Maine Archives & Museums upcoming events

2026 Annual Conference (02 Oct 2026)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:30:00 GMT

REVOLUTIONARY RESILIENCE
250 & Beyond

Friday, October 2, 2025
University of Maine at Augusta

Keynote Speaker: Dr Libby Bischof

Libby Bischof is Executive Director of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, Professor of History, and the inaugural University Historian at the University of Southern Maine, where she has taught courses in Maine History, History and Photography, Popular Culture, and Public History for the past 19 years. A visual and cultural historian of the 19th and 20th centuries, Bischof is interested in the ways in which friendship informs cultural production, especially in relation to landscape and place. A public historian, Bischof believes deeply in site-based, hands-on, place-based social studies education, and the ways in which teaching local and regional history can lead to deeper civic engagement. She lives with her husband, children, and new puppy Red in Gorham, Maine, and when she’s not working, she’s either reading, swimming, hiking in the woods, or sending postcards.

2026 MAM Conference Schedule:

Pre and Post Conference Add-ons
(free of charge but space is limited, must RSVP when registering for the conference)

Thursday, October 1:

10:00-12:00 Tours of Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead, Hallowell (two options)
A Place Reconsidered: This tour will tackle how historic sites can reckon honestly with histories of colonialism and slavery while remaining meaningful, welcoming places for their communities—especially at a moment when telling the histories of traditionally marginalized people is increasingly contested. Participants will learn about ongoing work at Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead (VWHH) to reinterpret a site long associated with the prominent Hallowell–Vaughan family.
Historic Preservation and the Natural Landscape at Vaughan Homestead: Property Manager Dan Mitchell will lead a tour focused on the way in which principles of historic preservation, most commonly associated with buildings, are applied to the landscape at VWHH. Participants will learn about documentation and maintenance plans, as well as the evolving philosophy behind the preservation efforts at the site.

1:00-2:30 Beyond Martha’s Diary: Stitching History by Hand, Maine State Library, 230 State Street, Augusta
In this interactive session, learn how Maine State Library Reference Librarian Kelli Burnham developed the “What Martha Wore: Clothing in the Ballard Diary” program and discover how hands-on objects can bring archival materials to life. Participants will have the opportunity to try historical sewing techniques, including stitching a rolled hem, making a fabric or thread-wrapped button, weaving on a tape loom, and examining reproductions of original 18th-century clothing. AT CAPACITY -- WAITING LIST AVAILABLE

3:00-5:00 Tour of the Maine State Museum & Maine State Archives, 230 State Street, Augusta
Join MAM colleagues from around the state for a sneak peek at the newly renovated and refreshed Maine State Museum before it opens to the public later in October. Participants will also tour the newly renovated Maine State Archives and see the updated storage systems now in place.

5:00-6:30 Opening Reception, Maine Cultural Building Atrium, 230 State Street, Augusta
Hosted by the Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum, the opening reception is a casual opportunity to meet MAM conference attendees from around the state and reconnect with old friends and colleagues. Refreshments will be provided.

6:00 Trivia, Meet Me Out Back, (registration not required), 40 Front Street, Augusta
Head to Cushnoc Brewing's tasting room for trivia led by past MAM board member and interim Executive Director John Taylor. This is a public event, but John promises plenty of questions for the history buffs in MAM's ranks.

Friday, October 2:

5:30-7:00 Student & New Professional Mixer, Viles Arboretum, 153 Hospital Street, Augusta
Whether you are just thinking about a career in museums and archives, or you've taken on a new roll in the field and could use some pointers, join us for a post-conference mixer to learn more, ask questions that arose from sessions earlier in the day, and make further connections with professionals from around the state. Food and drink will be provided. Sponsored by Maine Historical Society.

Friday Oct. 2

Maine Archives & Museums Conference

Jewett Hall & the Michael Klahr Center
University of Maine at Augusta

8:30 Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 Welcome
9:15 Keynote
10:25 Breakout 1: Workshops
11:55 Lunch
12:40 Breakout 2: Classic breakouts
1:50 Breakout 3: Lightning Sessions
2:20 Afternoon Coffee Break
2:50 Breakout 4: Classic breakouts
4:00 Maine Archives & Museums Annual Meeting

Registration includes a box lunch which contains one of the following options, chips, apple, dessert, and a beverage, as well as continental breakfast and afternoon coffee break.

Curried Chicken Salad and Almond Sandwich (oven-roasted diced chicken with curry, apples, almonds, celery, grapes, mayonnaise, and lettuce on wheat berry bread, 550 cal), contains nuts

Smoked Ham, Brie, and Apple on Sourdough (smoked ham with brie cheese, Granny Smith apple, baby arugula, and Dijonnaise on sourdough bread, 520 cal)

Falafel Tzatziki and Hummus Wrap (falafels with hummus, roasted red peppers, greens, and lemon vinaigrette in a flour tortilla, 540 cal), vegetarian

Crispy Chickpea Salad (Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, red onion, seasoned crispy chickpeas and tahini salad dressing, 400 cal), vegan

More information & details on the schedule can be found here.

MAM strives to make the conference as affordable as possible while still offering a high-quality event. If the cost of registration is a burden to you or your institution, please reach out to info@mainemuseums.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Thank you to our 2026 Conference Sponsors & Exhibitors:

Maine Historical Society
Odyssey Preservation Software
Margaret Chase Smith Library | Osher Map Library & Smith Center for Cartographic Education | Maine State Archives | Maine State Library | Maine State Museum | Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center | Holocaust & Human Rights Center | Permanent Commission on Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations | Cultural Alliance of Maine | First National Wealth Management | Maine Community Foundation | Maine Office of Tourism | Perch Design Studio | SmallCorp | University of Maine Department of History | University Products | CoverME.gov | Digital History Consulting | Kennebec Historical Society | Maine Planned Giving Council | Yarmouth History Center

2026 MAM Annual Meeting Online (02 Oct 2026)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT

2026 Annual Meeting of MAM Members

October 2, 2026 at 4:00pm
Online

The Annual Meeting of MAM membership is everyone's opportunity to discuss and be a part of potential changes to the bylaws, election of officers and other members to the Board of Directors, and to hear addresses on the state of the organization from the Board President and the Executive Director. This year's meeting will be held at the end of the Annual Conference at the University of Maine at Augusta, but for those who cannot attend the conference, we offer this online option.

Meeting Materials

We will be electing board officers, approving 2024 Annual Meeting minutes, electing board members, and hearing from the President and Executive Director about the health of the organization. The treasurer will present a report to offer an update on MAM's financial health. The board of directors may also propose changes to the organization's bylaws, which require approval by members at the Annual Meeting.

Click to view:
Meeting Agenda
Candidates for Election to the Board of Directors

Attending an Online Annual Meeting

To participate in this online meeting you will need access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection. We will be using Zoom to host the chat. Once you register, you will immediately be sent instructions for logging in via automatically sent email.

If you do not have access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection, you will still be able to call in on a telephone, but you will unfortunately not be able to see any of the participants.

Online registration is free and unlimited to all members. Once you register you will be emailed information on how to attend online.

Registration will be open through the start of the meeting.

Members of MAM must log in to access registration. If you're not a MAM member, join today!

NEA Tour With the Maine State Archives (partner event) (16 Oct 2026)

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT

NEA TOUR WITH THE MAINE STATE ARCHIVES

FREE EVENT | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2026, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Join the NEA Membership Committee for a tour of the Maine State Archives. Event attendees are invited to visit the Maine State Archives for an overview of the institution’s archives, special collections, and projects. Visit the imaging lab, the research and processing rooms, and the stacks. We’ll look at Maine’s founding documents, Wabanaki history, land office maps, Civil War material, and more.

This is an in-person event limited to 40 attendees. Registration is non-transferable. Please note that you MUST reserve a ticket online in advance to attend this event. In the occasion that the event is sold out, we highly recommend joining the waitlist. Unless you've been given permission, please do not show up at the event without registering.

REGISTER HERE! (This will take you to New England Archivists' website)

How to find the Maine State Archives: The Maine State Archives is located at 230 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04330.

Meeting location: Enter the Archives side door (D15) into the Cultural Building atrium. Please ring the buzzer to be let in upon arrival at the archives in Augusta. Archival staff will meet attendees in the atrium.

About: The Maine State Archives, a bureau within the Department of Secretary of State, maintains approximately 100 million pages of official State records considered to be permanently valuable. These include bills introduced in the Legislature, Governor's Executive Council Reports, election returns, deeds to and from the State of Maine, maps from the Land Office, vital statistics prior to 1892, federal census records from Maine up to 1930, county court records dating back to 1639, and military records through World War I, to list a few.

The Archives Services Division preserves and provides access to many archival records, including those mentioned above. Researchers may request general information or specific records by contacting Archives Services in person, by phone, or email.

The Records Management Division helps to establish and administer efficient and effective records management programs within State and local governments and ensure records are being retained and dispositioned properly (destroyed or kept as archival) through Records Retention Schedules. The Division conducts training and creates publications to assist government agencies in meeting general records management requirements. Its State Records Center maintains approximately 120 million pages of official State records not currently needed in State offices and scheduled for ultimate destruction.

Read more about the Maine State Archives here.

For questions about the event please contact membership@newenglandarchivists.org.

Questions about registration? Please contact NEA's Registrar, Becky White at registrar@newenglandarchivists.org.

Textile Care and Storage at Victoria Mansion (22 Oct 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Does your collection include clothes, curtains, upholstered furniture, or antique carpets? Are you wondering best how to store and display these objects in a way that protects them for the future, but you've got a small budget? Does your historic building lack proper climate control? Join MAM for an afternoon at Victoria Mansion in Portland to learn how best to care for your textiles, even when the conditions aren't perfect.

Victoria Mansion holds an important collection of mid-nineteenth-century textiles ranging from garments to upholstery to window treatments with silk trimmings. A decade ago, the museum set about creating a dedicated textile storage room to safely house the collection while keeping the individual pieces accessible for study and research. Siobhan Lindsay and her assistants constructed custom mounts and supports for the most delicate pieces and set up shelving and case storage to limit their exposure to light while not on view. The work was done to high professional standards, but also in ways that remained practical and affordable for a small museum.

This workshop will give participants a chance to see a variety of types of textile both on display and in storage, ask questions about best practices, and get advice for the reality of housing a collection in a historic building.

About the presenters:
Siobhan Lindsay is a professional art conservator with a broad range of experience in the care and treatment of paintings, textiles, metals, glass, and more. She has worked on conservation projects at Victoria Mansion for nearly two decades, joining the staff as Art Conservator in 2012.

Tim Brosnihan, Victoria Mansion’s Executive Director, has worked in the museum field for over three decades and at Victoria Mansion since 2002. A major focus of his tenure as Director has been on improving the care of the museum’s extraordinary architecture, furnishings, and decorative art.

MAM members receive a discount on registration for this event. Not a member yet? Join here.

Health Insurance Questions Answered with CoverME.gov (29 Oct 2026)

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Have you felt like health insurance was out of reach for you? Join us and find out how you can get coverage for yourself or your family through CoverME.gov

CoverME.gov, Maine’s official Health Insurance Marketplace, is designed to help individuals and small businesses find affordable, comprehensive coverage. Open enrollment begins on November 1, 2026 and ends on January 15, 2027.

The CoverME.gov team is working to connect consumers with free local assistance to get Maine residents enrolled for 2027. This year, we want to reach new audiences and encourage even more Maine residents to get covered and protect their household with the security insurance offers!

Join us and we will walk you through what’s available for individuals, employers, and their employees and how to make the most of the free tools and support CoverME.gov offers.

During this free lunch and learn, you'll learn how to compare qualified health plans and determine whether group coverage, employee reimbursement accounts, or directing employees to the Marketplace is the best option for your business. We will also share tools available to employers, including:
• The Employer Quick Quote Tool for SHOP-qualified plans
• Information on the small business health care tax credit (for businesses with fewer than 25 FTEs)
• Guidance on Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRA) and other ways to support employees if you don’t offer group coverage
• Free assistance from CoverME.gov to answer questions and support enrollment

This program is free for all, advance registration is required.

How to Handle Historical Hazards - IN PERSON (05 Nov 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Have you encountered phosphorus amongst your collection materials? Is there a cannonball on display at your institution? Then this is the workshop for you! Join MAM for a hybrid workshop to learn how to handle historical hazards! Led by Sergeant Patrick Pescitelli, Maine State Police Bomb Squad, participants will learn how to handle and manage the potential historical hazards and military ordnance any museum, archive, or historical society can encounter!

This workshop will be offered in-person at the Margaret Chase Smith Library (56 Norridgewock Avenue, Skowhegan, ME) and via Zoom. The in-person component is limited to 20 participants and there will be a hands-on portion of the workshop exclusive to in-person.

Sergeant Pescitelli will lead a presentation on what you should do if you have a run-in with potentially explosive and/or dangerous materials in your historic collections. This will be followed by a Q&A and the in-person hands-on demonstration.

This is the registration page for the in-person workshop. If you would like to register for the Zoom presentation, click here.

MAM members receive a discount on registration for this event. Not a member yet? Join here.

How to Handle Historical Hazards - ONLINE (05 Nov 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Have you encountered phosphorus amongst your collection materials? Is there a cannonball on display at your institution? Then this is the workshop for you! Join MAM for a hybrid workshop to learn how to handle historical hazards! Led by Sergeant Patrick Pescitelli, Maine State Police Bomb Squad, participants will learn how to handle and manage the potential historical hazards and military ordnance any museum, archive, or historical society can encounter!

This workshop will be offered in-person at the Margaret Chase Smith Library (56 Norridgewock Avenue, Skowhegan, ME) and via Zoom. The in-person component is limited to 20 participants and there will be a hands-on portion of the workshop exclusive to in-person.

Sergeant Pescitelli will lead a presentation on what you should do if you have a run-in with potentially explosive and/or dangerous materials in your historic collections. This will be followed by a Q&A and the in-person hands-on demonstration.

This is the registration page for the online workshop. If you would like to register for the in-person presentation, click here.

MAM members receive a discount on registration for this event. Not a member yet? Join here.

MAM Member Meetup Hosted by the Bangor Public Library (07 Nov 2026)

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Join MAM in Bangor for a Member Meet Up hosted by the Bangor Public Library on November 7th! The MAM Member Meet Up will be at Bagel Central (33 Central St, Bangor, ME) from 11-12:30, come for an informal gathering with your fellow MAM members!

Afterwards there will be two public programs hosted by members of the University of Maine History Department. At the Bangor Public Library (145 Harlow St, Bangor, ME) from 12-1:30, undergraduates in an Intro to Public History course will host a poster session about how Maine commemorated the national Centennial in 1876 and the Bicentennial in 1976. This will be followed by a walking tour of the re-installed interpretive signage on the Kenduskeag Stream Heritage Trail that was researched and written by UMaine History students. The tour will leave from the Bangor Public Library and the walk is 1.9 miles long.

You are invited to join MAM and the Bangor Public Library for some or all of these activities!

Please RSVP if you plan to attend the meetup at Bagel Central. The poster session and walk are open to the public & RSVP is not required (but we'd love to see you there!).

Not a MAM member yet? Click here to join today!