Museum Roundup
News & Updates from the Maine State Museum
May 2021
The Cultural Building at 50

June 2, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Cultural Building, the home of the Maine State Museum. The effort to fund the Cultural Building’s construction was a long one, capped in 1966 by voter approval of $4.8 million for a modern facility to house the state's museum, library, and archives. The impressive structure, shown in this 1979 snapshot, expressed Maine’s recognition that our state’s historic heritage required sustained and professional care, and educational access.
 
The building has faced challenges and changes since its opening, many resulting from the application of now-banned asbestos fireproofing during construction. An obvious change is the later addition of a large, two-story atrium to cover the original outdoor entrance plaza and create an airy indoor space.
 
The Cultural Building continues to see major upgrades during its current closure for renovation. See more below about what’s going on and how, with the renovation’s completion, the Cultural Building will be ready for another 50 years. 
The Latest...
Join author and curator Laurie LaBar on Thursday, June 10 at 6:30 pm for an online peek between the covers of her new book Maine Quilts: 250 Years of Comfort and Community.

Laurie will share a few of the engaging stories and beautiful images in the book, which marks the first published and long-awaited study of Maine quilts. To register for the event, please click here.
Get in a crafty frame of mind with this video of Maine quilters, produced by the museum for the upcoming exhibit of Maine quilts in 2023!
Home Education Week & Capitol Day
The museum's education department is looking forward to joining Home Schoolers of Maine at a virtual event running from May 2-8! If you'd like to learn more, visit their event page.
Museum staff members' hands, hearts, and minds are hard at work removing collections from exhibits prior to asbestos abatement on the museum’s main floor.

A glance at the photo above might create the impression of four men participating in an exercise class or practicing a dance routine.

Here, (from left) Tyler Whitney, Dave Hunt, and Zach Dozier are supporting a 100-pound half model of a ship as Ryan Walker carefully removes fasteners holding it to a wall in the shipbuilding exhibit.

Take a look at more removals, plans, and moving strategies in the latest update on the Cultural Building renovation project on the museum’s website.
Connecting Pandemics Through One Woman's Story
Young woman posed in a graduation cap and gown.
Rainey Morrissey, 1943
With teacher materials on Maine’s pandemics, classes can reflect on COVID-19 through the lens of history. Artifacts, images, and documents like Rainey’s letter open a path to first-person experiences and connections to the past. 
“The nurses aren’t very nice, I mean they’re old crabs.”
 
Rainey Morrissey didn’t have the best things to say about her care at the Maine State Sanitorium, but her humor and vivacious personality shine through in her writing. 
 
Tammy Costigan, a Visitor Services Specialist at the Maine State Museum, unearthed Rainey’s story while doing research on her husband’s family. When she saw the museum’s educational materials on local pandemics, she realized that her family was part of that history. Tammy gathered Rainey’s photographs and letters and offered to share them with students across the state.
 
Lorraine “Rainey” Morrissey (1924-1945) attended South Portland High School, where she played four years on the girls’ basketball team and took college prep classes. In 1943, on the year she graduated from high school, Rainey was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She wrote letters to her family from the Maine State Sanitorium in Hebron. After about two years of treatment, she died at age 20.
An excerpt from one of Rainey's letters
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