solely for the purpose of outfitting a house museum that never came to be.

    Are there any institutions with period exhibits or house museums that might find use for items from this collection?

    Best regards,

    Kelly Page

    Collections & Library Services Manager

    (207) 443-1316 x346

    Maine Maritime Museum/ 243 Washington Street/ Bath, ME 04530

    www.mainemaritimemuseum.org


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